Few national cinemas have influenced world filmmaking as deeply as Japan’s. From the precise domestic dramas of Yasujirō Ozu and the sweeping samurai films of Akira Kurosawa to Godzilla, Studio Ghibli, J-horror, yakuza thrillers, experimental cinema, and the intimate contemporary work of Hirokazu Kore-eda and Ryūsuke Hamaguchi, Japanese filmmakers have repeatedly reshaped what movies can …
