The 40 most popular japanese romance movies, ranked. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


Shape of My Heart
2024 · 1h 31m
country: Japan
A romance about a man and a woman who, due to an unexpected event, end up switching bodies. Despite coming from completely different backgrounds and environments, the two try to overcome the various difficulties that arise from their body swap.


Your Name.
2016 · 1h 46m
country: Japan
High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki’s body, and he in hers. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two must adjust their lives around each other.


Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc
2025 · 1h 40m
country: Japan
In a brutal war between devils, hunters, and secret enemies, a mysterious girl named Reze has stepped into Denji's world, and he faces his deadliest battle yet, fueled by love in a world where survival knows no rules.


A Silent Voice: The Movie
2016 · 2h 9m
country: Japan
Shouya Ishida starts bullying the new girl in class, Shouko Nishimiya, because she is deaf. But as the teasing continues, the rest of the class starts to turn on Shouya for his lack of compassion. When they leave elementary school, Shouko and Shouya do not speak to each other again... until an older, wiser Shouya, tormented by his past behaviour, decides he must see Shouko once more. He wants to atone for his sins, but is it already too late...?


In the Realm of the Senses
1976 · 1h 42m
country: Japan
A passionate telling of the story of Sada Abe, a woman whose affair with her master led to an obsessive and ultimately destructive sexual relationship.


Younger Sister
1974 · 1h 32m
country: Japan
Akio's sister, Neri has separated from her boyfriend. They lived in Kamakura. She moves in with her brother. Her ex-boyfriend's sister, Eiko comes to see Neri. She wonders if the separation occurred due to her because the three of them used to live together. Eiko's brother has disappeared in the meantime.


Weathering with You
2019 · 1h 52m
country: Japan
The summer of his high school freshman year, Hodaka runs away from his remote island home to Tokyo, and quickly finds himself pushed to his financial and personal limits. The weather is unusually gloomy and rainy every day, as if taking its cue from his life. After many days of solitude, he finally finds work as a freelance writer for a mysterious occult magazine. Then, one day, Hodaka meets Hina on a busy street corner. This bright and strong-willed girl possesses a strange and wonderful ability: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky.


Memoirs of a Geisha
2005 · 2h 26m
country: United States
In the years before World War II, a penniless Japanese child is torn from her family to work as a maid in a geisha house.


The Star of Cottonland
1984 · 1h 36m
country: Japan
After two-month-old kitten Chibi-neko is abandoned by her former owners, she is found by 18-year-old Tokio. Although his mother is allergic to cats and has a great fear of them, she agrees to let him keep the kitten because she fears he is becoming too withdrawn after failing his university entrance exams. Chibi-neko soon falls in love with Tokio. In her own mind, Chibi-neko is a small human who speaks in human words, although people only ever seem to hear her meow, and she believes that all humans were once kittens like her. A stray cat tells Chibi-neko of a paradise called Cottonland, where dreams can come true.


The Last: Naruto the Movie
2014 · 1h 54m
country: Japan
Two years after the events of the Fourth Great Ninja War, the moon that Hagoromo Otsutsuki created long ago to seal away the Gedo Statue begins to descend towards the world, threatening to become a meteor that would destroy everything on impact. Amidst this crisis, a direct descendant of Kaguya Otsutsuki named Toneri Otsutsuki attempts to kidnap Hinata Hyuga but ends up abducting her younger sister Hanabi. Naruto and his allies now mount a rescue mission before finding themselves embroiled in a final battle to decide the fate of everything.


The Wind Rises
2013 · 2h 6m
country: Japan
A lifelong love of flight inspires Japanese aviation engineer Jiro Horikoshi, whose storied career includes the creation of the A-6M World War II fighter plane.


Rurouni Kenshin: The Beginning
2021 · 2h 18m
country: Japan
Before he was a protector, Kenshin was a fearsome assassin known as Battosai. But when he meets gentle Tomoe Yukishiro, a beautiful young woman who carries a huge burden in her heart, his life will change forever.


Violet Evergarden: The Movie
2020 · 2h 20m
country: Japan
As the world moves on from the war and technological advances bring changes to her life, Violet still hopes to see her lost commanding officer again.


I Want to Eat Your Pancreas
2018 · 1h 48m
country: Japan
After his classmate and crush is diagnosed with a pancreatic disease, an average high schooler sets out to make the most of her final days.


A Whisker Away
2020 · 1h 44m
country: Japan
A peculiar girl transforms into a cat to catch her crush's attention. But before she realizes it, the line between human and animal starts to blur.


The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie
2022 · 2h 16m
country: Japan
When five lovely young girls who hate studying hire part-time tutor Futaro, he guides not only their education but also their hearts. Time spent has brought them all closer, with feelings growing within the girls and Futaro. As they finish their third year of high school and their last school festival approaches, they set their sights on what’s next. Is there a future with one of them and Futaro?


Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel I. Presage Flower
2017 · 2h
country: Japan
Ten years after the Fourth Holy Grail War, a devastating clash between Masters and Servants, another war erupts. Shirou Emiya, whose father fought in the first battle, was leading a peaceful life with the warmhearted Sakura Matou. But when hidden forces begin to stir, Shirou resolves to fulfill his father’s dying wish, protect Sakura, and fight for the Holy Grail.


The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes
2022 · 1h 23m
country: Japan
Urashima Tunnel – Once you enter that tunnel, you can get whatever you want, but at a price. Kaoru Tohno, who seems to have an elusive personality and traumatic past, and Anzu Hanashiro, who is struggling to reconcile her ideal image and true-to-heart attitude, team up to investigate the Urashima Tunnel and get what they want. This is an unforgettable summer story of nostalgia and sprinting in a remote countryside.


The Dangers in My Heart: The Movie
2026 · 1h 41m
country: Japan
Kyotaro Ichikawa is a painfully awkward middle school boy deep in the throes of eighth-grader syndrome, spending his days obsessed reading morbid books. His quiet, isolated world is suddenly turned upside down when Anna Yamada, the classroom star, unexpectedly steps into his life. And before he knows it, she is occupying his every day thoughts.


Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel III. Spring Song
2020 · 2h
country: Japan
The battle rages on as Shirou continues to protect Sakura, now consumed by the darkness. He joins forces with Rin to end the Holy Grail War, while Illyasviel, who knows the truth behind it, confronts her fate. Amidst the chaos, Zouken plots to manipulate Sakura for his own desires. The final fight begins.


Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel II. Lost Butterfly
2019 · 1h 57m
country: Japan
Shirou has lost his Servant, Saber, and is no longer a Master in the Holy Grail War. Despite this, he refuses to leave the battle, determined to protect Sakura. Meanwhile, a mysterious shadow engulfs the city, killing Masters and Servants one by one. As Shirou faces new dangers, Sakura is drawn deeper into her own destiny as a mage.


5 Centimeters per Second
2007 · 1h 3m
country: Japan
Three moments in Takaki's life: his relationship with Akari and their forced separation; his friendship with Kanae, who is secretly in love with him; the demands and disappointments of adulthood, an unhappy life in a cold city.


Only Yesterday
1991 · 1h 59m
country: Japan
In lyrical switches between the present and the past, Taeko contemplates the arc of her life, and wonders if she has been true to the dreams of her childhood self.


Love Letter
1995 · 1h 57m
country: Japan
Hiroko attends the memorial service of her fiancé, Itsuki Fujii, who died in a mountain-climbing incident. Although Itsuki's mother says that their old house is gone, Hiroko records the address listed under his name in his yearbook and sends him a letter. Surprisingly, she receives a reply, and discovers it came from his old classmate, a girl who also happens to be called Itsuki Fujii.


Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Cosmos the Movie Part 1
2023 · 1h 20m
country: Japan
The Sailor Guardians enjoy a brief moment of peace until Mamoru's Golden Crystal is stolen by Sailor Galaxia and the mysterious Sailor Starlights appear. One by one, Sailor Moon’s friends and loved ones are targeted by a formidable new enemy who threatens to destroy everything and rule over the cosmos.


Guinea Pig: Mermaid in the Manhole
1988 · 58m
country: Japan
An artist dealing with the grief of his wife leaving him finds solace in painting the squalor of the sewer. He discovers a trapped mermaid, whom he brings home to heal. Her condition worsens, and she asks the artist to paint her before she dies.


Drawing Closer
2024 · 1h 59m
country: Japan
With only a year left to live, 17-year-old Akito finds new meaning in life by bringing joy to a terminally ill girl who has just six months remaining.


Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy
2021 · 2h 1m
country: Japan
An unexpected love triangle, a seduction trap, and a random encounter are the three episodes, told in three movements to depict three female characters and trace the trajectories between their choices and regrets.


Ocean Waves
1993 · 1h 12m
country: Japan
At Kichijōji Station, Tokyo, Taku Morisaki glimpses a familiar woman on the platform opposite boarding a train. Later, her photo falls from a shelf as he exits his apartment before flying to Kōchi Prefecture. Picking it up, he looks at it briefly before leaving. As the aeroplane takes off, he narrates the events that brought her into his life...


Josee, the Tiger and the Fish
2020 · 1h 38m
country: Japan
With dreams of diving abroad, Tsuneo gets a job assisting Josee, an artist whose imagination takes her far beyond her wheelchair. But when the tide turns against them, they push each other to places they never thought possible, and inspire a love fit for a storybook.


Dou kyu sei – Classmates
2016 · 1h 1m
country: Japan
Rihito Sajo, an honor student with a perfect score on the entrance exam and Hikaru Kusakabe, in a band and popular among girls, would have never crossed paths. Until one day they started talking at the practice for their school’s upcoming chorus festival. After school, the two meet regularly, as Hikaru helps Rihito to improve his singing skills. While they listen to each other’s voice and harmonize, their hearts start to beat together.


The Garden of Words
2013 · 46m
country: Japan
Takao, who is training to become a shoemaker, skipped school and is sketching shoes in a Japanese-style garden. He meets a mysterious woman, Yukino, who is older than him. Then, without arranging the times, the two start to see each other again and again, but only on rainy days. They deepen their relationship and open up to each other. But the end of the rainy season soon approaches.


Irezumi
1982 · 1h 42m
country: Japan
To satisfy her lover's fetish for tattooed women, Akane agrees to have her body covered in eloborate tattoos by Kyogoro, an old craftsman. Kyogoro has developed a special technique, by which his assistant, Harutsune, keeps Katsuko's mind off the pain while Kyogoro does his work. After the work is done, Harutsune makes the shocking discovery of how Kyogoro mastered his technique.


A Fool's Love
2024 · 1h 46m
country: Japan
Kawai Joji, an aspiring screenwriter who has won a screenplay competition but has yet to make his professional debut, meets a beautiful woman, Naomi, in a rundown bar one day. Naomi says she is working at the bar while aiming to become an actress. On another day, Joji is asked by his screenplay instructor if he would like to write a screenplay for a film based on Tanizaki Junichiro's "A Fool's Love" on his behalf. Joji is determined to succeed this time, but struggles to write the script. Meanwhile, Joji meets Naomi again, and the two of them quickly become closer, but...


Urusei Yatsura: Remember My Love
1985 · 1h 33m
country: Japan
The third film finds Ataru transformed into a pink hippopotamus, which sends Lum chasing after the wicked magician responsible, with catastrophic results. With Lum gone, her friends decide that there is no reason to remain, and so Tomobiki slowly returns to normal. The highlight of the film is a high speed chase scene with an angry Lum flying after the mysterious Ruu through the city at night and into a hall of mirrors (and illusion ). Ataru's true feelings for Lum are probably more obvious in this film than any of the others.


The Rose of Versailles
2025 · 1h 53m
country: Japan
In an age of revolution, Marie Antoinette and her protector Oscar François de Jarjayes face tough choices as women growing into their distinct roles.


Urusei Yatsura: Lum the Forever
1986 · 1h 33m
country: Japan
While performing in a student film, Ataru cuts down Tarozakura, a large, ancient cherry tree. Strange things begin to happen all across Tomobiki: a mountain appears out of nowhere, spring changes to winter, and Lum loses her powers, while those around her act as if she doesn't exist.


Hello World
2019 · 1h 38m
country: Japan
A shy high schooler in Kyoto meets a man claiming to be his future self, who tells him he’s hacked into the past to save their first love.


Howards End
1992 · 2h 22m
country: United Kingdom
A saga of class relations and changing times in an Edwardian England on the brink of modernity, the film centers on liberal Margaret Schlegel, who, along with her sister Helen, becomes involved with two couples: wealthy, conservative industrialist Henry Wilcox and his wife Ruth, and the downwardly mobile working-class Leonard Bast and his mistress Jackie.


Hyper Misao Produce ~HYPE!4~
2026 · 2h 16m
country: Japan
Chika Nanase trains by herself during a night at the Kanda Myōjin shrine in Tokyo, and after finishing her prayer, she finds Hyper Misao's mask on the ground in front of her. Next thing she knows, she is pulled into another world - instead of Kanda Myōjin, Nanase is now in a realm called Can Do Myōjin! Surprisingly emotional shenanigans ensue.
Japanese cinema gave the world Kurosawa's samurai epics, Ozu's domestic dramas, Godzilla and the kaiju film, and the J-horror wave that Hollywood spent the 2000s remaking. It also sustains the most developed animation industry on earth.
Romance is the genre most shaped by its era's ideas about intimacy, which makes watching across decades a genuine education. It spans the screwball comedies, the sweeping melodramas, and the modern indie two-hander.