Movies Like Kôkyû soap technique: Kyûkyoku no kairaku

If you liked Kôkyû soap technique: Kyûkyoku no kairaku (1991), a movie directed by Shūji Kataoka, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Tokyo Decadence (1992)
★ 6/10
A submissive hooker goes about her trade, suffering abuse at the hands of Japanese salarymen and Yakuza types. She's unhappy about her work, and is apparently trying to find some sort of appeasement for the fact that…
2
Imprint (2006)
★ 6.8/10
An American journalist travels through 19th-century Japan to find the prostitute he fell in love with but instead learns of the physical and existential horror that befell her after he left.
3
Champagne Problems (2025)
★ 6/10
A driven American exec heads to Paris determined to acquire a champagne brand by Christmas — and accidentally falls for the heir to the bubbly empire.
4
One Million Yen Girl (2008)
★ 7.2/10
A 21-year-old girl is released from prison, only to deal with the neighborhood gossip about her and family conflicts. She decides to save one million yen, move to where no one knows her and keep repeating the process.
5
Ice Princess (2005)
★ 6.5/10
With the help of her coach, her mom, and the boy who drives the Zamboni, nothing can stop Casey Carlyle from realizing her dream to be a champion figure skater.
6
Penguin Highway (2018)
★ 7.2/10
A fourth-grader investigates the mysterious reason behind the sudden appearance of penguins in his village, which is somehow related to a power from a young woman working at a dental clinic.
7
47 Ronin (2013)
★ 6.2/10
Kai—an outcast—joins Oishi, the leader of 47 outcast samurai. Together they seek vengeance upon the treacherous overlord who killed their master and banished their kind. To restore honour to their homeland, the…
8
Barbie: Star Light Adventure (2016)
★ 6.8/10
When Barbie, a cosmic princess with a hoverboard, learns that the brightly shining stars have begun to dim, she begins a rescue mission to save the galaxy.
9
Herbie Fully Loaded (2005)
★ 5.9/10
Maggie Peyton, the new owner of Number 53 - the free-wheelin' Volkswagen bug with a mind of its own - puts the car through its paces on the road to becoming a NASCAR competitor.
10
Sex and Fury (1973)
★ 6.2/10
Sex & Fury chronicles Ocho's exploits as she searches for her father's killers, each identified by unique tattoos on their backs (a deer, a boar, and a butterfly). Along the way, she also crosses paths with Shunosuke…
11
April Story (1998)
★ 7.1/10
In spring, a girl leaves the island of Hokkaido to attend university in Tokyo. Once there, she is asked to reveal why she wanted to go there in the first place.
12
Barbie in the Pink Shoes (2013)
★ 6.9/10
About a young girl who finds a pair of pink ballet shoes and is taken to a magical ballet land.There she learns how to help her friends and follow her instincts.
13
Tamako Love Story (2014)
★ 7.2/10
Devoted to her family’s rice-cake–making business and the high school baton club, Tamako is a little slow when it comes to love. She’s oblivious to her childhood friend Mochizo’s affections, even though all their…
14
French Girl (2024)
★ 6.2/10
Sweet Gordon, an affable English teacher in Brooklyn, has beaten the odds; a French Girl has fallen in love with him and he’s fallen even harder back. But their future is thrown into limbo when she interviews for an…
15
The Tale of The Princess Kaguya (2013)
★ 8.1/10
Found inside a shining stalk of bamboo by an old bamboo cutter and his wife, a tiny girl grows rapidly into an exquisite young lady. The mysterious young princess enthrals all who encounter her. But, ultimately, she…
16
Ritual (2000)
★ 7.7/10
A disillusioned filmmaker has an encounter with a young woman who has a ritual of repeating "Tomorrow is my birthday" everyday. He tries to communicate with her through his video camera.
17
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
★ 8.1/10
In 1927 Hollywood, a silent film star falls for a chorus girl just as he and his paranoid screen partner struggle to make the difficult transition to talking pictures.
18
The Royal Treatment (2022)
★ 6.7/10
Isabella runs her own salon and isn’t afraid to speak her mind, while Prince Thomas runs his own country and is about to marry for duty rather than love. When Izzy and her fellow stylists get the opportunity of a…
19
Koati (2021)
★ 7.1/10
Three unlikely heroes - Nachi, a free-spirited coati; Xochi, a fearless monarch butterfly and Pako, a hyperactive glass frog - embark on an adventure to stop wicked coral snake Zaina from destroying their rain forest…
20
Still the Water (2014)
★ 6.7/10
On the Japanese island of Amami, despite lacking parental guidance, Kaito and his girlfriend Kyoko try to find their place in the world. While Kaito suffers from the absence of his father, who moved to Tokyo after his…