Movies Like Memorizu

If you liked Memorizu (2026), a drama movie directed by Miiku Sakanishi, 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
Love & Pop (1998)
★ 7.7/10Also drama
Tokyo schoolgirl Hiromi and her friends engage in a practice known as enjo kosai, or "compensated dating", where older men pay young girls for dates. Hiromi plunges deeper into this world to raise money for an…
2
Perfect Days (2023)
★ 7.8/10Also drama
Hirayama is content with his life as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo. Outside of his structured routine, he cherishes music on cassette tapes, books, and taking photos of trees. Through unexpected encounters, he reflects on…
3
Only Yesterday (1991)
★ 7.4/10Also drama
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.
4
Female Yakuza Tale (1973)
★ 6.1/10Also drama
Ocho is accidentally captured by a drug trafficking cartel who use Chinese women to smuggle drugs into Japan by hiding it in their vaginas. She is tortured, and manages to escape, fighting both the male yakuzas and a…
5
Samurai Rebellion (1967)
★ 8.2/10Also drama
The mother of a feudal lord's only heir is kidnapped by the lord. Her husband and his samurai father must decide whether to accept the unjust decision, or risk death to rescue her.
6
Little Forest: Summer/Autumn (2014)
★ 7.8/10Also drama
Fleeing heartbreak in the big city, Ichiko returns to Komori, her rural hometown. She battles summer's rain and humidity, bakes her own bread, grows hothouse tomatoes and tills the fields. During autumn, the time for…
7
When Marnie Was There (2014)
★ 7.9/10Also drama
Upon being sent to live with relatives in the countryside due to an illness, an emotionally distant adolescent girl becomes obsessed with an abandoned mansion and infatuated with a girl who lives there - a girl who may…
8
Animal Crossing: The Movie (2006)
★ 6.8/10Also drama
Ai, a self-reliant girl who moves to Animal Village and works at Nook's Cranny, gradually becomes part of the community with guidance from its residents and embarks on a quest to plant pine trees for a Winter Festival…
9
Pastoral: To Die in the Country (1974)
★ 7.5/10Also drama
A director faces creative block while working on his latest film – a reimagination of his adolescence growing up in a mountain village in rural Japan.
10
Child of Kamiari Month (2021)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
A year after losing her mother, a young girl learns that she must journey across Japan to the annual gathering of gods in the sacred land of Izumo.
11
Tokyo Family (2013)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
An elderly couple journey to Tokyo to visit their grown children, only to find them preoccupied and self-involved.
12
Shoplifters (2018)
★ 7.8/10Also drama
In the outskirts of Tokyo, a poor but close-knit group living on the fringes of society survives through shoplifting and odd jobs. When Osamu and his son take in a neglected young girl, their already fragile existence…
13
Little Forest: Winter/Spring (2015)
★ 7.8/10Also drama
Ichiko bakes a cake for an end-of-year party with her friends. In the depths of winter, making mochi and curry keeps the people of Komori warm. Later, spring brings thoughts of her absent mother as well as rice…
14
Hands of Stone (2016)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.
15
Summer Ghost (2021)
★ 7.3/10Also drama
An urban legend says that lighting fireworks at an abandoned airfield will beckon the "summer ghost," a spirit that can answer any question. Three teenagers, Tomoya, Aoi, and Ryo, each have their own reason to show up…
16
Bleach the Movie: Fade to Black (2008)
★ 7.1/10Also drama
A strange disturbance in the World of the Living sends Ichigo and Kon to the Soul Society, where the Seireitei has been devastated by an explosion of reishi and Rukia is missing. Stranger still, none of the Soul…
17
Museum (2016)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
In Tokyo, Japan, several grotesque murders take place on rainy days. Detective Sawamura, who is in charge of the case, soon discovers that his own family is connected to the crimes.
18
Repast (1951)
★ 7.6/10Also drama
In post-WWII Osaka, a middle-aged woman is forced to examine her dreary life and marriage when her husband's young and flirtatious cousin arrives for a brief stay to escape an arranged marriage.
19
Man with No Past (2025)
★ 6.5/10Also drama
Waking up in an unfamiliar city, a man with no memory must confront the mysteries of his own identity. However, his desperate search to uncover the past pits him against a powerful enemy, leading to a showdown that…
20
Taboo (1999)
★ 6.6/10Also drama
Set during Japan's Shogun era, this film looks at life in a samurai compound where young warriors are trained in swordfighting. A number of interpersonal conflicts are brewing in the training room, all centering on a…