Movies Like Tokyo Notes

If you liked Tokyo Notes (1998), a movie directed by Oriza Hirata, 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
The Teahouse of the August Moon (1957)
★ 6.2/10
In post-WWII Japan, an American captain is brought in to help build a school, but the locals want a teahouse instead.
2
Giovanni's Island (2014)
★ 7.5/10
In the aftermath of the most devastating conflict mankind had ever experienced, the tiny island of Shikotan became part of the Sakhalin Oblast... and on the unhealed border in this remote corner of the world…
3
Tokyo Family (2013)
★ 7.3/10
An elderly couple journey to Tokyo to visit their grown children, only to find them preoccupied and self-involved.
4
House of Bamboo (1955)
★ 6.2/10
Eddie Kenner is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Dawson, a former GI who has formed a gang of fellow servicemen and Japanese locals.
5
Drive My Car (2021)
★ 7.4/10
Yusuke Kafuku, a stage actor and director, still unable, after two years, to cope with the loss of his beloved wife, accepts to direct Uncle Vanya at a theater festival in Hiroshima. There he meets Misaki, an…
6
Shoplifters (2018)
★ 7.8/10
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…
7
The History of Love (2016)
★ 6.4/10
The story of a long-lost book that mysteriously reappears and connects an old man searching for his son with a girl seeking a cure for her mother's loneliness.
8
50/50 (2011)
★ 7.2/10
Inspired by a true story, a comedy centered on a 27-year-old guy who learns of his cancer diagnosis and his subsequent struggle to beat the disease.
9
Ocean Waves (1993)
★ 6.4/10
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…
10
Ghostlight (2024)
★ 7.2/10
When melancholic construction worker Dan finds himself drifting from his wife and daughter, he discovers community and purpose in a local theater's production of Romeo and Juliet. As the drama onstage starts to mirror…
11
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
★ 7.6/10
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.
12
Monster (2023)
★ 7.9/10
After an outburst at school involving her son, a concerned single mother demands answers, triggering a sequence of deepening suspicion and turmoil.
13
Rental Family (2025)
★ 7.7/10
An American actor in Tokyo struggles to find purpose until he lands an unusual gig: working for a Japanese 'rental family' agency, playing stand-in roles for strangers. As he immerses himself in his clients' worlds, he…
14
Woman in Gold (2015)
★ 7.3/10
Maria Altmann, an octogenarian Jewish refugee, takes on the government to recover artwork she believes rightfully belongs to her family.
15
Museum (2016)
★ 6.7/10
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.
16
Julia (1977)
★ 6.5/10
At the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.
17
Friends with Kids (2012)
★ 5.9/10
In the wake of their friends' marriages and eventual offspring, longtime pals Julie and Jason decide to have a child together without becoming a couple. By becoming "time-share" parents, they reason, they can…
18
Family Romance, LLC (2019)
★ 6.2/10
Love is a business at Family Romance, a company that rents human stand-ins for any occasion. Founder Yuichi Ishii helps make his clients’ dreams come true. But when the mother of 12-year-old Mahiro hires Ishii to…
19
Eros + Massacre (1969)
★ 7.3/10
Two interwoven stories. The first is a biography of anarchist Sakae Osugi which follows his relationship with three women in the 1920s. The second centers around two 1960s students researching Osugi's theories.
20
Jacknife (1989)
★ 6.4/10
A conflict develops between a troubled Vietnam veteran and the sister he lives with when she becomes involved romantically with the army buddy who reminds him of the tragic battle they both survived.