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Movies Like On This Earth

If you liked On This Earth (1957), a drama movie directed by Kōzaburō Yoshimura, 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. 1From Up on Poppy Hill

    From Up on Poppy Hill (2011)

    ★ 7.5/10Also drama

    Yokohama, 1963. Japan is picking itself up from the devastation of World War II and preparing to host the 1964 Olympics—and the mood is one of both optimism and conflict as the young generation struggles to throw off…

  2. 2Tokyo Story

    Tokyo Story (1953)

    ★ 8.1/10Also drama

    The elderly Shukishi and his wife, Tomi, take the long journey from their small seaside village to visit their adult children in Tokyo. Their elder son, Koichi, a doctor, and their daughter, Shige, a hairdresser, don't…

  3. 3Twenty-Four Eyes

    Twenty-Four Eyes (1954)

    ★ 7.7/10Also drama

    From 1928 to 1946, the lives of 12 young people and their school teacher in a poor Japanese village are profoundly affected by historical events and personal circumstances.

  4. 4A Geisha

    A Geisha (1953)

    ★ 7.6/10Also drama

    Fleeing a distressing family situation, Eiko, a very young girl, becomes an apprentice to Miyoharu, a veteran geisha. Both, determined to preserve their professional integrity, must face the selfishness and ambition of…

  5. 5No Regrets for Our Youth

    No Regrets for Our Youth (1946)

    ★ 6.9/10Also drama

    After her anti-fascist professor father is dismissed, Yukie navigates love, political repression, and wartime upheaval—ultimately forging her own path in pre- and post-WWII Japan.

  6. 6The End of Summer

    The End of Summer (1961)

    ★ 7.5/10Also drama

    The family of an older man who runs a small sake brewery become concerned with his finances and his health after they discover him visiting an old mistress from his youth.

  7. 7Look Back

    Look Back (2024)

    ★ 8.2/10Also drama

    Popular, outgoing Fujino is celebrated by her classmates for her funny comics in the class newspaper. One day, her teacher asks her to share the space with Kyomoto, a truant recluse whose beautiful artwork sparks a…

  8. 8Skin

    Skin (2009)

    ★ 6.4/10Also drama

    Based on the true story of a black girl who was born to two white Afrikaner parents in South Africa during the apartheid era.

  9. 9Sakuran

    Sakuran (2006)

    ★ 6.5/10Also drama

    Kiyoha rises from the lowly courtesan ranks to the high class position of Oiran in the steamy red-light district of Yoshiwara. She is determined to stand on her own two feet and live life as she pleased.

  10. 10One Million Yen Girl

    One Million Yen Girl (2008)

    ★ 7.2/10Also drama

    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.

  11. 11Aristocrats

    Aristocrats (2021)

    ★ 7/10Also drama

    Hanako is looking for stability with her man. She gets dumped instead. She begins dating. Miki studied and worked hard to get to where she is and is holding down a job. They are introduced through an intermediary man.

  12. 12The Nest

    The Nest (2020)

    ★ 6.1/10Also drama

    Rory is an ambitious entrepreneur who brings his American wife and kids to his native country, England, to explore new business opportunities. After abandoning the sanctuary of their safe American suburban…

  13. 13Taboo

    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…

  14. 14Kids Return

    Kids Return (1996)

    ★ 6.9/10Also drama

    Shinji and Masaru spend most of their school days harassing fellow classmates and playing pranks. They drop out and Shinji becomes a small-time boxer, while Masaru joins up with a local yakuza gang. However, the world…

  15. 15Tokyo Sonata

    Tokyo Sonata (2008)

    ★ 7.4/10Also drama

    The winds of change blow as a family grapples with unemployment, alienation, mistrust and a lack of communication. When a Japanese salaryman loses his job to outsourcing to China, it's simply the beginning of a series…

  16. 16Here

    Here (2024)

    ★ 6.5/10Also drama

    An odyssey through time and memory, centered on a place in New Jersey where—from wilderness, and then, later, from a home—love, loss, struggle, hope and legacy play out between couples and families over generations.

  17. 17Harmonium

    Harmonium (2016)

    ★ 6.5/10Also drama

    Toshio hires Yasaka to work in his workshop. But then this old acquaintance, who has just been released from prison, begins to meddle in Toshio's family life.

  18. 18All About Lily Chou-Chou

    All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001)

    ★ 7.5/10Also drama

    Charts the troubled teenage years of students Yūichi Hasumi and Shūsuke Hoshino, exploring the shifting and complex power dynamics of their relationship against the backdrop of Yūichi's love for the dreamy and abstract…

  19. 19Late Spring

    Late Spring (1949)

    ★ 8/10Also drama

    Noriko is perfectly happy living at home with her widowed father, Shukichi, and has no plans to marry -- that is, until her aunt Masa convinces Shukichi that unless he marries off his 27-year-old daughter soon, she…

  20. 20Shoplifters

    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…

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