Best Japanese war movies

In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan. After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. With no surviving relatives and their emergency rations depleted, Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive.

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.

In 1868, after the Bakumatsu war ends, the ex-assassin Kenshin Himura traverses Japan with an inverted sword, to defend the needy without killing.

Japan, 1943, during World War II. Young Suzu leaves her village near Hiroshima to marry and live with her in-laws in Kure, a military harbor. Her creativity to overcome deprivation quickly makes her indispensable at home. Inhabited by an ancestral wisdom, Suzu impregnates the simple gestures of everyday life with poetry and beauty. The many hardships, the loss of loved ones, the frequent air raids of the enemy, nothing alters her enthusiasm…

Akira Kurosawa's lauded feudal epic presents the tale of a petty thief who is recruited to impersonate Shingen, an aging warlord, in order to avoid attacks by competing clans. When Shingen dies, his generals reluctantly agree to have the impostor take over as the powerful ruler. He soon begins to appreciate life as Shingen, but his commitment to the role is tested when he must lead his troops into battle against the forces of a rival warlord.

Island of Java, 1942, during World War II. British Major Jack Celliers arrives at a Japanese prison camp, run by the strict Captain Yonoi. Colonel John Lawrence, who has a profound knowledge of Japanese culture, and Sergeant Hara, brutal and simpleton, will witness the struggle of wills between two men from very different backgrounds who are tragically destined to clash.

A story about the effect of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on a boy's life and the lives of the Japanese people.

Set in Qin Dynasty during the warring states period in ancient China. Shin was a war orphan. He has a dream of becoming a great general Shin has a fateful encounter with young King Eisei. King Eisei aims to unify all of China.

The story takes place several years after Lelouch's "Zero Requiem" plan. He gave up his life to save the world and protect the ones he loved. The day Lelouch vi Brittannia fell was the day this war-torn world found peace. Now, as his friends work to keep the peace, a terrorist attack could risk everything. Can the brilliant tactician outwit death and save them all? Or will Lelouch’s legacy fall here?

With its armies sweeping across the continent, the Empire seems unstoppable. After securing victory over the remnants of the Republic's army, the Empire's ultimate victory is finally within reach. However, dark clouds are gathering in the East. The communist-led Russy Federation is mustering troops on its western border, preparing to enter the war. Supported by a detachment of Allied volunteer magicians—among whom is Mary Sioux, the daughter of a soldier killed by Tanya—the Federation is determined to spread the communist creed and bring the Empire to its knees. Meanwhile, Tanya and her battalion return to the imperial capital from the southern front. Upon their arrival, they are tasked with investigating troop movements on the border with the Federation. Any escalation of violence at this point may lead to new conflicts, plunging the world into a global war. Will the Empire eventually emerge victorious from its struggle, or will it crumble in the face radically different ideologies?

After handing in a report on the treatment of Chinese colonial labor, Kaji is offered the post of labor chief at a large mining operation in Manchuria, which also grants him exemption from military service. He accepts, and moves to Manchuria with his newly-wed wife Michiko, but when he tries to put his ideas of more humane treatment into practice, he finds himself at odds with scheming officials, cruel foremen, and the military police.

Youngsters called Kildren, who are destined to live eternally in their adolescence. The Kildren are conscious that every day could be the last, because they fight a war as entertainment, organized and operated by adults. But as they embrace the reality they are faced with, they live their day-to-day lives to the full.

Kaji is sent to the Japanese army labeled Red and is mistreated by the vets. Along his assignment, Kaji witnesses cruelties in the army and revolts against the abusive treatment against the recruit Obara. He also sees his friend Shinjô Ittôhei defecting to the Russian border, and he ends in the front to fight a lost battle against the Russian tanks division.

After the Japanese defeat to the Russians, Kaji leads the last remaining men through Manchuria. Intent on returning to his dear wife and his old life, Kaji faces great odds in a variety of different harrowing circumstances as he and his fellow men sneak behind enemy lines.

The war on terror exploded, literally, the day Sarajevo was destroyed by a homemade nuclear device. The leading democracies transformed into total surveillance states, and the developing world has drowned under a wave of genocides. The mysterious American John Paul seems to be behind the collapse of the world system, and it's up to intelligence agent Clavis Shepherd to track John Paul across the wreckage of civilizations and to find the true heart of darkness—a genocidal organ.

The side story takes place in 2017 a.t.b., between the rise of the “Black Knights” organization and the return of the supposedly "dead" Zero. The setting is in Europe, where the European Union (E.U.) allied nations are being invaded by the overwhelming forces of the Holy Britannian Empire. On the verge of defeat, the E.U. army forms a special unit known as “W-0″, of which a young pilot named Akito Hyuga is a member. Leila Malkal , a former Britannian Aristocrat comes to the E.U.'s aid, commanding the “Wyvern” Knightmare corps comprised of Japanese teenagers. They recklessly plunge into a battlefield, where the survival rate is extremely low, at about 5% only. They fight for their freedom and for a "home" to which they can return.

The war against terrorism has gone private. War has always been a profitable business, so having private corporations field their own armies to fight against terrorism is just good business. Who else could protect those innocent bunnies from the religiously fervent turbaned camel fanatics. It falls upon a small cadre of seasoned furry rabbit soldiers to take the battle to the camel's home turf.Derived from a popular Vietnam-conflict based manga series called Apocalypse Meow , this sequel series uses animal characters to tell the story of the war against terrorism fought in distant countries. Non-human cast of characters notwithstanding, this compelling and painstakingly-researched work places an emphasis on factualism in order to accurately portray the weapons and tactics used by soldiers.

It is A.D. 2009 and the human race is caught in a war between giant humanoids, male Zentrans and female Meltrans. Returning from the edge of our solar system after making a space fold, the SDF-1 Macross makes the long journey back to Earth with survivors of South Ataria Island.

The year is 2314 AD, two years have passed since the defeat of the Innovades and the exposure of the A-Laws' crimes against humanity. The A-Laws have been abolished and their infrastructure integrated into the Earth Sphere Federation Army. However, the world's exposure to GN Particles has resulted in many people awakening as True Innovators. Celestial Being has returned to the shadows to rebuild and quietly observe the infantile peace. However, an abandoned probe from an expedition to Jupiter 130 years ago approaches Earth bringing a new crisis with it, one that threatens all of mankind. While Celestial Being begins their final mission to save humanity from an unimaginable threat, Gundam Meister Setsuna F. Seiei is about to discover the true purpose of his evolution as an Innovator. Aeolia Schenberg's plan has moved into its final stage...

During the One Year War of U.C. 0079, the Earth Federation and Principality of Zeon engage in a fierce battle at the "Thunderbolt Sector", a shoal zone in the former Colony Side 4 "Moore". After successfully infiltrating Zeon's sniper field, ace Federation pilot and jazz enthusiast Io Fleming is given control of the latest Gundam prototype.

It follows a young man who dreams of becoming a general and Ying Zheng, whose goal is unification.

To defend their kingdom against a sudden invasion, a mighty general returns to the battlefield alongside a war orphan, now grown up, who dreams of glory.

It’s 1940, and the population of Japan is divided over its entry into World War II. Satoko, the wife of a fabric merchant, is devoted to her husband but is beginning to suspect he’s up to something. Soon she allows herself to be drawn into a game in which she enigmatically conceals her intentions.

In Burma during the closing days of WWII, a Japanese soldier separated from his unit disguises himself as a Buddhist monk to escape imprisonment as a POW.

For the past 150 years, humanity’s two greatest nations have been deadlocked in a meaningless war. In what is hoped to be a miraculous victory, the Alliance embarks on a battle to break through the Empire’s frontline. Like many other “decisive” battles, this can only end in disaster; a sentiment shared by Imperial nobleman Reinhard von Lohengramm and Alliance Commodore Yang Wen Li, both of whom realize how to turn the fight in their favor. And while the tides of war may never change, these two men must rise to the occasion, solidifying their place in history as heroes.

In the closing days of WWII, a Japanese soldier afflicted with tuberculosis is abandoned by his company and left to wander the Philippine island of Leyte.

The episode will focus on the young Zeon ace Char Aznable earning his "Red Comet" nom de guerre, as well as the beginnings of the Federation's "Project V" weapons project that will eventually birth the RX-78-02 Gundam.

Reinhard von Müsel and Yang Wen-li return to their respective homes, one victorious and the other defeated. While Reinhard earns the new name Lohengramm, while Yang and his friends celebrate some welcome news.

Universal Century 0079. Humanity has turned even space itself into a battlefield, and the Principality of Zeon forces advance after wiping out half the world's population by carrying out the Operation British (colony drop). In response, the Earth Federation Forces mobilize their overwhelming fighting strength to regain the advantage. The complex intrigues of the Zabi family... Sayla Mass, as she contends with the whims of fate... Hamon and Ramba Ral, who is now a pilot in the Zeon forces... Amuro and Fraw, leading peaceful lives at Side 7... a dark shadow falls across them all. And the Zeon ace Char Aznable, driven by revenge, goes into action as the "Battle of Loum" finally begins.

A brother and sister learn their biological grandfather was a kamikaze pilot who died during World War II. During their research into his life, they get conflicting accounts from his former comrades about his character and how he joined his squadron.

The second movie of the long-awaited fan favorite Thunderbolt Series. Earth, eight months after the end of the One Year War. Captain Monica launches a secret mission, "Operation Thunderbolt," and selects Io to pilot the Atlas Gundam. She leads the assault landing ship Spartan into a part of the ocean effectively controlled by the South Seas Alliance. Their objective is to secure or destroy the data of the Psycho Zaku, which the Alliance now possesses. Daryl, who took the upper hand in his battle with Io, has descended to Earth as part of the remnant forces of the Principality of Zeon. He has also been given the mission of obtaining information on the Psycho Zaku. Fighting alongside his new comrades, Io encounters Commander Peer, the South Seas Alliance's border garrison commander. In the sea, on the ice field, and among the thick jungle, the mobile suits of Zeon, the Federation, and the South Seas Alliance battle each other. "The war is not over yet."

Directed by Junya Sato and based on a book by Jun Henmi, "Yamato" has a framing story set in the present day and uses flashbacks to tell the story of the crew of the World War II Japanese battleship Yamato. The film was never released in the United States, where reviewers who have seen it have compared the military epic to "Titanic" and "Saving Private Ryan."

Over more than a decade, the daughter of a Kyoto Imperial University professor comes of age as she witnesses her father fired for opposing the rise of fascism in Japan and becomes involved with two of his students.

Raised suckling poison arrows among the sparring Iga ninja factions, Mumon is a carefree 16th-century mercenary. When the ninja council makes a power play to defeat the young Nobukatsu Oda struggling to step into his father’s warlord shoes as they expand rule across the country, Mumon jumps into the fray to satisfy his new bride Okuni’s demand that he make good on his promises of wealth. Yet Mumon soon finds what is worth fighting for beyond money or nation.

In the year 2010, the Holy Empire of Britannia is establishing itself as a dominant military nation, starting with the conquest of Japan. Renamed to Area 11 after its swift defeat, Japan has seen significant resistance against these tyrants in an attempt to regain independence. Lelouch Lamperouge, a Britannian student, unfortunately finds himself caught in a crossfire between the Britannian and the Area 11 rebel armed forces. He is able to escape, however, thanks to the timely appearance of a mysterious girl named C.C., who bestows upon him Geass, the "Power of Kings." Realizing the vast potential of his newfound "power of absolute obedience," Lelouch embarks upon a perilous journey as the masked vigilante known as Zero, leading a merciless onslaught against Britannia in order to get revenge once and for all.

Three years after the Hiroshima bombing, a teenager helps a group of orphans to survive and find their new life.

In Japan, scientifically advanced invaders from the war-destroyed planet Mysteroid cause an entire village to vanish, then send a giant robot out to storm the city by night, after which they request a small patch of land on Earth and the right to marry earthling women, claiming to be pacifists. Mankind must decide whether to capitulate or to resist.

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (1884-1943) was the Japanese Naval commander who was given the order to attack Pearl Harbour, an order he was duty bound to obey which went against his own personal beliefs. While this infamous attack is a low point in Japanese and US history it wouldn’t have happened if the Japanese government had listened to Yamamoto in 1939 and searched for a more peaceful way to end their war campaign, proving his many ominous presages of the outcomes of the attack to come true.

The background to and depiction of a watershed battle in Japanese history, at Sekigahara in 1600, when Tokugawa Ieyasu's Army of the East defeated the Army of the West of Ishida Mitsunari. The story includes the intrigues and shifting loyalties of the various retainers, family members, and samurai.

Spring, 1941. Sixteen-year-old Toshihiko attends school in the coastal town of Karatsu, where his aunt cares for his ailing cousin. Immersed in the seaside's nature and culture, Toshihiko soon befriends the town's other extraordinary adolescents as they all contend with the war's gravitational pull.

It is the early 1930s and the command of the Japanese Imperial Navy determines to construct the world's biggest and most formidable battleship, Yamato. One of the admirals, Yamamoto Isoroku, disagrees. He recruits the upstart and mathematics' expert Tadashi Kai who discovers there are discrepancies between the official cost estimates and the actual figures. They soon find out that they have stumbled upon a conspiracy.

During Ireland's War of Independence, a five-year-old girl sets out to save her village from the English army by trying to enlist the help of the rumored Black Swordsman, who only takes books of a certain genre as payment.

Universal Century 0087. The Titans, a bellicose faction among the Earth Federation Forces, grows powerful and tyrannical, even using poison gas to suppress a civil unrest. Dissident soldiers from the same military stand against them, forming a resistance group called the AEUG. Kamille Bidan, a civilian student, gets entangled in this conflict when he impulsively steals the Gundam Mark II and joins the AEUG, running away from his home space colony. Then he begins to fight along with Char Aznable, a former Zeon ace pilot who has infiltrated the Earth Sphere for reasons of his own. This is the first part of the feature trilogy derived from the anime series Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, and features enhanced animation and theme songs by GACKT.

When lightning strikes a theater about to close its doors, three moviegoers are thrust back in time to the world inside the screen.

From June 1944, twelve Japanese seamen are stranded for seven years on an abandoned and forgotten island called Anatahan.

Universal Century 0087, Char Aznable has now become the leader of the AEUG. Scirocco, the man from Jupiter, schemes to seize control of the Titans. Haman, the Axis leader, is attempting to restore the Zabi family. Through politics and strategy, these three powers struggle for dominion over the Earth Sphere. The war builds to a deadly endgame around the space colony Gryps 2, which has been converted into a giant laser cannon. What destiny awaits Kamille at the end of the conflict? This is the final part of the Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam feature trilogy, which features enhanced animation and theme songs by GACKT.

Universal Century 0079. The One Year War rages on, and Shiro Amada and his unit, the 08th MS team, continue their struggle against Zeon forces in the jungles of Southeast Asia. But recent events have put them under close scrutiny by Federation leaders. Alice Miller, an officer of the Federation Intelligence Division, has been dispatched to ascertain the truth behind a series of events leading to the capture of a new enemy mobile armor. As she begins her investigation, the lines between Federation and Zeon become blurred. Is there really a spy among the 08th MS team?

The stories of several young women who work in a 'precision optical instruments' factory during the second World War. Despite illness, injury, and tremendous personal hardship, the women persevere in their tasks, devoted to their work and their country's cause.

In 1939, Sakura Nishi is a young army nurse who is sent to the field hospitals in China during the Sino-Japanese war. She has to assist the surgeon Dr. Okabe with an incredible number of amputations. In the crowded wards, she gives sympathy to some of the soldiers, including sexually servicing one who has lost both arms and has no hope of returning home. She falls in love with Dr. Okabe, and follows him to the front, even though he is impotent from his morphine addiction.

A war widow determined to clear the name of her disgraced husband, who was court-martialed for desertion and executed. Official records have been destroyed, and the ministry that distributes benefits continues to deny her a pension. Twenty-six years after the war, she seeks out four survivors of her husband's garrison. Each tells a dramatically different story about her husband's conduct, but she is determined to learn the truth.

In 1944, the American military lands on the shores of Saipan. Refusing to commit suicide with his superiors or be forced into camps for prisoners of war, Captain Oba Sakae leads a group of his men and other similarly minded local residents into the mountains. Even after hearing reports of the Japanese military's surrender, Oba dismisses the reports as propaganda and continues to launch guerilla attacks against the American soldiers, earning him the nickname "The Fox". Soon, even the American commander who's charged with the task of capturing Oba comes to admire his persistent enemy.

In the final days of the One Year War, a Zeon special forces group infiltrates a colony to gather information on a new Gundam unit. Alfred Izuruha, a 10-year-old student, befriends Zeon rookie pilot Bernie Wiseman during a brief mobile suit combat. Meanwhile, Al meets up with Christina MacKenzie, his former neighbor and babysitter. Little does he know that not only is Christina a member of the Earth Federation, she's the test pilot of the new Gundam NT-4 prototype.

In the final days of World War II, occupying Japanese forces in the Philippines face resistance from the local population and the American offensive. The dwindling Japanese soldiers attempt to survive through the horrors of war.

San and Mayu are two schoolgirls living in Okinawa during the closing months of the Pacific War. Together with their classmates, the two friends are drafted into the war effort as nurses for wounded soldiers. When ordered to die for their country, the remaining members of the group escape only to face the harsh environment of a tropical paradise that has become a hellish battlefield.

Following the detonation of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese military and the government clash over the demand from the Allies for unconditional surrender. Minister of the Army Anami leads the military officers who propose to fight on, even to the death of every Japanese citizen. Emperor Hirohito, however, joins with his ministers in asking the unthinkable, the peaceful surrender of Japan. When the military plots a coup to overthrow the Emperor's civilian government, Anami must face the choice between his desires and loyalty to his Emperor.

Set during World War II, the film follows a young brother and sister as they attempt to survive the aftermath of the firebombing of Kobe City.

In the black market, a war orphan is confronted with the struggles of people living in the immediate aftermath of WWII.

Volunteering as a "comfort woman" on the Manchurian front, where she is expected to service hundreds of soldiers, Harumi is commandeered by the brutal Lieutenant Narita but falls for the sensitive Mikami, Narita's direct subordinate. Seijun Suzuki's Story of a Prostitute is a tragic love story as well as a rule-bending take on a popular Taijiro Tamura novel, challenging military and fraternal codes of honor, as seen through Harumi's eyes.

The movie starts off after the events of Episode 3, when Kisaragi had sunk. The Mikawa Fleet (Furutaka, Aoba, Kako, Kinugasa and Tenryuu) are in the middle of Night Battle. Choukai uses Searchlight and gets medium damage, but they win in the end. A New Fleet Girl gets "dropped", emerging from the sea. It is Kisaragi. Kisaragi is brought back to the temporary base in Solomon Islands, but she is suffering from PTSD and has amnesia, unable to remember anyone from back in the anime, excluding Mutsuki...

Kayoko is a young girl in 1940, just starting first grade. Nothing can prepare her for 1945, and the bleak times that are soon to come.

On the eve of the Russo-Japanese war at the beginning of the 20th century, small-town girl Okane has married an old wealthy man to escape a life of poverty.

The epic conclusion to the Ideon saga, featuring what was meant to be the final 5 episodes of the TV series. The Solo Ship and its crew continue their intense battle with the Buff Clan leading to a final battle that will determine the fate of all life in the universe. This movie was the second part of a double feature along with "The Ideon: A Contact".

In July 1945, during the end of World War II, Japan is forced to accept the Potsdam Declaration. A cabinet meeting has continued through days and nights, but a decision cannot be made. The U.S. drops atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. General Korechika Anami is torn over making the proper decision and the Emperor of Japan worries about his people. Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki leads the cabinet meeting, while Chief Secretary Hisatsune Sakomizu can't do anything, but watch the meeting. At this time, Major Kenji Hatanaka and other young commissioned officers, who are against Japan surrendering, move to occupy the palace and a radio broadcasting station. The radio station is set to broadcast Emperor Hirohito reading out the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War.

A squadron of Japanese Self-Defense Force soldiers find themselves transported through time to their country's warring states era, when rival samurai clans were battling to become the supreme Shogun.

Shows the devastation caused by the atomic bomb, and by use of a fictional storyline, portrays the struggle of the ordinary Japanese people in dealing with the aftermath.

The story of a village woman given the grueling task of looking after (and fulfilling the sexual needs of) her quadruple amputee husband, a Japanese soldier in the Second Sino-Japanese War who has been decreed a "War God" by the Emperor.