r/JapaneseMovies • u/Any-Shirt9632 • 6d ago

Movies about pre-war Japan

I have seen perhaps 20 Japanese movies in my life, mostly "classics,"from the 30 years following the War, so my question may simply reflect lack of knowledge. However, none of the movies I have seen were set in the 50 years before the War. They are either set centuries in the past or in post-War modernity. Am I wrong in my perception that pre War Japan had largely been avoided and, if not, why?

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u/BletchTheWalrus 6d ago

Yes, that perception is wrong. There are thousands of Japanese movies set during the 50 years before the war, including very famous and acclaimed classics.

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u/sappydark 5d ago edited 1d ago

You can find lots of Japanese films made in the 1920s and '30s on youtube, like one of my favorites---the classic experimental psychological horror film A Page of Madness (1926) which is on youtube and Tubi, Darkroom, and Fawesome. Darkroom's got mainly remastered films, so it would be worth watching on there.

The Ghost Cat and the Mysterious Shamisen (1938) a pre-WWII J-horror film, is also worth catching on youtube.

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u/GreggeryPeccary666 5d ago

He's talking about films set before the war, not made then.

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u/sappydark 5d ago

Oops. I'll try and come up with some titles then.

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u/BletchTheWalrus 5d ago

Saved you some work: https://www.reddit.com/r/AsianCinema/comments/1uljbqe/japanese_films_set_in_meiji_taisho_and_early/

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u/sappydark 1d ago edited 23h ago

Oh, thanks----of the films listed in that link, I've only seen about five of them. At least four more good movies I've also seen that would fit the OP's catagory are:

Dogra Magra (1988)----on Hoopla, Fawesome, and Darkroom (with no ads)

The Inugami Family (1976)--not streaming anywhere

Japan Organized Crime Boss (1969)----Darkroom, Hoopla and Fawesome

Doomed Megalopolis aka The Last Megalopolis (1988)----on Tubi

These are all set in 1920s/early 1930s Japan. Except for The Inugami Family, which is a good period mystery movie, the other three are also all on Tubi.