Best movies like Our Departures
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Akira is widowed and left with a pre-teen stepson. Travelling with him to her late husband's hometown, she meets her odd father-in-law and yet decides to make a go of living and working there. She attends training and joins the railway company where her father-in-law works and her late man dreamt of ending up as a child.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 250
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Japan
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: sexy, crying
Best tv shows and movies like Our Departures (2018):
Similar in 76%
blank 13 (2017)
Plot Summary:
Thirteen years after abandoning his wife and two sons by stepping out for a pack of cigarettes and never returning, deadbeat gambler Masato dies of stomach cancer. At his funeral, a motley crew of fellow mahjong players, pachinko parlor employees and former drinking buddies gather to pay their respects and tell stories, revealing aspects of Masato’s life that complicate his sons’ resentment towards him.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 238
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Japan
Duration: 70 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 90%
Waiting For Spring (2018)
Plot Summary:
Mitsuki is shy and rather isolated at school. Towa is on the basketball team and Mitsuki's class-mate. Due to circumstances, Mitsuki soon begins to socialize with four jocks of the basketball team, which affects her self-esteem, her social status, her loneliness and her life. She finds a new lease in her school life.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 117
Genere: Family, Sport
Country: Japan
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: crying
Similar in 75%
The Land of Rain Trees (2015)
Plot Summary:
Nobuyuki Sakisaka (Yuta Tamamori) is a salaryman. When he was in middle school student, he read light novel "Fairy Game”. He still has that light novel, because he was so shocked by the ending. One day, Nobuyuki Sakisaka browses the internet and comes across the blog "Rein Tsuri no Kuni.” He learns that the blog writer, Rika Hitomi (Mariya Nishiuchi), also was shocked by the ending in light novel "Fairy Game." Nobuyuki and Rika soon begin to exchange emails. Nobuyuki wants to meet Rika, but she refuses due to her secret.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 82
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration:
Plot tags: crying
Similar in 79%
A Long Goodbye (2019)
Plot Summary:
A seventy-year-old retired school headmaster informs his wife and daughters that he has Alzheimer's disease. They are all concerned, but react differently due to their individual situations. The family watches as the husband and father regresses due to the disease and loses his memory. Interestingly, there are sparkling moments of his life of which the man will not let go.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 525
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Japan
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: emotional, crying
Similar in 87%
Parks (2017)
Plot Summary:
Jun is a university student. She meets high school student Haru. To Jun, Haru looks just like Sachiko who was the girlfriend of her now deceased father. Jun and Haru meet Tokio. Tokio is the grandson of Sachiko and they learn that Sachiko is now deceased. They find an open-reel tape from Sachiko's articles.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 953
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Japan
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: light, unusual plot structure, captivating, contemplative
Similar in 83%
The Anthem of the Heart (2017)
Plot Summary:
Jun is a girl whose words have been sealed away so that she cannot hurt anyone with them. But, one day, she is nominated to become an executive member of the "community outreach council." On top of that, Jun is also appointed to play the main lead in their musical.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 193
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Japan
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: sincere, uplifting, touching, captivating, entertaining, crying
Similar in 76%
Girl's Step (2015)
Plot Summary:
Azusa (Anna Ishii) and Narumi (Fuka Koshiba) are 2nd grade high school students. They lack confidence and also any kind of ambitions. Hazuki (Karin Ono), Tamaki (Mika Akizuki) and Mika (Miku Uehara) are also unnoticed students at the same high school. These five girls form a dance club and begin to dance to get credits. They soon learn the joys of dancing and also learn to express themselves.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 57
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Japan
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: funny, captivating, entertaining, disturbing
Similar in 88%
Voices in the Wind (2020)
Plot Summary:
In her search for answers, 17-year-old Haru sets out on a long journey across the country to the town where, in 2011, the devastating tsunami swept away her brother and parents. This road trip takes the young woman, who is still haunted by her loss, from Hiroshima to Tokyo and Fukushima and all the way to Ōtsuchi, where her family home once stood. On the way she encounters other people, other stories, other lives and other losses. Landscapes and faces. The journey ends in the middle of a garden in full bloom among the scarred surroundings of her coastal hometown.. In it stands a telephone box which, even though it is no longer connected, is used to speak to those who cannot be reached any other way.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 428
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 139 min
Plot tags: independent film, road movie, crying, intercultural, inter cultural
Similar in 86%
The Travelling Cat Chronicles (2018)
Plot Summary:
Nana is the cutest girl. She is also smart and aware of her talents. She has paws and purrs. Her father Satoru cannot take of her anymore and must give her up. He searches for someone to take care of Nana and begins visiting people who may be good candidates. As Nana and her father take trips in their car Satoru meets old friends, meets new friends and his own story unfurls in the process.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 527
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, crying
Similar in 83%
A Banana? At This Time of Night? (2018)
Plot Summary:
Hisashi Tanaka is a medical student in Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. He does volunteer work and gets to know Yasuaki Kano at the hospital. Yasuaki Kano has suffered from muscular dystrophy since he was 12-years-old. Yasuaki Kano has his eccentric ways like running out of the hospital and saying that he wants to eat a banana late at night. Hisashi Tanaka thinks Yasuaki Kano is a lovely person. Yasuaki Kano develops a crush on rookie volunteer Misaki Ando. He asks Hisashi Tanaka to write a love letter for him, but Misaki Ando is Hisashi Tanaka’s girlfriend.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 307
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 84%
Girl (2012)
Plot Summary:
"Girls" follows four beautiful women and depicts the troubles found in their love lives and work place. Yukiko Takigawa (Karina) works at a big advertising firm and has a good looking boyfriend. Seiko Takeda is married and has no children. She works at a large real estate company. Yoko Kosaka is a single woman working at a historic stationary company. Takako Hirai is a single mother who works for a car manufacturer.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 103
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 86%
Clover (2014)
Plot Summary:
Saya Suzuki (Emi Takei) is an ordinary employee working at a hotel. She falls in love with her elite boss Susumu Tsuge (Tadayoshi Okura). Through their romance, Saya Suzuki grows as a person.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 245
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: romantic, captivating, shoujo, entertaining
Similar in 78%
Life Back Then (2011)
Plot Summary:
Kyohei Nagashima (Masaki Okada) has shut away the world. During his high school days he was the target of bullying and experienced horrifying moments. Now as a young adult Kyohei takes a new job. He works for a company that specializes in cleaning out the homes of recently deceased individuals. With his new job Kyohei meets co-worker Yuki (Nana Eikura). Yuki has also experienced a traumatizing event as a teen and has also shut herself away from the world. These two young people form a bond as they go through the homes of the recently departed people. They gradually open up to each other and in the process to the world. Yet, their fragile psyches may or may not be ready for such changes.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 142
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, road movie, crying, learning
Similar in 80%
Kanazawa Shutter Girl (2018)
Plot Summary:
The girls are good friends at junior high school. Three of them seem to adjust and move forward upon entering high school, but the fourth of them is not having a seamless time of it. High school is not comfortable and the transition is full of memories, nostalgia and yearning. This is the story of a sixteen-year-old girl and also a camera. Kanazawa Shutter Girl picks up inspiration from the manga, and the subsequent movie, called Tokyo Shutter Girl and is helmed by one of its predecessor's's directors.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes:
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Japan
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: psychological, sincere, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 83%
The Ravine of Goodbye (2013)
Plot Summary:
In a valley, with a dense growth of trees, a baby is killed. The baby's mother Satomi is arrested as the prime suspect. The police also learn that Satomi is involved in a romantic relationship with her next door neighbor Ozaki. The information was provided by the neighbor's lover Kanako. Meanwhile, magazine reporter Watanabe, who is covering the story, discovers the shocking fact that Ozaki was involved in a rape case 15 years ago. Even more shocking, the victim in the rape case is Kanako.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 496
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, captivating, realistic, romantic, sexy, crying, detective, juvenile
Similar in 88%
Pecoross' Mother and Her Days (2013)
Plot Summary:
Laid-back baby boomer Yuichi (Ryo Iwamatsu) is a middle-aged manga artist and singer-songwriter when he isn't at his salaryman day job or watching out for his elderly mother. Suffering from increasing dementia since her husband's death, Mitsue (Harue Akagi) is a constant source of comic energy or annoyance for Yuichi, and he and his son must soon decide if they should put her in a home for the elderly. Jumping back in time, we see how Mitsue (played by Kiwako Harada) tracked the tumult of the latter half of the 20th century, being raised as one of 10 brothers and sisters, surviving the war, and having to push her alcoholic husband (Ryo Kase) along in life. "Pecoross" is directed by the oldest active film director in Japan, Azuma Morisaki, who creates an emotionally complex work that is only the more profound and life-affirming for its cartoonish portrayal.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 202
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Family
Country: Japan
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: sincere, captivating, realistic, thought provoking, humorous, entertaining, social, manga, crying, fable
Similar in 86%
Flying Colors (2015)
Plot Summary:
A high school girl, Sayaka Kudō was the bottom of the class. After a year, she improved her deviation value from 30 to 70, then passed Keio University that is considered one of the most difficult to enter in Japan.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: captivating, romantic, manga, crying, sexy, psychological, suspense, surprise ending
Similar in 82%
My Brother Loves Me Too Much (2017)
Plot Summary:
Setoka Tachibana is a female high school student who has confessed her feelings to other boys 12 times, but has been rebuffed each time. Her older brother Haruka Tachibana cares for his younger sister deeply, but he keeps secret from her that they are not blood related. One day, Setoka's first love Takane Serikawa appears after many years and approaches her.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 326
Genere: Drama, Family, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: romantic, sentimental, light, sincere, feel good, captivating, entertaining
Similar in 78%
Make a Bow and Kiss (2017)
Plot Summary:
Based on the comic book by Yakko Kaga.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 175
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Japan
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: light, romantic, sweet, captivating, crying, whimsical
Similar in 88%
A Story of Yonosuke (2012)
Plot Summary:
The year is 1987 and Japan is just reaching the peak of its economic success. Eighteen-year old Yonosuke Yokomichi arrives in Tokyo from Nagasaki. Ordinary in every way possible, he lives in a suburb far from the excitement of the big city and commutes to a university in the center of Tokyo.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 160 min
Plot tags: psychological, realistic, tense, captivating, independent film, crying
Similar in 89%
Her Love Boils Bathwater (2016)
Plot Summary:
A terminally ill single mother is determined to reconcile her splintered family.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: psychological, sentimental, sincere, captivating, melancholic, disturbing, inspirational, comedy drama, crying, detective
Similar in 83%
Like Someone in Love (2012)
Plot Summary:
An old man and a young woman meet in Tokyo. She knows nothing about him, he thinks he knows her. He welcomes her into his home, she offers him her body. But the web that is woven between them in the space of twenty four hours bears no relation to the circumstances of their encounter.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan, France
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, witty, sexy, avant garde, poignant, relaxing, sincere, contemplative
Similar in 85%
Our Little Sister (2015)
Plot Summary:
A story that revolves around three sisters who live in their grandmother's home and the arrival of their 13-year-old half sister.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, Family
Country: Japan
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, realistic, captivating, independent film, inspirational, offbeat, manga, poignant, art house
Similar in 90%
Until the Break of Dawn (2012)
Plot Summary:
High school student Ayumi is trained by his grandmother to act as a "tsunagu," an intermediary for people who want to reach the dead.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 266
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 87%
March Comes in Like a Lion (2017)
Plot Summary:
Rei Kiriyama is a 17-years-old shogi (Japanese chess) player. He debuted as a professional shogi player when he was in middle school. He lives by himself in Tokyo, because his parents and younger sister died in an traffic accident when he was little. One day, Rei Kiriyama meets three sisters who are his neighbors. The three sisters are Akari Kawamoto, Hinata Kawamoto and Momo Kawamoto. This is his first meeting with someone outside of the shogi world in many years. Having meals with the Kawamoto family brings warm feelings to Rei Kiriyama. As Rei Kiriyama continues his shogi career, his interactions with his neighbors allows him to grow as a shogi player and as a person.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 369
Genere: Drama, Sport
Country: Japan
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: captivating, anime, entertaining
Similar in 86%
March Comes in Like a Lion 2 (2017)
Plot Summary:
The time spent between professional Shogi player Kiriyama and his three stories helps to heal his wounds. As he prepares to secure another win in an upcoming tournament, the father who left the three sisters appears and disturbs the peace.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 261
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: captivating, crying, weeping, entertaining
Similar in 78%
The Furthest End Awaits (2014)
Plot Summary:
Set at the edge of the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, with its beautiful scenic views, the film revolves around two women from different backgrounds who develop a friendship, and how they begin to influence and change each other’s lives.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 298
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: sexy
Similar in 88%
Dear Friends (2007)
Plot Summary:
High school student Rina has a bad attitude and thinks that friends are something that you use when you need them. She doesn't have any real relationships and is not even on good terms with her parents. Rina is the clubbing queen and could get any guy she wants with her stunning looks. One day, Rina suddenly collapses and her world falls apart. She finds out that she has cancer. The only one who starts to support her is her classmate Maki. Maki tells that they were friends in primary school even though Rina doesn't remember. Maki wants to get close to Rina and help her like Rina had helped Maki when she had hard times.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 438
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: captivating, sexy
Similar in 76%
Tokyo Shutter Girl (2013)
Plot Summary:
The movie Tokyo Shutter Girl, based on the comic series by Kenichi Kiriki, consists of three separate works by three separate directors, each set in Tokyo. It is about three Japanese schoolgirls in a photo club.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 39
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: anthology, sexual
Similar in 80%
Tokyo Family (2013)
Plot Summary:
In this film director Yoji Yamada bows down before his teacher and role model. Yamada was assistant director on Yazujirō Ozu’s Tōkyō monogatari, a moving family portrait set after the Second World War. In his remake, Yamada has made very few departures from Ozu’s masterpiece in order to update the story of ageing couple Shukichi and Tomiko to present day Japan. Once again, the pair decides to leave their quiet lives in the country to pay a visit to their children and grandchildren in Tokyo. Once there, they discover that neither their oldest son, a doctor named Koichi, nor their eldest daughter Shigeko - who runs a beauty parlour - has time for them: both are too busy attending to their everyday concerns. Even the youngest son went his own way. The old couple feel lonely and bewildered in the fast-paced metropolis.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 146 min
Plot tags: realistic, sincere, touching, emotional, psychological, captivating, sentimental, serious, crying