With the rise of the Pride Parade in Tokyo’s Shibuya and Harajuku to the pressure on the Tokyo Government to officially recognize same-sex partnerships, there’s a lot to celebrate with the LGBTQ+ boom in Japan. However, there’s still a long way to go, and phrases like “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down” still dominate Japan’s cultural ideology and landscape. This list of our favorite Japanese LGBTQ-themed films showcases the nuanced and honest representations of Japan’s LGBTQ community, and each film has gained attention both in Japan and abroad.

From Tsuyoshi Kusanagi’s portrayal of a transgender woman in Midnight Swan to a gay lawyer’s battle with love and self-resentment in Three Stories of Love, these Japanese LGBTQ films have helped to shape, and change, Japan’s modern film industry and the country’s attitudes towards LGBTQ people.

Funeral Parade of Roses (1969)

Director: Toshio Matsumoto

A cult classic, Funeral Parade of Roses is set in the underground gay culture of 1960s Tokyo. It is based on a loose adaptation of Oedipus Rex in which a gay son kills his mother and sleeps with his father.

Like Grains of Sand (1995)

Director: Ryosuke Hashiguchi

In this coming-of-age story, Shuji, a Japanese teen, falls in love with his friend Hiroyuki. However, Hiroyuki is attracted to Kasane, the new girl in their class setting up a love triangle that represents the trials and tribulations of young love.

High Heels Revolution (2016)

Director: Yo Kohatsu

High Heels Revolution is a 2016 docudrama that tells the story of actress Natsuki Majikina’s gender transition. Set primarily throughout Majinika’s high school years and featuring interviews with those that supported her throughout her transition (and others that didn’t), this revealing film documents the difficulties Majinika faced during her transition throughout the 90s and offers some insight into how attitudes towards gender identity have changed (or not) in Japan over the past two decades. 

DVD available on Amazon

The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese (2020)

Director: Isao Yukisada

Based on the popular manga series of the same name, The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese is a gritty portrayal of sexuality, infidelity and romance in contemporary Japan. Released in 2020, the live-action film centers on Kyouichi Ootomo, an unfaithful office worker, under investigation by a private investigator hired by his wife. Things get interesting when it’s revealed that the P.I., Wataru Imagase, is a high school colleague of Ootomo’s who also happens to be in love with him. 

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his (2020)

Director: Rikiya Imaizumki

Written and directed by Rikiya Imaizumki, known for his honest and complex portrayals of romance and love, his depicts the relationship between Shun and Nagisa over the span of nearly two decades. After falling in love in high school, the pair decide to go their separate ways towards the end of college. Then, after nearly 13 years of living in Australia, Nagisa seeks out Shun, bringing his young daughter along to meet him. 

Watch now on Amazon

Midnight Swan (2020)

Director: Eiji Uchida

Midnight Swan shook the Japanese film industry when it took the Japan Academy’s best picture and best actor awards in 2020. Directed by indie filmmaker Eiji Uchida and starring former SMAP member Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, the film tackles many of the issues that transgender people still face in contemporary Japan including employment discrimination and gender identity recognition. Kusanagi stars as Nagisa, a nightclub worker who takes in her teenage niece after the girl’s alcoholic mother is reported for abuse and the film centers burgeoning relationship between the two as they discover shared passions and forms of expression. 

Watch now on Amazon

Kakera: A Piece of Our Life (2009)

Director: Momoko Ando

Director Momoko Ando’s first feature film, A Piece of Our Life, got audiences talking in 2009 for its portrayal of same-sex relationships and unorthodox cinematography. With stunning performances from Hikari Mitsushima and Erika Nakamura, the film features Mitsushima as Haru, a quiet and reserved student experiencing boyfriend troubles and Nakamura as the brash, outspoken prosthetist, Riko. Also featuring a brooding and atmospheric soundtrack by James Iha of Smashing Pumpkins fame, A Piece of Our Life is a subtle and bittersweet indie film that has unfortunately mostly fallen under the radar for the past decade or so.

Watch now on Amazon

Close-Knit (2017)
Director: Naoko Ogigami

Straying from her preference for emotionally healing movies — or iyashikei eiga in Japanese — screenwriter and director Naoko Ogigami drew inspiration for Close-Knit from her visit to the U.S., where she witnessed the evident social issues faced by LGBTQ minorities. Close-Knit depicts the story of a young girl, Tomo (Rinka Kakihara), who gradually finds solace in her uncle, Makio (Kenta Kiritani) and his girlfriend Rinko (Toma Ikuta), a transgender woman, after being neglected and abandoned by her mother. Through Rinko’s apathetic (yet somewhat optimistic) character, Ogigami’s Close-Knit encapsulates the irrational fear and resentment against LGBTQ minorities in modern Japan without being heavy-handed. 

Watch now on Youtube Movies or Amazon

Three Stories of Love (2015)
Director: Ryosuke Hashiguchi

Known for his groundbreaking projects centered around LGBTQ issues, award-winning director Ryosuke Hashiguchi spent eight months perfecting his script for Three Stories of Love (Koibitotachi in Japanese). The film examines themes of love, abandonment and heartbreak from three polar-opposite characters: Shinomiya (Ryo Ikdea), a closeted gay lawyer with a self-inflicted emotional wound, Atsushi (Atsushi Shinohara), a bridge inspector grieving his late wife and Toko (Toko Narushima), a housewife who has an affair with a scam artist. Much like Hashiguchi’s previous works, such as A Touch of Fever and Hush — both of which featured gay men — the film weaves the loneliness and fragility of each character through their muted desperation.

Watch now on Youtube Movies or Hulu

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Get even more involved with the LGBTQ community in Japan:
This Monk Wears Heels – Kodo Nishimura shares his fairy godmother spirit in new book
Japan in Love: Same-Sex Couples in Tokyo on Love, Marriage and Equality
New Documentary Highlights Trans Youth in Japan
Coming to Terms with Your Sexuality in Japan
Paul Saviano: Embracing Transgender and Nonconformity

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Kalanchoe no Hana (2018)
Director: Shun Nakagawa

Independent film director Shun Nakagawa snatched 13 awards at various Japanese film festivals thanks to his latest Japanese LGBTQ film, Kalanchoe no Hana. After a group of high school sophomores take an LGBTQ awareness course in school, the students grow suspicious of their classmates’ sexuality. Within the span of 39 minutes, Nakagawa illustrates the complex and varying attitudes of each of his characters, depicting just how difficult it can be to break down peer pressure. 

Watch now on Youtube Movie or Amazon Prime

House of Himiko (2005)
Director: Isshin Inudo 

Acclaimed director Isshin Inudo juggles themes of drama and comedy in House of Himiko, also known internationally as La Maison de Himiko. The film follows Saori (Ko Shibasaki), a young woman struggling with her father’s abandonment. When her father’s young lover, Haruhiko (Jo Odagiri), shows up to tell Saori that her father is dying, Saori must overcome her pain and resentment to take care of him. They reunite at House of Himiko, a nursing home founded by her father for gay men. Inudo tackles the sensibilities of coming out in Japan and reforging relationships within Japan’s LGBTQ families through Saori’s rediscovery of liberation.  

※English subtitles not available
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Queer Japan (2019)
Director: Graham Kolbeins 

Queer Japan begins with Graham Kolbein’s humble visit to Japan, where he works closely with Japanese LGBTQ artists and feminists through Massive Goods, his manga publishing and fashion brand company. The LGBTQ documentary — or a “series of character studies,” as the director prefers to call it — features activists, academics and artists from Japan’s LGBTQ community who identify as a kaleidoscope of gender and sexual identities. From drag queen Vivienne Sato to Tokyo municipal officer Aya Kamikawa, Queer Japan compiles 100 interviews conducted over three years to celebrate the triumphs and unconventional lives of Japan’s LGBTQ community. 

Watch now on Vimeo, Amazon or AppleTV 

Beneath the Shadow (2020)
Director: Keishi Otomo

Beneath the Shadows is a Japanese film delving into the intricacies of solitude. The protagonist, a solitary gay individual leading a routine existence, experiences a transformative encounter when he befriends a nonconformist colleague who injects a sense of thrill into his mundane life. Yet, the newfound companionship takes an intriguing turn, as his enigmatic friend conceals true motives behind a veil of ambiguity. Based on a novel written by Numata Shinsuke, this movie’s melancholic tone struck a chord with our editors at a profound level. The narrative prompted contemplation of poignant emotions and conveyed a thought-provoking philosophical message.

Until Rainbow Dawn (2018)

Director: Mika Imai

Based on a true story of an openly lesbian director with a hearing impairment, Until Rainbow Dawn is a story of difference, coming out and acceptance. When the protagonist Hana falls in love with Ayumi, a girl she meets in her sign language group, she comes out to her parents whose response is to swiftly reject her. To try cheer her up, Ayumi takes Hana to a deaf LGBTQ group in Tokyo, a place where they both find the acceptance of themselves and also the acceptance of a group. This is a landmark film with a deaf cast and crew that hones in on what identity means.