Comment by socalgal2

Japanese films are notoriously bad. You found a few gems. They are rare. This topic comes up often in Japanese learning groups.

There's also just personal takes. I had to shut off Memories of Matsuko. Maybe the end saves it but it was way too over the top and not in a good way.

Some good older Japanese though

Kurasawa: Ikiru (1955)

Teshigahara: Woman in the Dunes (1964)

These are 2 movies you won't forget.

Conversely, even though I enjoyed Shoplifters I remember nothing about it except the guy celebrating he had sex and the girl burping. Similarly with After Life. I just watched it 2 months ago and had to go look it up to remember what it was about. It was interesting because of the premise but not because of the movie itself.