Movies like Kôshoku biyoshi (1978)
The best movies like Kôshoku biyoshi (1978) are Tokyo Decadence (1992), A Thousand and One Nights (1969) and I've Always Liked You (2016). If Kôshoku biyoshi hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedLove Exposure (2008)7.9/10 from 556 votes
- NewestBoarder: Dangerous Cohabitation (2024)Released 2024
- In JapaneseTokyo Decadence (1992)Also in Japanese
Tokyo Decadence (1992)
A submissive hooker goes about her trade, suffering abuse at the hands of Japanese salarymen and Yakuza types. She's unhappy about her work, and is apparently trying to find some sort of appeasement for the fact that her lover has married.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Thousand and One Nights (1969)
Aldin, a vagabond water vendor, embarks of a series of fantastical and tragic misadventures through the Middle East in search of love, fortune, and power.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisI've Always Liked You (2016)
Love is blooming at Sakuragaoka High School. Natsuki Enomoto has finally mustered the courage to confess to her childhood friend, Yuu Setoguchi. However, in the final moments of her confession, an embarrassed Natsuki passes it off as a "practice confession." Oblivious to her true feelings and struggling with his own, Yuu promises to support Natsuki in her quest for love. While Natsuki deals with her failed confession, fellow classmate Koyuki Ayase struggles with his own feelings for Natsuki. Despite his timidness, he is determined to win over her heart. This movie follows Natsuki as she dreams of one day ending her practices and genuinely confessing to Yuu. Meanwhile, close friends also find themselves entangled in their own webs of unrequited love and unspoken affections.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMind Game (2004)
Nishi is a loser who has a crush on his childhood girlfriend. After an encounter with the Japanese mafia, he journeys to heaven and back, and ends up trapped in an even more unlikely place.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStar of David: Beauty Hunting (1979)
The life of Tatsuya, a young man of proper yet mysterious descent, whose outward respectability hides his urges for rape and torture.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAntiporno (2017)
Kyôko, a traumatized young Japanese girl, finds herself struggling with her self-confidence in her adult life. Growing up in a family without her mother and her sister, she constantly questions the rationale of sex and the notion of liberty in modern Japanese society.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBanana Split (2018)
After a messy breakup with her high school boyfriend, April strikes up an unexpected platonic friendship with his new girlfriend, Clara.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPompo the Cinephile (2021)
Operating out of the movie capital "Nyallywood," Pompo has been shooting one B-grade entertainment flick after another that anyone would enjoy. One day, Pompo's "movie buff" assistant Gene spots a new script written by Pompo and is moved by its exquisite story. In a fit of passion, he proclaims, "I want to see this as a finished work in theaters as soon as possible!" However, Pompo tells him, "So you shoot this film." Thus, Gene takes on his first directing gig. Meanwhile, Natalie, an ordinary girl who just arrived in town with movie actress dreams, has been discovered by Pompo...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGenius Party (2007)
The seven short films making up GENIUS PARTY couldn’t be more diverse, linked only by a high standard of quality and inspiration. Atsuko Fukushima’s intro piece is a fantastic abstraction to soak up with the eyes. Masaaki Yuasa, of MIND GAME and CAT SOUP fame, brings his distinctive and deceptively simple graphic style and dream-state logic to the table with “Happy Machine,” his spin on a child’s earliest year. Shinji Kimura’s spookier “Deathtic 4,” meanwhile, seems to tap into the creepier corners of a child’s imagination and open up a toybox full of dark delights. Hideki Futamura’s “Limit Cycle” conjures up a vision of virtual reality, while Yuji Fukuyama’s "Doorbell" and "Baby Blue" by Shinichiro Watanabe use understated realism for very surreal purposes. And Shoji Kawamori, with “Shanghai Dragon,” takes the tropes and conventions of traditional anime out for very fun joyride.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTamako Love Story (2014)
Devoted to her family’s rice-cake–making business and the high school baton club, Tamako is a little slow when it comes to love. She’s oblivious to her childhood friend Mochizo’s affections, even though all their friends know. With graduation closing in and Mochizo leaving for Tokyo, will Tamako realise her feelings and tell him in time?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFlower & Snake: Zero (2014)
Misaki Amemiya is an assistant inspector for the Metropolitan Police Department's Community Safety Bureau who becomes ensnared in a trap while investigating a mysterious illegal video website called "Babylon". Soon, she's bound and tortured along with Shizuko and an oversexed housewife named Ruri.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNisekoi: False Love (2018)
Raku Ichijo (Kento Nakajima) is an only son and a high school student. His father is the leader of yakuza group Shuei-gumi. Raku Ichijo doesn't like to fight and he studies hard. His dream is to become a public official. One day, he passes the entrance gate at his high school and is kicked inadvertently by Chitoge Kirisaki (Ayami Nakajo). She is a new transfer student at the school. Chitoge Kirisaki is the only daughter of a rival gang leader. To keep the peace between the rival gangs led by their fathers, Raku Ichijo and Chitoge Kirisaki decide to act as boyfriend and girlfriend. --asianwiki
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisClannad: The Motion Picture (2007)
Plagued by a seemingly endless stream of haunting dreams, Tomoya drifts through life with an almost overwhelming sense of anger and emptiness. Then, one fateful day, he meets the mysterious and beautiful Nagisa, and his world begins to change. While helping Nagisa revive the defunct Drama Club at their high school, Tomoya discovers that she has the same dreams. Their story starts beneath the cherry blossoms, but where will fate lead them?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisUrusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer (1984)
As the perpetually lecherous Ataru and his friends prepare for a carnival at Tomobiki High School, they gradually realize the days are literally repeating themselves. Any effort to break the pattern dumps them back where they started.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSasaki and Miyano: Graduation (2023)
As Sasaki prepares for his college entrance exams, Miyano tries to make the most of their limited time together while grappling with his own emotions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJustice League: Doom (2012)
An adaptation of Mark Waid's "Tower of Babel" story from the JLA comic. Vandal Savage steals confidential files Batman has compiled on the members of the Justice League, and learns all their weaknesses.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLove Like the Falling Petals (2022)
Haruto Asakura falls in love with hairdresser Misaki Ariake and asks her out. Watching Misaki Ariake work hard to achieve what she wants, Haruto Asakura, who almost gave up his dream to become a photographer, begins to pursue his dream again, but Misaki Ariake is diagnosed with a disease that ages her 10x faster than normal.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisRascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid (2023)
Finally, the day of Mai's high school graduation has arrived. While Sakuta eagerly waits for his girlfriend, an elementary schooler who looks exactly like her appears before him. Suspicious, and for all the wrong reasons... Meanwhile, Sakuta and Kaede's father suddenly calls, saying that their mother wants to see her daughter. She was hospitalized because Kaede's condition had been too much for her to bear, so what could she possibly want now?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBarbie: Skipper and the Big Babysitting Adventure (2023)
When her babysitting business takes a hit, Skipper takes a summer job at the water park. Here she can quickly put her skills as a nanny to good use.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove Exposure (2008)
The story of a teenage boy called Yu, who falls for Yoko, a girl he runs into while operating for the sake of sin as an upskirt photographer in an offshoot of the porn industry. His attempts to woo her are complicated by a spot of cross-dressing - which convinces Yoko that she is lesbian - dalliances with kung-fu and crime, and a constant struggle with the guilt that's a legacy of his Catholic upbringing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisGood Housewives (2020)
An erotic film about the affairs of three married women. So-jeong, Hyeon-joo, and Da-eun, who are college classmates, are each dissatisfied with their husbands. So-jeong, an extrovert, enjoys sexual affair with her photographer while working as model, and Hyeon-joo enjoys sexual affair with her male client while working in real estate. Da-eun, a full-time housewife, happens to meet an attractive pizza delivery man. A few days later, Da-eun calls her friends to her house and orders them pizza, and the three friends seduce the delivery man.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Exchange Wife 2 (2023)
Kyeong-soo, an art dealer who specializes in painting, goes to evaluate the requested painting and accidentally damages it. Chang-in, the owner of the painting, suggests one thing from Kyung-soo, who was at a loss.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Purpose of Tutoring (2023)
Yeong-tak and Ha-na are stepsiblings who live with the support of their divorced adoptive parents. The two begin taking individual private lessons for their respective careers. Yeong-tak secretly gives his acting teacher Na-ri sleeping pills to covet her body, while Ha-na is busy seducing her physical education teacher Han-cheol. Meanwhile, Na-ri and Han-cheol run into each other at the stepsiblings' house, fall in love at first sight, and seek revenge on the two who offended them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Life of Pleasure Exploration (2023)
Two women, Hae-na and Hee-na, prey on men under the pretense of marriage. One of these men is a doctor who falls for Hae-na and showers her with luxury gifts, but that's all he does. She can hardly get in touch physically with him. Meanwhile, Hae-na meets Ji-hoon, her former lover, again by chance, but after finding out about his relationship with Hee-na, the three decide to pursue money rather than love and start working for the men around them.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Boarder: Dangerous Cohabitation (2024)
Mi-hyeon's newlywed life was normal until her husband, Ki-hyeon, got into an accident. Her body and mind are ruined as she takes care of her crippled husband. While struggling with the hardships of her life, Mi-hyeon takes in a young man as a boarder with the introduction of her friend, and a deviation that Mi-hyeon never had before begins.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Sister Swapping (2023)
Sisters Ji-soo and Ji-yeong decided to sell their used underwear due to financial difficulties. Perverted men offer to buy them at a higher price by asking these two sisters for shots of them wearing the underwear. Other men offer to pay even higher prices by demanding sex out of greater desire. As the sisters earn more money than expected, their service becomes more and more popular.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Secret Desires of a Housewife (2004)
Cindy, a newlywed who's determined to do her part to contribute to the household income, together with her ultra-hot friend Heather, set up a web cam site in Heather's front room. As Heather tests the site, Cindy watches the hot action from her house. When Cindy's husband returns, things really get steamy.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Wife Collector (1985)
A taxi driving, punk rock listening, serial rapist with a bad attitude picks up female fares, sedates them with gas and takes them to his grungy lair where he video tapes his sexual abuse.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
My Wife Ran Away From Home (2023)
Jang-hyeok, a man Yoo-jin has a crush on, meets her at his mother's request, but he hates Yoo-jin. Yoo-jin knows that Jang-hyeok doesn't like her, so she asks her best friend, Si-nae, to meet Jang-hyeok. Si-nae and Jang-hyeok fall for each other and get married. However, Si-nae, who likes alcohol and men, enjoys an extramarital affair with Sang-min. On the other hand, Yoo-jin becomes unrecognizably pretty, and Jang-hyeok falls in love with her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Dalaga na si Sabel (1997)
Sabel (played by Izza Ignacio) is used by her mother to pay for a longstanding debt they have from the proprietor of a fishery.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Kôshoku biyoshi?
The closest matches to Kôshoku biyoshi are Tokyo Decadence (1992), A Thousand and One Nights (1969) and I've Always Liked You (2016). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Kôshoku biyoshi?
Start with Tokyo Decadence (1992), the closest match to Kôshoku biyoshi.
What is the highest-rated movie like Kôshoku biyoshi?
Love Exposure (2008), rated 7.9/10 by 556 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Kôshoku biyoshi?
Boarder: Dangerous Cohabitation (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Kôshoku biyoshi?
Yes: Tokyo Decadence (1992), A Thousand and One Nights (1969) and I've Always Liked You (2016).
How are movies similar to Kôshoku biyoshi chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Kôshoku biyoshi, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.