Movies like Osaka Story (1999)
The best movies like Osaka Story (1999) are Nobody Knows (2004), Bunny Drop (2011) and Moving (1993). If Osaka Story hooked you, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedForrest Gump (1994)8.5/10 from 30,873 votes
- NewestRascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid (2023)Released 2023
- In JapaneseNobody Knows (2004)Also in Japanese
Nobody Knows (2004)
In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisBunny Drop (2011)
Daikichi learns that his recently deceased grandfather has an illegitimate daughter with an unknown mother. The girl's name is Rin and she is just 6 years old. Everybody in Daikichi's family looks at the girl as an embarrassment and wants no part of her. Disgusted by his family's attitude, Daikichi decides to raise Rin by himself, even though he has no experience raising a child and is still single.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMoving (1993)
Physically separated from her father and at odds with her distraught mother, a girl must negotiate her own passage to maturity.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCrayon Shinchan the Movie: The Storm Called: The Adult Empire Strikes Back (2001)
Shin-chan must rescue the adults of Kasukabe when they mysteriously abandon their responsibilities to relive their youth at the new 20th-century expo.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisFireworks (2017)
Moshimo, Japan. The annual fireworks festival is about to take place and a group of schoolboys, arguing over whether they are round or flat when viewed from different angles, set out to find it out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFamily Romance, LLC (2019)
Love is a business at Family Romance, a company that rents human stand-ins for any occasion. Founder Yuichi Ishii helps make his clients’ dreams come true. But when the mother of 12-year-old Mahiro hires Ishii to impersonate her missing father, the line between acting and reality threatens to blur.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShoplifters (2018)
In the outskirts of Tokyo, a poor but close-knit group living on the fringes of society survives through shoplifting and odd jobs. When Osamu and his son take in a neglected young girl, their already fragile existence begins to unravel. As the family grows attached to her, buried secrets surface, forcing them to confront the true meaning of love, belonging, and what makes a family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGood Morning (1959)
Two boys beg their parents for a television set, nagging them until all patience is lost. The parents order the boys to be quiet and the boys do exactly that--refusing to utter a word. The boys' silence ultimately puts the whole neighborhood into turmoil.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAfter the Storm (2016)
Ryota is an unpopular writer although he won a literary award 15 years ago. Now, Ryota works as a private detective. He is divorced from his ex-wife Kyoko and he has an 11-year-old son Shingo. His mother Yoshiko lives alone at her apartment. One day, Ryota, his ex-wife Kyoko, and son Shingo gather at Yoshiko's apartment. A typhoon passes and the family must stay there all night long.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMuseum (2016)
In Tokyo, Japan, several grotesque murders take place on rainy days. Detective Sawamura, who is in charge of the case, soon discovers that his own family is connected to the crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Neighbors the Yamadas (1999)
The Yamadas are a typical middle class Japanese family in urban Tokyo and this film shows us a variety of episodes of their lives. With tales that range from the humorous to the heartbreaking, we see this family cope with life's little conflicts, problems, and joys in their own way.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFortune Favors Lady Nikuko (2021)
Brash single mother Nikuko is well-known for her bold spirit, much to the embarrassment of Kikuko, her pensive yet imaginative daughter. In contrast to her mother, Kikuko wants nothing more than to fit in as she navigates the everyday social dramas of middle school. Life in the harbor is peaceful until a shocking revelation from the past threatens to uproot the pair's tender relationship.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMOTHER (2020)
Shuhei is leading a tough life. His alcoholic mother Akiko can only hook up with bad guys and order Shuhei to go get money from his disapproving grandparents instead of going to school. Except raising the little half-sister, his rock-bottom life seems to have no end.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Venturing Out (2023)
After a draining December, Sakuta is quickly nearing the end of his second year of high school. Since Mai is a third-year student, they don't have much time left together before graduation rolls around. Meanwhile, his sister, Kaede, is slowly but steadily venturing outdoors again. Just as she begins to find her footing, she announces her most ambitious goal yet—attending her brother's high school! Sakuta knows better than anyone how difficult this will be for Kaede, and he's ready to support her however he can. He's just not sure if that's what's best for her...or what she really wants...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this5 Centimeters per Second (2007)
Three moments in Takaki's life: his relationship with Akari and their forced separation; his friendship with Kanae, who is secretly in love with him; the demands and disappointments of adulthood, an unhappy life in a cold city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLate Spring (1949)
Noriko is perfectly happy living at home with her widowed father, Shukichi, and has no plans to marry -- that is, until her aunt Masa convinces Shukichi that unless he marries off his 27-year-old daughter soon, she will likely remain alone for the rest of her life. When Noriko resists Masa's matchmaking, Shukichi is forced to deceive his daughter and sacrifice his own happiness to do what he believes is right.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisEquinox Flower (1958)
Wataru's outwardly liberal views on marriage are severely tested when his daughter declares her love for a coworker and is adamant to live her own way, instead of agreeing to an arranged marriage. Outwitted by his female relatives, Hirayama stubbornly refuses to admit defeat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Letter to Momo (2012)
A shy 11-year-old's life takes a strange turn when she discovers three hungry goblins living in the attic of her new house. She misses her old life. She misses her father so very much. Until she makes some new ghoulish friends.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisJoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable – Chapter 1 (2017)
Welcome to idyllic Morioh, whose ocean views and charming townscapes make it a breezy Japanese utopia. But a chain of grisly killings has cast a bloody pall of uncertainty over its residents, especially Josuke Higashikata, a high schooler with offbeat hair and even more eccentric abilities. Now, with his grandfather on Morioh’s homicide list, Josuke must resort to his surreal “Stand” powers if he ever hopes to heal his beloved family and town. Josuke may have a Stand-wielding relative at his side, but the killer has plenty of help too.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisForrest Gump (1994)
A man with a low IQ has accomplished great things in his life and been present during significant historic events—in each case, far exceeding what anyone imagined he could do. But despite all he has achieved, his one true love eludes him.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAmerican Beauty (1999)
Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Dark (2005)
In an attempt to pull her family together, Adèlle travels with her young daughter Sarah to Wales to visit her father. The morning after they arrive, Sarah mysteriously vanishes in the ocean. Not long after, a little girl bearing a striking resemblance to their missing daughter reveals that she has retuned from the dead — and that Sarah has been taken to the Welsh underworld.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
SnoozefestMovies like thisA Girl at My Door (2014)
Sent from Seoul to serve in a remote coastal village, a policewoman gets involved in the life of a mysterious teenage girl who is abused by both her father and her grandmother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisOdette Toulemonde (2007)
Objectively, Odette Toulemonde has nothing to be happy about, but is. Balthazar Balsan has everything to be happy about, but isn’t. Odette, awkwardly forty, with a delightful hairdresser son and a daughter bogged down in adolescence, spends her days behind the cosmetic’s counter in a department store and her nights sewing feathers on costumes for Parisian variety shows. She dreams of thanking Balthazar Balsan, her favorite author, to whom – she believes – she owes her optimism. The rich and charming Parisian writer then turns up in her life in an unexpected way.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
SnoozefestMovies like thisIvanka Trump- America's Real First Lady? (2017)
Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka has been appointed to an official role within the White House, but what does she believe in and how much political clout does she actually have?
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Nathalie Granger (1973)
With little or no embellishment, filmmaker Marguerite Duras offers a simple, often wordless chronicle of a woman's day. She and her friend are seen doing yard work, talking about their families and receiving the occasional visitor. The brightest spot in the day is when a washing machine salesman comes to call.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Cassandra's Dream (2007)
The tale of two brothers with serious financial woes. When a third party proposes they turn to crime, things go bad and the two become enemies.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWeaver's Crossing (2015)
Tension flares between Sheriff Henry Turner and his son Jason after Henry loses his job and Jason takes over. A local writer chronicles the heart warming tale.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
Emily and King Oscar (1978)
Part four in the Emilia animation series. King Oskar rules his little kingdom, which is an island in the sea. After the king falls ill, people at first wonder how they will get along without Oskar. But then they start to listen to themselves, obey themselves and come up with a lot of new things.
Why it matches: Similar story and style
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Osaka Story?
The closest matches to Osaka Story are Nobody Knows (2004), Bunny Drop (2011) and Moving (1993). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Osaka Story?
Start with Nobody Knows (2004), the closest match to Osaka Story.
What is the highest-rated movie like Osaka Story?
Forrest Gump (1994), rated 8.5/10 by 30,873 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Osaka Story?
Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like Osaka Story?
Yes: Nobody Knows (2004), Bunny Drop (2011) and Moving (1993).
How are movies similar to Osaka Story chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Osaka Story, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.