...and it's far from complete, so please contact us with any additions or corrections. Films marked with an * are already in digital form in the Bamboo Gods Collection.
*1944 - Ano Hatte O Utte/Dawn Of Freedom/Tear Down The Stars And Stripes (co-directed by Gerry de Leon; Japanese propaganda drama on American "atrocities" in the Philippines, using American POWs in Manila)
1944 – Tatlong Maria (co-directed by Gerry de Leon and made during the Japanese occupation)
1953 - Nenita Unit (Filipino anti-Huk propaganda drama screened in Japan)
*1953 - Now And Forever (Filipino drama partly filmed in Japan)
1957 - Turista (Filipino/Japanese co-production filmed in Japan by LVN Pictures and Daiei Motion Picture Co)
1958 - Obra Maestra (People’s Pictures' portmanteau movie filmed in Japan, Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore and the Philippines)
1959 - Fires On The Plain/Nobi (A Japanese film directed by Kon Ichikawa about the Japanese army's retreat, partly filmed in the Philippines)
1960 - Basta Pinoy (Premiere Productions' musical comedy filmed in Japan)
1961 - Tokyo Calling: Walang Ligtas (Leopoldo Salcedo spy movie filmed entirely in Japan)
1961 - Filipina actress Charito Solis stars in the Japanese production Buddha*
1962 - Charito Solis also stars in Japanese production Nessa No Tsuki/The Princess And I (Daiei Studios)
*1963 - Gojuman-Nin No Isan/Legacy Of The 500,000 (Toho, directed by Toshiro Mifune)
1970 - Nora Aunor and Manny de Leon shot scenes for two teenybopper musicals in Hong Kong and Japan for Tower Productions - Around Asia With Nora and The Golden Voice. The majority of scenes for the two features were filmed onboard the liner Ms President.
1970 - 風の慕情 /The Wind Of Fate (Japanese production partly filmed in Manila and Sydney)
*1972 - The Evil Within (Philippines production partly financed by 20th Century Fox and filmed in 1970 in India, Japan, Hong Kong and the Philippines)
*1972 - Winter Holiday (Sampaguita/VP Pictures' musical comedy starring Nora Aunor and Tirso Cruz III, filmed in Japan)
1972 - Cherry Blossoms (Lino Brocka drama filmed in Japan)
*1983 - Tatak Ng Yakuza (Rudy Fernandez action movie partly filmed in Japan)
*1984 - The Miracle Of Joe Petrel/Umitsubame Jō No Kiseki (co-produced by Toshiro Mifune)
1988 - Full Speed Run (no other details available)
1988 – Passage To Hell (Ken Watanabe - very few details available other than a brief listing on IMDB)
1988 - Sando And The Diplomat's Daughter (Ken Watanabe's Watanabe Film Co; later distributed by Silver Star)
1988 - Lady Commandos (Ken Watanabe's Watanabe Film Co; later distributed by Silver Star)
*1989 - Above the War/Search And Destroy/The B-Team (Ken Watanabe's Watanabe Film Co)
*1989 - Harimao (Ken Watanabe's Watanabe Film Co)
*1990 [released 1993] - Manila Emmanuelle 2: Devilish Paradise (Ken Watanabe)
*1990 – Blowback 2/Blowback: Love & Death (Rodeo Films/Japan Home Video)
*1991 – Sani No Yuutsu/Sunny Gets Blue/Blowback/Sloppy Joe And The Heartbreak Gang (Rodeo Films/Japan Home Video)
1991 - 爆裂! M・コネクション ザ・ファイナル・シューティング/Burst! M. Connection: The Final Shooting (V-Cinema, stars Rikako Murakami)
*1991 – Onna Rambo/Lady Ramboh
1991 - Asian Beat: I Love Nippon (stars Ruby Moreno - was it filmed all or in part in the Philippines?)
*1992 - Men Who Love Filipinas (TV movie; Rodeo Films)
*1992 - Drug Connection (shot in Japan, USA and the Philippines)
*1992 - マニラ極道戦争/Manila Gokudo Wars (V-Cinema from Toie; Japanese crime action shot entirely in the Philippines with Ken Watanabe as local producer)
1992 - Wangan Midnight (stars Ruby Moreno - was it filmed all or in part in the Philippines?)
1992 - Afureru Atsui Namida (stars Ruby Moreno - was it filmed all or in part in the Philippines?)
1992 - ダーティ・ブルー 復讐の熱帯夜/Dirty Blue: Vengeful Tropical Night (Japan Home Video, dir. Kanazawa Katsuji)
*1993 - Southern Winds (trilogy of stories from Asian directors - Mike de Leon, Japan's Shôji Kôkami, and Indonesia's Slamet Rahardjo)
1994 - Senso E Iko Yo!! Parts 1 & 2 (stars Ruby Moreno - was it filmed all or in part in the Philippines?)
1994 - Wasurerareta Kodomotachi/Scavengers: Forgotten Children (feature-length documentary on Smokey Mountain directed by Hiroshi Shinomiya)
*1994 - Wangan Midnight Final: GTR Densetsu Acts 1 & 2
*1995 - Score (Team Okuyama)
*1995 - Kinkyû Yobidashi: Emergency Call (Filipino co-production starring Lorna Tolentino)
1995 - Nanba Kin'yû Den: Minami No Teiô - Gekijô Ban Part VI (stars Ruby Moreno - was it filmed all or in part in the Philippines?)
*1997 – Shoot My Darlin’/Koroshiya & Usotsuki Musume
1999 - 百度百科/Satsujinsha - Uragiri No Kyoudan
*2000 - The Guys From Paradise (Takashi Miike)
2001 - Blades Of The Sun
*2002 – Uniba-G Story/Uniba G Monogatari (“documentary”)
2002 - God's Children (second documentary - after 1994's Scavengers: Forgotten Children - by Hiroshi Shinomiya)
2003 - Abong: Small Home (dir. Koji Imaizumi)
2005 - Last Dance Of August 15th
2005 - Chateau de Roses
*2005 – Love Tomato
2005 - Yûsha No Hihô/The Cruel Stone
2006 - Kamikaze
2006 - Katana-Man (stars Ruby Moreno - was it filmed all or in part in the Philippines?)
2007 - Buddy 1
*2009 – Pandemic (partly shot in Banaue and Bacolod)
2009 – Wangan Midnight: The Movie (unconfirmed)
2009 - Basura (third documentary by Hiroshi Shinomiya)
2010 - Aibou The Movie 2
2013 - Death Match: Fighting Fist of Samurai Joe (Japanese production filmed in English in the Philippines)
*2014 – Fires In The Plain/Noba (Shinya Tsukamoto)
*2014 - Lupin The Third (dir. Ryuhei Kitamura; live-action manga shot partly in the Philippines)
2015 – Blanka (dir. Kohki Hasei; stars Don Gordon Bell)
2015 – Crossroads (dir. Junichi Suzuki; partly filmed in Baguio)
2019 - Tears Of Malumpati (dir. Keita Meguro)
2023 - Kodomo No Hitomi O Mitsumete/YIELD Final Version (documentary feature)
2024 - Crosspoint (A modern Filipino-Japanese action-drama starring Carlo Aquino and Takehiro Hira)
Honey I Love You (details unconfirmed, with Hong Kong star Daniel Wu)
Bayside At Midnight (details unconfirmed)
Excel 3 (details unconfirmed; TV show, 3 episodes only)
Sharing Through The Silver Screen: Exchanging Japanese and Philippine Culture Through Cinema
Words by Mon Garilao
As the world continues to globalize, gradually removing barriers to people-to-people exchanges and trade of international goods and services, and as the digital revolution connects the whole world, the Philippine film industry saw itself growing alongside these rapid developments within its immediate environment.
We’ve seen the rise of international co-productions in the past two decades bringing the Philippines to the global arena of motion pictures. We saw the rise of Japan as a favorite film production partner and film destination for many local Filipino movies with the likes of “In the Name of Love” (2011), a film by Olivia M. Lamasan, and “Sid and Aya” (2018), directed by Irene Villamor, both mainstream films which featured Tokyo, Japan as their backdrop. Other Filipino films shot in Japan include “Between Maybes” (2019) by Jason Paul Laxamana; and “The Missing” (2020) by filmmaker Easy Ferrer with immense support from the Saga Film Commission.
The independent cinema sector also showcased its ingenuity by presenting various stories on Filipinos in Japan in the films like “Blue Bustamante” (2013) by Miko Livelo, “Imbisibol” (2015) and Kintsugi (2020) by Lawrence Fajardo, and “Kita Kita” (2017), a film shot in Sapporo and other locations in Japan by Filipino film director Sigrid Andrea P. Bernardo, which soared to become the highest-grossing independent Filipino film in 2017. Consequently, there are several Filipino films with Japanese elements screening at the 2021 Tokyo International Film Festival such as “Gensan Punch” (2021) by filmmaker Brillante Mendoza, and “Arisaka” (2021) by cult filmmaker Mikhail Red.
Other interesting variations where we could see Japan and the Philippines’ film relations include short films such as “Encounters with Silence” (2016) which was produced during director Janus Victoria’s fellowship at the Japan Foundation Asia Center; also “Kodokushi” which is Victoria’s current feature film in development; “Come on, Irene” (2018) a Japanese production directed by Keisuke Yoshida starring Filipina actress Nats Sitoy; and “Onoda: – 10,000 Nights in the Jungle” (2021), a French, German, Belgian, Italian, and Japanese co-production about the Japanese soldier Hiroo Onoda who stayed in the Philippines islands until 1974 to fight even after World War II ended. The film opened Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section and stars Japanese actors, Yuya Endo and Kanji Tsuda, with a cameo of award-winning Filipina actress Angeli Bayani.
Japan and the Philippines’ diplomatic relationship is now 65 years strong. However, our actual encounters with one another stem years way back. This deep history and friendship fostered by the memories of war, mutual understanding, trust, and solidarity are well-represented in the various films produced in both countries. Landmark films in the 21st century from the bemedalled “Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita” (2004) directed by Joel Lamangan to “Tanabata’s Wife” (2018) by Lito Casaje, Charlson L. Ong, and Choy Pangilinan were all representations of the two countries’ strong connections rooted deep in their consciousness.
Cultural content in the form of mass media such as films are very effective in bridging cultures between and among nations. Films, when exported in particular, are quite easier to be understood than other forms of media as language barriers are solved through the availability of subtitles and closed captioning. As moving images bring viewers to various places and allow them to experience diverse emotions within the comfort of their homes — now thanks to streaming sites like Netflix and online film festivals such as the Japanese Film Festival Online (JFF), the global audiences are able to build an affinity and familiarity with the cultures that they are being presented with.
In 2016, Japanese director Makoto Shinkai’s animated film “Your Name” (2016) became a huge hit in the Philippines and around the world. The director is known for his intelligent use of real-life locations in Tokyo as inspirations for his animations. With his films rising into popularity, it then became a pilgrimage by Japanese film lovers around the world to visit the locations showcased in his animated films and take real-life interpretations of each iconic scene.
Data from Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) Manila office emphasized that there was a 7.1% increase in Filipino tourists to Japan in the first half of 2019, a year before the pandemic, compared to the same months in 2018. It could be assumed that a huge part of its increase is due to the fact that Japanese tourist spots and locations were given more exposure in Filipino blockbuster films.
As global tourism took a worldwide pause due to COVID-19, Film Tourism might be a potential force that could entice people-to-people exchange and revitalize travel in the future. We’ve seen Japanese cinema flourish in this aspect with films like “Spirited Away” (2001) boosting the tourism of Taiwan’s Jiufen Old Street where the film was supposedly inspired from. However, with director Hayao Miyazaki clarifying that the film was not inspired by just one place, it was revealed that the success of an earlier Taiwanese film “A City of Sadness” (1989) reinvigorated interest in this historic destination.
Other examples of successful film tourism include Sukibayashi Jiro in Roppongi, renowned as the first sushi restaurant spot owned by sushi master Jiro Ono which rose to fame internationally due to the documentary film “Jiro Dreams of Sushi” (2011), and Jinpukaku in Tottori a French Renaissance style residence which was featured in the blockbuster film “Rurouni Kenshin” (2012).
While there are several Filipino films about Japan that were shot in various Japanese locations, only a few Japanese film productions have utilized the Philippines as their cinematic mise-en-scène in the past two decades. To name some Japanese titles filmed in the Philippines: “Crossroads” (2015) by director Junichi Suzuki shot in Baguio with the Rice Terraces as backdrop; “Blanka” (2015), a film by Kohki Hasei which was part of the Biennale College of the Venice Film Festival; the blockbuster film “Lupin the 3rd” (2014) by Ryuhei Kitamura; “Tears of Malumpati” (2019) by director Keita Meguro; and “Abong: Small Home” (2003) by Koji Imaizumi starring National Artist for Cinema Kidlat Tahimik.
While Filipino film productions have actively engaged in shooting local films in Japan, more Japanese film productions have yet to experience and integrate the wonders of the Philippines in their moving images. There is a need to fortify film collaborations between both countries and at present, The Japan Foundation, Manila has been at the forefront of this endeavor. Through JFM’s grants, support programs, and several exciting projects, more Japanese filmmakers and film professionals are being invited to encounter and be introduced to Philippine cinema and culture.
Just recently, JFM hosted the film “Passage of Life” (2017) by award-winning filmmaker Akio Fujimoto at the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival. This became an opportunity for the Filipino audiences and Director Fujimoto to get to know each other’s cinematic cultures. The pandemic might still hinder physical co-productions but through JFM’s initiatives, there is the confidence that we can expect more amazing collaborative Japan-Philippines films in the near future.
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