The Japanese cinema industry is one of the few industries that still has a huge impact on the world cinema, keeping its own brand and characteristics while adding several other genres and features that enrich their cinema even more. They didn't show contentment and conformation to the classic; they maintain a very respectful in-view to the classic directors, actors, genres and movies, but they also added to that list a series of new directors and actors that become more and more famous, nationally and internationally.
This list tries to show the essential films of the Japanese industry, both classics and modern. I call your attention that there are NO ANIMES, I have to admit my ignorance towards that type of industry. I'm not a fan of Animes, although they are a big part of Japanese industry nowadays. I rather prefer to watch real actors with real emotions and real speeches, thus I decided not to include any Animes in this list.