unreservedly reccomendable Japanese films:
Angel Dust by Sogo Ishii
Surreal, paranoid Tokyo serial killer nightmare with really good photography. Very uncomfortable, very beautiful and unique.
Nobody Knows by Hirokazu Kore Eda
Beautiful, beautiful film about latchkey kids, also set in Tokyo. Maborosi and Afterlife are also some of my all time favorites, this guy is massively underrated.
Dolls by Takeshi Kitano
I love Takeshi in general, he's like the gangster/comedian Ozu.
Floating Weeds by Yasujiro Ozu
And while I'm mentoning him, Ozu in color and at the height of his powers. Delicate family melodrama from the master.