Opening | Title | Director | Cast | Genre | Notes | Ref |
12 January | Aokigahara | Taku Shinjo | Aki Maeda, Masahiko Tsugawa | Romance | Based on a novel | [2] |
12 January | Aragure | Hajime Gonno | Nobuyuki Suzuki | Thriller | | [3] |
12 January | Momoiro Sora o | Keiichi Kobayashi | Ai Ikeda, Ena Koshino, Reiko Fujiwara | Coming-of-age | Debuted at the 2012 Tokyo International Film Festival | [4] |
12 January | Shing Shing Shing | Kouhei Sanada | Hoshi Ishida, Miwako Wagatsuma | Romance | Inspired by a song | [5] |
12 January | Suzuki Sensei | Yuto Kawai | Hiroki Hasegawa | Drama | Based on a manga | [6] |
19 January | Flashback Memories 3D | Tetsuaki Matsue | Goma, Kosuke Tsuji, Kenta Tajika | Music documentary | | [7] |
19 January | Dead Sushi | Noboru Iguchi | Rina Takeda | Comedy | | [8] |
19 January | Tokyo Family | Yoji Yamada | Bunta Sugawara, Tomiko Ishii, Masahiko Nishimura | Drama | Based on the film Tokyo Story | [9] |
26 January | Himawari | Yoshihiro Oikawa | Kyōzō Nagatsuka | Drama | | [10] |
26 January | Minasan, Sayonara | Yoshihiro Nakamura | Gaku Hamada | Drama | Based on a novel | [11] |
26 January | Sayonara Debussy | Go Riju | Ai Hashimoto, Shinya Kiyozuka | | Based on a novel | [12] |
26 January | Shiawase Come on | Daisuke Nakamura | Sawa Suzuki, Yuma Ishigaki | Drama | | [13] |
26 January | Strawberry Night | Yuichi Sato | Takao Osawa | Mystery | Continuation of a television series of the same name | [14] |
26 January | Tsuya no Yoru | Isao Yukisada | Hiroshi Abe | Romance | Based on a novel | [15] |
26 January | Night People | Hajime Kadoi | Eriko Sato | Drama | Based on a collection of short stories | [16] |
1 February | Documentary of AKB48: No Flower Without Rain | Eiki Takahashi | Members of AKB48 | Documentary | | [17] |
2 February | Kiiroi Jou | Ryuichi Hiroki | Aoi Miyazaki, Osamu Mukai | Drama | Based on a novel | [18] |
9 February | Nao Otoko | Tomoyuki Takimoto | Toma Ikuta | Mystery | Based on a novel | [19] |
15 February | Hello! Junichi | Katsuhito Ishii, Kanoko Kawaguchi | Amon Kabe, Hikari Mitsushima | Drama | | [20] |
22 February | It's a Beautiful Day | Kayoko Asakura | Kim Kkot-bi | Horror | Japanese-American co-production | [21] |
23 February | Yokomichi Yonosuke | Shūichi Okita | Kengo Kora, Yuriko Yoshitaka, Sosuke Ikematsu | | | [22] |
23 February | Sōgen no Isu | Izuru Narushima | Kōichi Satō | Drama | Based on a novel; First ever film to be filmed in Hunza | [23] |
2 March | Sue, Mai & Sawa: Righting the Girl Ship | Osamu Minorikawa | Kou Shibasaki, Yoko Maki, Shinobu Terajima | Drama | | [24] |
9 March | Doraemon: Nobita no Himitsu Dōgu Museum | Yuichi Shinbo | Wasabi Mizuda, Megumi Ohara | Anime | | [25] |
16 March | Bozo | Tatsushi Ōmori | Shingo Mizusawa | Drama | Based on actual events | [26] |
16 March | Himawari to Koinu no Nanokakan | Emiko Hiramatsu | Masato Sakai | Drama | Based on a novel | [27] |
23 March | Daijōbu 3 Kumi | Ryuichi Hiroki | Taichi Kokubun | Drama | Based on a novel | [28] |
30 March | Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods | | | Anime | Based on a manga; first theatrical Dragon Ball film since Dragon Ball: The Path to Power in 1996 | [29] |
30 March | Hanasaku Iroha: The Movie – Home Sweet Home | Masahiro Andō | Kanae Itō, Chiaki Omigawa, Aki Toyosaki, Haruka Tomatsu, Mamiko Noto, Yuki Kaji, Takako Honda, Tamie Kubota, Kenji Hamada, Junji Majima, Taro Yamaguchi, Ayumi Tsunematsu, Junichi Suwabe, Chō | Anime | Side story of Hanasaku Iroha (2011) | [30] |
6 April | Orpheus' Lyre / Sakura, Futatabi no Kanako [ja] | Minoru Kurimura [ja] | Ryōko Hirosue, Goro Inagaki | Drama | Based on a novel | [31] |
13 April | The Great Passage | Yuya Ishii | Ryuhei Matsuda, Aoi Miyazaki | Drama | Based on a novel | [32] |
20 April | Detective Conan: Private Eye in the Distant Sea | Kobun Shizuno | | Animation | Based on a manga | [33] |
20 April | Chūgakusei Maruyama | Kankuro Kudo | Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Hiraoka Takuma | Drama | | [34] |
20 April | Steins;Gate: Fuka Ryōiki no Déjà vu | | | Animation | Based on a video game | [35] |
26 April | Wara no Tate | Takashi Miike | Tatsuya Fujiwara | Thriller | Based on a novel | [36] |
27 April | Library Wars | Shinsuke Sato | Junichi Okada, Nana Eikura | Sci-fi | Based on a light novel | [37] |
11 May | Kenchou Omotenashi Ka | Yoshishige Miyake | Ryo Nishikido, Maki Horikita | Romance | Based on a novel | [38] |
11 May | Tantei Wa Bar Ni Iru 2 | Hajime Hashimoto [ja] | Yo Oizumi, Ryuhei Matsuda | Mystery | Based on a novel | [39] |
18 May | Tabidachi no Shimauta: Jūgo No Haru | Yasuhiro Yoshida | Ayaka Miyoshi | Coming-of-age | | [40][41] |
18 May | The Complex | Hideo Nakata | Atsuko Maeda, Hiroki Narimiya | Horror | | [42] |
25 May | Kuchizuke | Yukihiko Tsutsumi | Shihori Kanjiya, Takayuki Takuma | Romance | Based on a stage play | [43] |
25 May | Ore Ore | Satoshi Miki | Kazuya Kamenashi | Mystery | Based on a novel | [44] |
25 May | Taishibōkei Tanita no Shain Shokudō | Toshio Lee | Yūka, Masao Kusakari, Kenta Hamano | Drama | Based on a true story | [45] |
1 June | Riaru Kanzen: Naru Kubinagaryu no Hi | Kiyoshi Kurosawa | Takeru Sato, Haruka Ayase | Drama | Based on a novel | [46] |
14 June | Zekkyō Gakkyū | | Haruna Kawaguchi, Alice Hirose | Horror | Based on a manga | [47] |
29 June | Midsummer's Equation | Hiroshi Nishitani | Masaharu Fukuyama, Yuriko Yoshitaka, Kazuki Kitamura | police procedural | Based on novels | [48][49] |
6 July | Gintama: The Movie: The Final Chapter: Be Forever Yorozuya | | | Anime | Based on a manga series | [50] |
13 July | ExtremeSpeed Genesect: Mewtwo Awakens | Kunihiko Yuyama | | Anime | Based on an anime series | [51] |
20 July | Short Peace | Shuhei Morita, Katsuhiro Otomo, Hiroaki Ando, Hajime Katoki | | Anime | | |
20 July | Kaze Tachinu | Hayao Miyazaki | | Anime | Based on a manga | [52] |
20 July | Shanidaru no Hana | Gakuryu Ishii | Gou Ayano, Haru Kuroki | Drama | | [53] |
10 August | Enoshima Prism | Yasuhiro Yoshida | Sota Fukushi, Shūhei Nomura, Tsubasa Honda | Sci-fi fantasy | | [54] |
17 August | School Girl Complex Hōsōbu Hen | Yūichi Onuma | Aoi Morikawa, Mugi Kadowaki, Maaya Kondō | | | [55] |
24 August | Gatchaman | Toya Sato | Tori Matsuzaka | | Based on an anime series | [56] |
24 August | Jōkyō Monogatari | | Kii Kitano, Fumino Kimura, Asuka Kurosawa | | Based on a manga | [57] |
31 August | Natsu no Owari | Kazuyoshi Kumakiri | Hikari Mitsushima, Kaoru Kobayashi, Gou Ayano | Drama | Based on a novel | [58] |
7 September | Space Pirate Captain Harlock | Shinji Aramaki | | Anime | | [59] |
7 September | Usotsuki Paradox | Kōta Yoshida | | | Based on a manga | |
28 September | Why Don't You Play in Hell? | Sion Sono | Jun Kunimura, Shinichi Tsutsumi | Drama | | [60][61] |
5 October | Soshite Chichi ni Naru | Hirokazu Koreeda | Masaharu Fukuyama | Drama | | [62] |
8 November | Judge | | | | | [63] |
9 November | The Kiyosu Conference | Kōki Mitani | Kōji Yakusho, Yo Oizumi, Kenichi Matsuyama | period comedy | | [64] |
9 November | Patema Inverted | Yasuhiro Yoshiura | | Anime fantasy | | [65][66] |
9 November | Shijukunichi no Recipe | Yuki Tanada | Renji Ishibashi | Drama | Based on a novel | [67] |
23 November | Bayonetta: Bloody Fate | Fuminori Kizaki | | Anime | | [68][69] |
23 November | Persona 3 The Movie: Chapter 1, Spring of Birth | | | Anime | | [70] |
23 November | Kaguya-Hime no Monogatari | Isao Takahata | | Anime | Based on the Japanese folktale of the same name. | [52] |
7 December | Lupin the 3rd vs. Detective Conan: The Movie | Hajime Kamegaki | | Anime | | |
7 December | Ask This of Rikyu | Mitsutoshi Tanaka | Ebizo Ichikawa | Drama | Based on a novel | [71] |
14 December | Kanojo wa Uso o Aishisugiteru | Norihiro Koizumi | | Romance | Based on a manga | [72] |
21 December | Mugiko-san to | Keisuke Yoshida | Maki Horikita, Ryuhei Matsuda | | | [73] |
21 December | The Eternal Zero | Takashi Yamazaki | Haruma Miura | Drama | Based on a novel | [74] |
27 December | Hunter × Hunter: The Last Mission | Keiichiro Kawaguchi | | Anime | | [75] |
28 December | Majocco Shimai no Yoyo to Nene | Takayuki Hirao | Sumire Morohoshi, Ai Kakuma | Anime fantasy | | [76] |