A list of films released in Japan in 1971 (see 1971 in film).
| Opening | Title | Director | Cast | Genre | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02013-01-1212 January | Sympathy for the Underdog | Kinji Fukasaku | Koji Tsuruta, Noboru Ando | Yakuza | ||
| 02013-01-1515 January | Tora-san's Shattered Romance | Yoji Yamada | Kiyoshi Atsumi | Comedy | 6th in the Otoko wa Tsurai yo series | |
| 02013-03-2020 March | Dōbutsu Takarajima | Hiroshi Ikeda | Minori Matsushima, Asao Koike, Hitoshi Takagi | Anime | Adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island | |
| 02013-04-2828 April | Tora-san, the Good Samaritan | Yoji Yamada | Kiyoshi Atsumi | Comedy | 7th in the Otoko wa Tsurai yo series | |
| 02013-05-1515 May | To Love Again | Kon Ichikawa | Renaud Verley, Ruriko Asaoka, Tetsuo Ishidate | Drama | Entered into the 21st Berlin International Film Festival | |
| 02013-06-055 June | The Ceremony | Nagisa Oshima | Kenzo Kawarasaki, Kei Sato, Atsuko Kaku | |||
| 02013-06-1919 June | A Soul to Devils | Kō Nakahira | Nobuko Tashiro | Drama | Entered into the 1971 Cannes Film Festival | |
| 02013-07-1717 July | Gamera vs. Zigra | Noriaki Yuasa | Gloria Zoellner, Arlene Zoellner, Koji Fujiyama | Kaiju | Part of the Gamera series | |
| 02013-07-1818 July | Go! Go! Kamen Rider | Hidetoshi Kitamura | Hiroshi Fujioka | Tokusatsu | Movie version of Kamen Rider episode 13 | |
| 02013-07-2424 July | Godzilla vs. Hedorah | Yoshimitsu Banno | Akira Yamauchi, Toshie Kimura, Hiroyuki Kawase | Kaiju | Part of the Godzilla series | |
| 02013-11-1313 November | Silence | Masahiro Shinoda | Shima Iwashita | Drama | Entered into the 1972 Cannes Film Festival | |
| 02013-11-2020 November | Apartment Wife: Affair In the Afternoon | Shōgorō Nishimura | Kazuko Shirakawa | Roman porno | Nikkatsu's first Roman porno | |
| 02013-11-2020 November | Castle Orgies | Isao Hayashi | Setsuko Ogawa | Roman porno | Double-billed with Apartment Wife: Affair In the Afternoon | |
| 02013-11-2020 November | Tora-san's Love Call | Yoji Yamada | Kiyoshi Atsumi | Comedy | 8th in the Otoko wa Tsurai yo series | |
| 02013-12-011 December | Coed Report: Yuko's White Breasts | Yukihiko Kondo | Yūko Katagiri | Roman porno | ||
| Emperor Tomato Ketchup | Shūji Terayama | Goro Abashiri, Tarô Apollo, Shiro Demaemochi | ||||
| Minamata: The Victims and Their World | Noriaki Tsuchimoto | Documentary |
Famous quotes containing the words japanese and/or films:
“The Japanese are, to the highest degree, both aggressive and unaggressive, both militaristic and aesthetic, both insolent and polite, rigid and adaptable, submissive and resentful of being pushed around, loyal and treacherous, brave and timid, conservative and hospitable to new ways.”
—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)
“Right now I think censorship is necessary; the things they’re doing and saying in films right now just shouldn’t be allowed. There’s no dignity anymore and I think that’s very important.”
—Mae West (1892–1980)