# List of Japanese films of 1996
## Highest-grossing films

| Rank | Title | Gross |
| 1 | Godzilla vs. Destoroyah | ¥2.00 billion |
| 2 | Shall We Dance? | ¥1.60 billion |
| 2 | Doraemon: Nobita and the Galaxy Super-express | ¥1.60 billion |
| 2 | Gakkō no Kaidan 2 | ¥1.60 billion |
| 5 | Supermarket Woman | ¥1.50 billion |

## List of films

A list of films released in Japan in 1996 (see 1996 in film).
| Title | Director | Cast | Genre | Notes |
| Adultery Diary: One More Time While I'm Still Wet | Toshiki Satō | Hotaru Hazuki | Pink | Best Film, Best Actress, Best Screenplay: Pink Grand Prix |
| Atashi wa juice | Toshiki Satō | Naomi Akimoto, Natsuki Ozawa, Shingo Tsurumi | | |
| Boys Be Ambitious | Kazuyuki Izutsu | Takashi Okamura, Hiroyuki Yabe | | |
| Ohranger vs. Kakuranger | Shōhei Tōjō | Masaru Shishido, Kunio Masaoka, Masashi Gōda | Tokusatsu | Direct-to-video crossover |
| Crayon Shin-chan: Adventure in Henderland | Mitsuru Hongō | | — | Animated feature |
| Don't Look Up | Hideo Nakata | Yūrei Yanagi, Yasuyo Shirashima, Kei Ishibashi | Horror | |
| Doraemon: Nobita and the Galaxy Super-express | Tsutomu Shibayama | | — | Animated feature |
| Dorami & the Doraemons - Seven Strange Tales of the Robot School | Yoshitomo Yonetani | | — | Animated short |
| Dragon Ball: The Path to Power | Shigeyasu Yamauchi | Masako Nozawa, Hiromi Tsuru, Naoki Tatsuta | Anime | Part of the Dragon Ball series; last theatrical film in the series until Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods in 2013 |
| Emperor Tomato Ketchup | Shūji Terayama | Goro Abashiri, Tarō Apollo, Shiro Demaemochi | | |
| Gakko II | Yoji Yamada | Toshiyuki Nishida, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Masatoshi Nagase | | |
| Gakkō no Kaidan 2 | Hideyuki Hirayama | Hironobu Nomura, Naomi Nishida, Kyōko Kishida | Horror | Part of the Gakkō no Kaidan series |
| Gamera 2: Attack of Legion | Shusuke Kaneko | Shinobu Nakayama, Ai Maeda, Toshiyuki Nagashima | — | |
| Heisei Harenchi Gakuen | Hiroyuki Muramatsu | Senna Matsuda, Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi, Rika Harada | | Based on a manga |
| Haru | Yoshimitsu Morita | Masaaki Uchino, Eri Fukatsu, Kazufumi Miyazawa | Comedy-drama, romance | |
| Kids Return | Takeshi Kitano | Masanobu Andō, Ken Kaneko, Leo Morimoto | | |
| Lupin III: Dead or Alive | Monkey Punch | | — | Animated feature |
| Mari's Prey | Keiichirō Yoshida | Makiko Kuno, Takeshi Yamato, Kenichi Endō | Erotic thriller | |
| Naked Blood | Hisayasu Satō | Misa Aika, Yumika Hayashi, Mika Kirihara | Horror | |
| Neighborhood Story | Atsuji Shimizu | | Anime | Based on a manga |
| Organ | Kei Fujiwara | Kei Fujiwara, Kimihiko Hasegawa, Yosiaki Maekawa | Horror | |
| Picnic | Shunji Iwai | Chara, Tadanobu Asano, Koichi Hashizume | | |
| Rebirth of Mothra | Okihiro Yoneda | Megumi Kobayashi, Sayaka Yamaguchi, Aki Hano | — | |
| Revive! Ultraman | Masahiro Tsuburaya | Susumu Kurobe, Masanari Nihei, Akiji Kobayashi | Tokusatsu | Part of the Ultra Series |
| Shall We Dance? | Masayuki Suo | Kōji Yakusho, Tamiyo Kusakari, Naoto Takenaka | Comedy-drama | |
| SM Teacher: Tied Up by Students | Yutaka Ikejima | Runa Hayama, Kazuhiro Sano | Pink | |
| Supermarket Woman | Juzo Itami | Nobuko Miyamoto, Masahiko Tsugawa, Ryunosuke Kaneda | Comedy | |
| Swallowtail Butterfly | Shunji Iwai | Hiroshi Mikami, Chara, Ayumi Ito | | Entered into the 20th Moscow International Film Festival |
| Village of Dreams | Yōichi Higashi | Mieko Harada, Keigo Matsuyama, Shogo Matsuyama | | Entered into the 46th Berlin International Film Festival |
| The Wart | Shinji Imaoka | Yōta Kawase, Maako Mizuno, Yumika Hayashi | Pink | |
| The Way to Fight | Takashi Miike | Takeshi Caesar, Ryoko Imamura, Kazuki Kitamura | | Direct-to-video |
| Women at a Secret Meeting: From Wives to Coeds | Sachio Kitazawa | Yūki Morishita, Shun'ichi Yajima, Kyōsuke Sasaki | Pink | |
| XX: Beautiful Prey | Toshiharu Ikeda | Kei Marimura, Makiko Watanabe, Ren Ōsugi | Erotic thriller | |