# List of Japanese films of the 1940s

A list of films produced in Japan ordered by year in the 1940s. For an A-Z of films see Category:Japanese films. Also see cinema of Japan.
| Title | Director | Cast | Genre | Notes |
| 1940 |||||
| Kaze no Matasaburo | Koji Shima | Akikhiko Katayama | Drama | |
| Nobuko | Hiroshi Shimizu | | Drama | |
| Shina no yoru | Osamu Fushimizu | Kazuo Hasegawa, Shirley Yamaguchi | Propaganda | |
| Travelling Actors | Mikio Naruse | Kamatari Fujiwara, Kan Yanagiya | Comedy | |
| 1941 |||||
| The 47 Ronin | Kenji Mizoguchi | Chojuro Kawarasaki | Samurai film | |
| Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family | Yasujirō Ozu | Mieko Takamine | Drama | |
| Hideko the Bus-Conductor | Mikio Naruse | Hideko Takamine, Kamatari Fujiwara | Drama | |
| Ornamental Hairpin | Hiroshi Shimizu | Saito Tatsuo, Tanaka Kinuyo | Drama | |
| 1942 |||||
| Hawai Mare oki kaisen | Kajiro Yamamoto | Susumu Fujita, Setsuko Hara | Propaganda | |
| There Was a Father | Yasujirō Ozu | Mitsuko Mito, Chishū Ryū | Drama | |
| 1943 |||||
| Sanshiro Sugata | Akira Kurosawa | Denjiro Okochi, Susumu Fujita | Drama Martial arts | Akira Kurosawa's first film |
| Momotarō no Umiwashi | Mitsuyo Seo | | Propaganda Animation | |
| 1944 |||||
| Ano hata o ute | Gerardo de Leon, Yutaka Abe | Roma Aguirre, Norma Blancaflor, Angel Esmeralda, Shigenoba Kawazu, Fernando Poe, Sr., Leopoldo Salcedo, Ichirô Tsukida, Denjirō Ōkōchi | Drama War | co-production with Philippines |
| Army | Keisuke Kinoshita | Chishū Ryū, Kinuyo Tanaka | Drama | |
| Miyamoto Musashi | Kenji Mizoguchi | Chojuro Kawarasaki, Kinuyo Tanaka | Jidaigeki | |
| The Most Beautiful | Akira Kurosawa | Ichirō Sugai | Propaganda drama | |
| 1945 |||||
| The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail | Akira Kurosawa | Susumu Fujita | Samurai film | |
| Momotarō: Umi no Shinpei | Mitsuyo Seo | | Propaganda Animation | |
| Sanshiro Sugata Part II | Akira Kurosawa | Denjiro Okochi | Martial arts film | |
| 1946 |||||
| Aru yo no Tonosama | Teinosuke Kinugasa | | | |
| A Descendant of Taro Urashima | Mikio Naruse | Susumu Fujita, Nobuo Nakamura | Drama | |
| Josei no Shori | Kenji Mizoguchi | Kinuyo Tanaka, Michiko Kuwano | Drama | |
| Minshū no Teki | Tadashi Imai | Susumu Fujita, Akitake Kōno | Drama | |
| No Regrets for Our Youth | Akira Kurosawa | Masao Shimizu | Drama | |
| Those Who Make Tomorrow | Akira Kurosawa | Kenji Susukida | | |
| Utamaro and His Five Women | Kenji Mizoguchi | Kinuyo Tanaka | Biopic | |
| 1947 |||||
| Ima Hitotabi no | Heinosuke Gosho | | | |
| The Love of Sumako, the Actress | Kenji Mizoguchi | Kinuyo Tanaka, So Yamamura | Drama | |
| One Wonderful Sunday | Akira Kurosawa | Isao Numasaki | Romantic comedy | |
| The Record of a Tenement Gentleman | Yasujirō Ozu | Chouko Iida, Hohi Aoki | Drama | |
| Snow Trail | Senkichi Taniguchi | Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura | | |
| These Foolish Times | Kajiro Yamamoto | Roppa Furukawa, Kenichi Enomoto | Comedy | |
| 1948 |||||
| Drunken Angel | Akira Kurosawa | Toshirō Mifune | Crime drama | |
| A Hen in the Wind | Yasujirō Ozu | Kinuyo Tanaka | Drama | |
| President and a female clerk | Hideo Ôba | Taiji Tonoyama | Comedy | music by Akira Ifukube |
| 1949 |||||
| Aoi sanmyaku | Tadashi Imai | Setsuko Hara, Ryō Ikebe | Comedy drama | |
| Jakoman and Tetsu | Senkichi Taniguchi | Toshiro Mifune | | |
| Jigoku no kifujin | Motoyoshi Oda | Michiyo Kogure, Eitaro Ozawa, Ichiro Ryuzaki | — | |
| Kane no naru oka: Dai san hen, kuro no maki | Keisuki Sasaki | Keiji Sada, Masao Inoue | | |
| Late Spring | Yasujirō Ozu | Haruko Sugimura | Drama | |
| The Quiet Duel | Akira Kurosawa | Toshirō Mifune | | |
| Stray Dog | Akira Kurosawa | Toshirō Mifune | Crime drama | |
| Zoku aoi sanmyaku | Tadashi Imai | Setsuko Hara, Ryō Ikebe | Comedy drama | |