Watch Ikiru (1952): stream Ikiru (1952) on Max, Kanopy, YouTube TV. Compare all streaming options for this movie on WhereCanIWatch.tv.
Ikiru
There are eight million stories in the Naked City.
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Stream on Max
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You can watch Ikiru (1952) for free on Kanopy.
Kanji Watanabe is a middle-aged man who has worked in the same monotonous bureaucratic position for decades. Learning he has cancer, he starts to look for the meaning of his life.
Instead of a standard tragedy, this film finds profound, quiet joy in the struggle to leave a small mark on a rigid world. A lifetime of bureaucratic numbness dissolves into a frantic, beautiful pursuit of purpose against a ticking clock.
Trailer
Director
Akira Kurosawa
Cast
Takashi Shimura, Haruo Tanaka, Nobuo Kaneko, Bokuzen Hidari, Miki Odagiri, Shinichi Himori, Minoru Chiaki, Minosuke Yamada, Kamatari Fujiwara, Makoto Kobori
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Ikiru
There are eight million stories in the Naked City.
You can watch Ikiru (1952) for free on Kanopy.
IMDb
8.3/10
Metacritic
Director
Akira Kurosawa
Cast
Takashi Shimura, Haruo Tanaka, Nobuo Kaneko, Bokuzen Hidari, Miki Odagiri, Shinichi Himori, Minoru Chiaki, Minosuke Yamada, Kamatari Fujiwara, Makoto Kobori
4 options ranked by value · 🇺🇸 United States
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dying and death · japan · bureaucracy · age difference · praise · office · night life · sense of life · playground · obsequies
Ikiru is streaming on Max. Watch Ikiru for free on Kanopy. Ikiru is streaming on YouTube TV. Ikiru is streaming on Criterion Channel. Ikiru is not currently available on Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Prime Video, Apple TV+. Availability last verified July 10, 2026.