Toho announced on November 25 that the box-office revenue of the movie “Kokuhou” (directed by Sang-il Lee and Ryo Yoshizawa) topped 17.37 billion yen, surpassing the 17.35 billion yen of “Odoru Daisousasen The Movie 2: Blockade the Rainbow Bridge” (directed by Katsuko Motohiro) released in 2003, starring Yuji Oda, which was the highest-grossing live-action Japanese movie ever. (directed by Katsuyuki Motohiro), which was released in 2003, topped 17.35 billion yen, making it the highest-grossing live-action Japanese film of all time. The film is based on the novel of the same title by Shuichi Yoshida, the beautiful singer who sang the theme song for “Kokuho. The story is about Kikuo, played by Yoshizawa, who is born into a family of chivalrous men, but devotes his life to his art as an onnagata (female impersonator), a female kabuki actor’s chambermaid, despite being born into a family of chivalrous men. The cast includes Ryusei Yokohama as Shunsuke, Kikuo’s rival; Ken Watanabe as Hanai Hanjiro, a kabuki actor who takes Kikuo in as a chambermaid; Min Tanaka as Mangiku Onogawa, the most famous onnagata of his generation and a living national treasure; Shinobu Terajima as Sachiko, Hanjiro’s wife; and Mitsuki Takahata as Harue, Kikuo’s childhood friend, who also gives a strong performance. The film is a beautiful and profound human drama. Since its premiere on June 6, the film has been popular among people of all ages, and as of June 10, it had drawn more than 12.07 million viewers and grossed over 17 billion yen at the box office. The film also began showing a supplementary audio guide with director Lee, Kabuki instructor Nakamura Ganjiro, and choreographer Nakamura Ittaro (Azuma Tokuyo). The film was nominated for six awards at the 50th Hochi Film Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Leading Actor (Yoshizawa), Best Supporting Actor (Watanabe, Tanaka, Yokohama), Best Supporting Actress (Terashima), and Best Newcomer (Soya Kurokawa). ◆Top 10 Japanese live-action films of all time (rank from the front, box office, title, year of release, director, star) 1 173.7 Guoho 2025 Lee Sang-il Yoshizawa Ryo 2 173.5 Bayside Shakedown 2: Rainbow Bridge! 2003 Katsuyuki Motohiro Yuji Oda 3 110.0 Antarctic Tales 1983 Koreyoshi Kurahara Ken Takakura 4 101.0 Bayside Shakedown The Movie 1998 Katsuyuki Motohiro Yuji Oda 5 98.0 Kitten Story 1986 Masanori Hata – 6 93.0 Code Blue The Movie – Doctor Heli Emergency 6 93.0 Code Blue the Movie -Doctor Heli Emergency Rescue- 2018 Masaki Nishiura, Tomohisa Yamashita 7 92.0 Heaven and Earth 1990 Haruki Kadokawa, Takaaki Enoki 8 87.6 Eternal 0 2013 Takashi Yamazaki, Junichi Okada 9 85.5 ROOKIES -Gakusei- 2009 Yuichiro Hirakawa, Ryuta Sato 10 85.0 Crying Out Love in the Center of the World 2004 Isao Yukisada, Takao Osawa, Kou Shibasaki [Note] Titles omitted. Box-office revenue is in 100 million yen. The figures for “National Treasure” are as of November 24. Kitten Story” is not shown because the leading role is an animal. The World” is a double-starring film.
The Hochi Shimbun