{"id":201298,"date":"2025-11-26T14:11:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T14:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/201298\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T14:11:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T14:11:15","slug":"kokuho-becomes-japans-top-grossing-live-action-film-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/201298\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Kokuho\u2019 Becomes Japan\u2019s Top-Grossing Live-Action Film Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tLee Sang-il\u2019s Kokuho \u2014 a nearly three-hour period drama about the cloistered world of traditional kabuki theater \u2014 has defied all reasonable expectations to become Japan\u2019s top-grossing domestic live-action film of all time.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Sony-backed feature, produced by Aniplex in association with Myriagon Studio and distributed by Toho, has earned more than 17.37 billion yen ($111 million) since its June release in Japan, surpassing the 17.35 billion yen record held for 22 years by crime-comedy Bayside Shakedown 2 (2003).<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film has drawn over 12 million admissions \u2014 a feat that few would have predicted for such an artistically demanding work. But the film premiered to rave reviews in the Directors\u2019 Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival in May, and it has been earning effusive admirers and building momentum ever since. In April, Japan selected Kokuho as its official submission for the 2026 Oscars<\/a> in the best international<\/a> feature category, where it\u2019s now considered a serious contender.<\/p>\n

\n\tKokuho (which translates as \u201cnational treasure\u201d) traces five decades in the intertwined lives of two kabuki actors: an orphaned outsider and the heir of a prestigious stage family, whose friendship curdles into obsession and rivalry. Adapting a novel by Shuichi Yoshida, Lee \u2014 best known internationally for Villain (2010) and Rage (2016) \u2014 crafts what THR\u2019s reviewer described<\/a> as a \u201ctransporting and operatic\u201d story that \u201cblends backstage melodrama, succession saga and making-of-an-artist dynamics\u201d into a sweeping meditation on ambition, artistry and sacrifice.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tKokuho<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGKIDS<\/p>\n

\n\tCritics have hailed the film\u2019s visual poetry and its deep immersion in the rarefied traditions of kabuki. Sofian El Fani\u2019s cinematography and Yohei Taneda\u2019s lavish production design have been praised for their tactile grandeur, while stars Ryo Yoshizawa and Ryusei Yokohama have been consistently celebrated for their \u201cexquisitely layered performances that interweave offstage characterization and onstage theatricality,\u201d as THR\u2019s critic put it.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe box office<\/a> triumph is particularly remarkable given the film\u2019s long runtime (two hours and 55 minutes) and relatively esoteric subject matter \u2014 a lavish kabuki-theater epic in an era when Japan\u2019s box office is consistently dominated by anime and franchise fare. Local analysts have enthused that Kokuho\u2019s success proves the enduring appeal of prestige storytelling on the big screen and the power of distinctly Japanese material among domestic audiences.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film\u2019s popularity has also helped drive a wave of ticket sales at real-world kabuki houses across Japan. The success of Kokuho has sparked renewed interest in the centuries-old theater form, with major venues reporting surges in attendance, younger demographics filling seats, and many first-time or lapsed patrons returning to the traditional stage performances.<\/p>\n

\n\tKokuho made its North American debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, followed by a limited Oscar-qualifying run in the U.S. this month courtesy of Toho\u2019s North American distribution subsidiary, GKIDS. The company is planning a wider U.S. release in early 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lee Sang-il\u2019s Kokuho \u2014 a nearly three-hour period drama about the cloistered world of traditional kabuki theater \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[263],"tags":[2786,9867,18,117,19,1452,17,327,7012],"class_list":{"0":"post-201298","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-asia","9":"tag-box-office","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-international","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-movies","16":"tag-oscars"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115616408377449373","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}