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The winners of the 49th Japan Academy Award’s 15 main categories and the Newcomer Actor Award were announced on January 19. The winners were determined by votes from 4,152 members of the Japan Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for films released between Wednesday, January 1, 2025, and Wednesday, December 31, 2025, that met the selection criteria (168 Japanese films and 179 foreign films).

The awards ceremony will be held on March 13 at the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa. Excellence Awards will be presented for each main category, and the Grand Prize winners will be selected and announced from among them. Shinichi Hatori, hosting for the seventh consecutive time since the 43rd ceremony, and Yumi Kawai, who won the Best Actress Award at the 48th ceremony for “An no Koto,” will serve as hosts.

They require two continuous weeks in theaters for eligibility (the Oscars are less theatrical-focused *sigh* with only one week required). While Japan is inarguably the most successful Asian country at the Oscars, outside of anime (which Oscar ignores), Korean and Chinese cinema are more popular with US moviegoers with regular crossover hits. We’ve always wondered why there’s that disconnect between the Oscars and arthouse moviegoers. But that’s a larger and more complex topic.

For now, let’s look at the nominees for the 49th edition of Japan’s Academy prizes. Japan’s eye candy spectacle and Oscar finalist “Kokuho” received 17 nominations with eight nominations happening within the 5 acting categories alone. We don’t know if that’s a record but it sounds like one. “Kokuho“ has been so popular in release in Japan that it is already the highest grossing live-action Japanese film of all time there.