View source for Cinema of Japan

{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}}
{{refimprove|date=August 2025}}
{{Infobox cinema market
| name                 = Cinema of Japan
| image                = Japan film clapperboard.svg
| image_size           = 
| alt                  = 
| caption              = 
| screens              = 3,675 (2024)<ref name=eiren>{{cite web|title=Statistics of Film Industry in Japan|url=http://www.eiren.org/statistics_e/|publisher=Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan|access-date=October 27, 2025}}</ref>
| screens_per_capita   = 2.8 per 100,000 (2017)<ref name=screens_uis>{{cite web|title=Table 8: Cinema Infrastructure - Capacity|url=http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/tableView.aspx?ReportId=5542|publisher=UNESCO Institute for Statistics|access-date=May 7, 2019|archive-date=November 5, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105031441/http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/tableView.aspx?ReportId=5542}}</ref>
| distributors         = {{br separated entries|[[Toho]] (33.7%)|[[Toei Company|Toei]] (10.5%)<ref name=distributors_uis>{{cite web|title=Table 6: Share of Top 3 distributors (Excel)|url=http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/ReportFolders/reportFolders.aspx|publisher=UNESCO Institute for Statistics|access-date=May 7, 2019|archive-date=December 24, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224225508/http://data.uis.unesco.org/}}</ref>}}
| produced_year        = 2024
| produced_ref         = <ref name=eiren/>
| produced_total       = 685
| produced_fictional   = 
| produced_animated    = 
| produced_documentary = 
| admissions_year      = 2024
| admissions_ref       = <ref name=eiren/>
| admissions_total     = 144,441,000
| admissions_national  = 
| box_office_year      = 2024
| box_office_ref       = <ref name=eiren/>
| box_office_total     = {{JPY|206.983 billion}} ({{USD|1.35 billion|long=no}})
| box_office_national  = {{JPY|155.800 billion}} (75.2%)
}}
{{Japan film list|state=expanded}}
The {{Nihongo|'''cinema of Japan'''|日本映画|Nihon eiga}}, also known domestically as {{Nihongo|'''''hōga'''''|邦画|extra="Japanese cinema"}}, began in the late 1890s. [[Japan]] has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2022, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced (634) and the third largest in terms of box office revenue ([[US dollar|$]]1.5 billion).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schilling |first=Mark |date=January 31, 2023 |title=Japan Renews Status as World's Third Largest Box Office Market |url=https://variety.com/2023/film/news/japan-box-office-market-1235507695/ |access-date=January 19, 2025 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>

During the 1950s, a period dubbed the "Golden Age of Japanese cinema", the ''[[jidaigeki]]'' films of [[Akira Kurosawa]] and the [[science fiction film|sci-fi]] films of [[Ishirō Honda]] and [[Eiji Tsuburaya]] gained Japanese cinema international praise and made these directors universally renowned and highly influential. Some Japanese films of this period are now considered some of the [[List of films considered the best|greatest of all time]]: in 2012, [[Yasujirō Ozu]]'s film ''[[Tokyo Story]]'' (1953) was placed at No. 3 on ''[[Sight & Sound]]''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> 100 greatest films of all time<ref>{{Cite web|title=The 100 Greatest Films of All Time {{!}} Sight & Sound|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/greatest-films-all-time|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120902123023/http://www.bfi.org.uk/greatest-films-all-time|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 2, 2012|access-date=January 13, 2021|website=British Film Institute|language=en}}</ref> and dethroned ''[[Citizen Kane]]'' (1941) atop the ''Sight & Sound'' directors' poll of the [[The Sight & Sound Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time|top 50 greatest films of all time]],<ref name="director2012">{{cite web |url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/sight-sound-2012-directors-top-ten |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120803032035/http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/sight-sound-2012-directors-top-ten |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 3, 2012 |title=Directors' 10 Greatest Films of All Time |work=Sight & Sound |publisher=British Film Institute |date=December 4, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sightandsoundpoll2012/directors |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160209010504/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sightandsoundpoll2012/directors |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 9, 2016 |title=Directors' Top 100 |year=2012 |work=Sight & Sound |publisher=British Film Institute}}</ref> while Kurosawa's film ''[[Seven Samurai]]'' (1954) topped the [[BBC]]'s 2018 survey of the [[BBC's 100 Greatest Foreign-Language Films|100 Greatest Foreign-Language Films]].<ref name="bbc">{{Cite web|url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20181029-the-100-greatest-foreign-language-films|title=The 100 greatest foreign-language films|website=BBC Culture|date=October 29, 2018|language=en|access-date=November 1, 2018}}</ref> Japan has also won the [[Academy Award for Best International Feature Film]]{{refn|group=nb|Previously, the category was called Best Foreign Language Film before being updated to Best International Feature Film in April 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oscars.org/news/academy-announces-rules-92nd-oscars |title=Academy announces rules for 92nd Oscars |work=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences |date=April 23, 2019 |access-date=February 14, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Ewing |first1=Jeff |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffewing/2019/04/24/academy-announces-rule-changes-for-92nd-oscars/#7b9d85ac3d5b |title=Academy Announces Rule Changes For 92nd Oscars |work=Forbes |access-date=February 14, 2021}}</ref>}} five times,{{refn|group=nb|''[[Rashomon]]'' (1951), ''[[Gate of Hell (film)|Gate of Hell]]'' (1954), ''[[Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto]]'' (1955), ''[[Departures (2008 film)|Departures]]'' (2008), and ''[[Drive My Car (film)|Drive My Car]]'' (2021).}} more than any other Asian country.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ |title=The Official Academy Awards Database |access-date=August 4, 2021 }}</ref>

[[Anime]] rose in popularity during the 1980s, with new animated films being released every summer and winter, often based upon popular anime television series. [[Mamoru Oshii]] released his landmark film ''[[Angel's Egg]]'' (1985) while [[Hayao Miyazaki]] adapted his own [[manga]] series ''[[Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (manga)|Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind]]'' into a [[Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (film)|1984 film of the same name]], and [[Katsuhiro Otomo]] followed suit by adapting his own manga series ''[[Akira (manga)|Akira]]'' into a [[Akira (1988 film)|1988 film of the same name]]. Anime continues to be massively popular around the world, especially the works of [[Studio Ghibli]], which counts among its highest-grossing films ''[[Princess Mononoke]]'' (1997), ''[[Spirited Away]]'' (2001), ''[[Howl's Moving Castle (film)|Howl's Moving Castle]]'' (2004), ''[[Ponyo]]'' (2008), and ''[[The Boy and the Heron]]'' (2023).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gama |first=Daniela |date=January 11, 2024 |title=The 15 Highest-Grossing Studio Ghibli Movies of All Time, Ranked |url=https://collider.com/studio-ghibli-movies-highest-grossing-ranked/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=Collider |language=en |archive-date=February 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240229232933/https://collider.com/studio-ghibli-movies-highest-grossing-ranked/ |url-status=live }}</ref> As of 2025, the top 16 [[List of highest-grossing Japanese films|highest-grossing Japanese films worldwide]] are all anime, and the top 10 (four of which are by Studio Ghibli) were all released in the 21st century.

Although [[Japanese horror]] films have been around since the [[Post-occupation Japan|post-war era]] that began in 1945 and gained recognition with ''[[kaiju]]'' such as ''[[Godzilla (1954 film)|Godzilla]]'' (1954),<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=POWqBgAAQBAJ&q=what+is+japanese+horror|title=Introduction to Japanese Horror Film|last=Balmain|first=Colette|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7486-2475-1|location=George Square, Edinburgh}}</ref> the genre did not experience a popularity boom until the late 1990s, with films such as ''[[Ring (film)|Ringu]]'' (1998), ''[[Kairo (film)|Kairo]]'' (2001), ''[[Dark Water (2002 film)|Dark Water]]'' (2002), ''[[Ju-On: The Grudge]]'' (2002), ''[[Yogen]]'' (2004), and ''[[One Missed Call (2004 film)|One Missed Call]]'' (2004) garnering commercial success.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":0" />

Japan's primary film studios are [[Toho]], [[Toei Company|Toei]], [[Shochiku]], and [[Kadokawa Daiei Studio|Kadokawa]], which are nicknamed the "Big Four" and are the only members of the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (MPPAJ). The [[Japan Academy Film Prize]], hosted annually by the Nippon Academy-shō Association, was created in 1978 and is considered to be the Japanese equivalent of the [[Academy Awards]].

==History==
===Early silent era===
[[File:Orochi film1.jpg|thumb|[[Orochi (film)|''Orochi'']] ([[Buntarō Futagawa]])]]
[[File:Roningai film1.jpg|thumb|''[[Roningai]]'' ([[Masahiro Makino]])]]

The [[kinetoscope]], first shown commercially by [[Thomas Edison]] in the U.S. in 1894, was first shown in Japan in November 1896. The [[Vitascope]] and the [[Lumière Brothers]]' [[Cinematograph]] were first presented in Japan in early 1897,<ref>{{cite book |last=Tsukada |first=Yoshinobu |title=Nihon eigashi no kenkyū: katsudō shashin torai zengo no jijō |publisher=Gendai Shokan |year=1980}}</ref> by businessmen such as [[Inabata Katsutaro]].<ref name="Victorian">{{cite web |last=McKernan |first=Luke|title=Inabata Katsutaro |url=http://www.victorian-cinema.net/inabata |work=Who's Who of Victorian Cinema |access-date=December 14, 2012}}</ref> Lumière cameramen were the first to shoot films in Japan.<ref>{{cite book|title=Eiga denrai: shinematogurafu to &lt;Meiji no Nihon&gt; |date=1995 |editor1=Yoshishige Yoshida |editor2=Masao Yamaguchi |editor3=Naoyuki Kinoshita |publisher=Iwanami Shoten |isbn=4-00-000210-4}}</ref> Moving pictures, however, were not an entirely new experience for the Japanese because of their rich tradition of pre-cinematic devices such as ''gentō'' (''utsushi-e'') or the [[magic lantern]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Iwamoto |first=Kenji |title=Gentō no seiki: eiga zenʾya no shikaku bunkashi = Centuries of magic lanterns in Japan |publisher=Shinwasha |year=2002 |isbn=978-4-916087-25-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://plaza.bunka.go.jp/bunka/museum/kikaku/exhibition02/english/index-e.html |title=Utushi-e (Japanese Phantasmagoria) |last=Kusahara |first=Machiko |year=1999 |publisher=Media Art Plaza |access-date=December 29, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528025650/http://plaza.bunka.go.jp/bunka/museum/kikaku/exhibition02/english/index-e.html |archive-date=May 28, 2010  }}</ref> The first successful Japanese film in late 1897 showed sights in Tokyo.<ref>{{cite book| author=Keiko I. McDonald | title=Reading a Japanese Film: Cinema in Context| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ICqSfjUqIpMC | year=2006| publisher=University of Hawaii Press| isbn = 978-0-8248-2993-3 }}</ref>

In 1898, some [[ghost films]] were made, such as the [[Shiro Asano (cameraman)|Shirō Asano]] shorts ''[[Bake Jizo]]'' (Jizo the Spook / 化け地蔵) and ''[[Shinin no sosei]]'' (Resurrection of a Corpse).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.seekjapan.jp/article-1/765/J-Horror:+An+Alternative+Guide |title=Seek Japan {{!}} J-Horror: An Alternative Guide |access-date=June 8, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070528164551/http://www.seekjapan.jp/article-1/765/J-Horror:+An+Alternative+Guide |archive-date=May 28, 2007 }}</ref> The first documentary, the short ''[[Geisha no teodori]]'' (芸者の手踊り), was made in June 1899. [[Tsunekichi Shibata]] made a number of early films, including ''[[Momijigari (film)|Momijigari]]'', an 1899 record of two famous actors performing a scene from a well-known [[kabuki]] play. Early films were influenced by traditional theater&nbsp;– for example, kabuki and [[bunraku]].

===20th century===
At the dawn of the 20th century, theaters in Japan hired [[benshi]], storytellers who sat next to the screen and narrated silent movies. They were descendants of [[kabuki]] jōruri, [[kōdan]] storytellers, theater barkers and other forms of oral storytelling.<ref>{{cite book| author = Dym, Jeffrey A.| title=Benshi, Japanese Silent Film Narrators, and Their Forgotten Narrative Art of Setsumei: A History of Japanese Silent Film Narration| year=2003| location=[[Lewiston, New York]] |publisher= [[Edwin Mellen Press]] | isbn=978-0-7734-6648-7 }}</ref> Benshi could be accompanied by music like silent films from [[Cinema of the United States|cinema of the West]]. With the advent of sound in the early 1930s, the benshi gradually declined.

In 1908, [[Shōzō Makino (director)|Shōzō Makino]], considered the pioneering director of Japanese film, began his influential career with ''Honnōji gassen'' (本能寺合戦), produced for [[Yokota Shōkai]]. Shōzō recruited [[Matsunosuke Onoe]], a former [[kabuki]] actor, to star in his productions. Onoe became Japan's first [[film star]], appearing in over 1,000 films, mostly shorts, between 1909 and 1926. The pair pioneered the ''[[jidaigeki]]'' genre.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.matsudafilm.com/matsuda/c_pages/c_de.html |title=Who's Who in Japanese Silent Films |access-date=January 5, 2007 |work=Matsuda Film Productions }}</ref> [[Tokihiko Okada]] was a popular romantic lead of the same era.

The first Japanese film production studio was built in 1909 by the [[Yoshizawa Shōten]] company in [[Tokyo]].<ref>{{cite book|first=Isolde|last=Standish|title=A New History of Japanese Cinema: A Century of Narrative Film|publisher=Continuum|page=18|location=New York|year=2005|isbn=978-0-8264-1790-9}}</ref>

The first female Japanese performer to appear in a film professionally was the dancer/actress [[Tokuko Nagai Takagi]], who appeared in four shorts for the American-based [[Thanhouser Company]] between 1911 and 1914.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/30/tokuko.html |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090714071727/http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/30/tokuko.html |archive-date=July 14, 2009 |title=Tokuko Nagai Takaki: Japan's First Film Actress |access-date=January 5, 2007 |work=Bright Lights Film Journal 30 (October 2000) |last=Cohen |first=Aaron M. }}</ref>

[[File:Sessue Hayakawa 1918.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[Kintaro Hayakawa]], one of the biggest stars in Hollywood during the silent film era of the 1910s and 1920s]]

Among intellectuals, critiques of Japanese cinema grew in the 1910s and eventually developed into a movement that transformed Japanese film. Film criticism began with early film magazines such as ''Katsudō shashinkai'' (begun in 1909) and a full-length book written by [[Yasunosuke Gonda]] in 1914, but many early [[film critics]] often focused on chastising the work of studios like [[Nikkatsu]] and [[Tennenshoku Katsudō Shashin|Tenkatsu]] for being too theatrical (using, for instance, elements from [[kabuki]] and [[shinpa]] such as [[onnagata]]) and for not utilizing what were considered more [[cinematic techniques]] to tell stories, instead relying on benshi. In what was later named the [[Pure Film Movement]], writers in magazines such as ''[[Kinema Record]]'' called for a broader use of such cinematic techniques. Some of these critics, such as [[Norimasa Kaeriyama]], went on to put their ideas into practice by directing such films as ''[[The Glow of Life]]'' (1918), which was one of the first films to use actresses (in this case, [[Harumi Hanayagi]]). There were parallel efforts elsewhere in the film industry. In his 1917 film ''The Captain's Daughter'' (based on the play by [[Choji Nakauchi]], based in turn on the German film, ''[[Gendarm Möbius]]''), [[Masao Inoue (actor)|Masao Inoue]] started using techniques new to the silent film era, such as the close-up and cut back. The Pure Film Movement was central in the development of the [[gendaigeki]] and [[scriptwriting]].<ref>See Bernardi.</ref>

New studios established around 1920, such as [[Shochiku]] and [[Taikatsu]], aided the cause for reform. At Taikatsu, [[Thomas Kurihara]] directed films scripted by the novelist [[Junichiro Tanizaki]], who was a strong advocate of film reform.<ref>See Lamarre.</ref> Even Nikkatsu produced reformist films under the direction of [[Eizō Tanaka]]. By the mid-1920s, actresses had replaced onnagata and films used more of the devices pioneered by Inoue. Some of the most discussed silent films from Japan are those of [[Kenji Mizoguchi]], whose later works (including ''[[Ugetsu]]''/''Ugetsu Monogatari'') retain a very high reputation.

Japanese films gained popularity in the mid-1920s against foreign films, in part fueled by the popularity of [[movie stars]] and a new style of [[jidaigeki]]. Directors such as [[Daisuke Itō (film director)|Daisuke Itō]] and [[Masahiro Makino]] made [[samurai films]] like ''[[A Diary of Chuji's Travels]]'' and ''[[Roningai]]'' featuring rebellious antiheroes in fast-cut fight scenes that were both critically acclaimed and commercial successes.<ref>{{cite book| last = Thornton| first = S. A.| title = The Japanese Period Film| year = 2008| publisher = McFarland & Co.| isbn = 978-0-7864-3136-6 }}</ref> Some stars, such as [[Tsumasaburo Bando]], [[Kanjūrō Arashi]], [[Chiezō Kataoka]], [[Takako Irie]] and [[Utaemon Ichikawa]], were inspired by [[Makino Film Productions]] and formed their own independent production companies where directors such as [[Hiroshi Inagaki]], [[Mansaku Itami]] and [[Sadao Yamanaka]] honed their skills. Director [[Teinosuke Kinugasa]] created a production company to produce the experimental masterpiece ''[[A Page of Madness]]'', starring Masao Inoue, in 1926.<ref>See Gerow, ''A Page of Madness''.</ref> Many of these companies, while surviving during the silent era against major studios like [[Nikkatsu]], [[Shochiku]], [[Teikine]], and [[Toa Studios]], could not survive the cost involved in converting to sound.

With the rise of left-wing political movements and labor unions at the end of the 1920s, there arose so-called [[tendency films]] with left-leaning tendencies. Directors [[Kenji Mizoguchi]], [[Daisuke Itō (film director)|Daisuke Itō]], [[Shigeyoshi Suzuki (film director)|Shigeyoshi Suzuki]], and [[Tomu Uchida]] were prominent examples. In contrast to these commercially produced [[35mm movie film|35 mm films]], the [[Marxist]] [[Proletarian Film League of Japan]] (Prokino) made works independently in smaller gauges (such as [[9.5 mm film|9.5mm]] and [[16 mm film|16mm]]), with more radical intentions.<ref>Nornes, ''Japanese Documentary Film'', pp. 19–47.</ref> Tendency films suffered from severe censorship heading into the 1930s, and Prokino members were arrested and the movement effectively crushed. Such moves by the government had profound effects on the expression of political dissent in 1930s cinema. Films from this period include: ''[[Sakanaya Honda]], [[Jitsuroku Chushingura]], Horaijima, [[Orochi (film)|Orochi]], Maboroshi, [[Kurutta Ippeji]], [[Jujiro]], [[Kurama Tengu: Kyōfu Jidai]]'', and ''Kurama Tengu''.<ref>See [[List of Japanese films of the 1920s]].</ref>

<!--A later version of ''The Captain's Daughter'' directed by [[Namio Ochiai]]<ref>[[:ja:%E5%A4%A7%E5%B0%89%E3%81%AE%E5%A8%98 (%E6%88%AF%E6%9B%B2)]]</ref>{{Circular reference|date=October 2023}} and [[Kenji Mizoguchi]]'s 藤原義江のふるさと (''Fujiwara Yoshie no furusato'', known internationally as ''Hometown'') were the two earliest [[Sound film|talkie]] films. They used the [[Mina Talkie System]] with dialogue written on chalkboards and were immediate flops because Nikkatsu raised the admission prices fifty percent, leading them to temporarily abandon sound film.<ref>Anderson and Richie, 77 (1960 Grove Press edition).</ref> The Japanese film industry later split into two groups; one retained the Mina Talkie System, while the other used the Eastphone Talkie System used to make Tojo Masaki's films. - Redundant with following text, w/o proper ref (ignoring established style, e.g. titles)-->

The [[1923 Great Kantō earthquake|1923 earthquake]], the bombing of Tokyo during World War II, and the natural effects of time and Japan's [[humidity]] on flammable and unstable [[Nitrocellulose#Film|nitrate film]] have resulted in a great dearth of surviving films from this period.<sup>Ref?</sup><!--Probably better at the end or extra-->

[[File:Humanity and Paper Balloons poster.jpg|thumb|Cinema poster for [[Sadao Yamanaka]]'s 1937 ''[[Humanity and Paper Balloons]]'']]

Unlike in the West, silent films were still being produced in Japan well into the 1930s; as late as 1938, a third of Japanese films were silent.<ref>Freda Freiberg. "[http://filmsound.org/film-sound-history/sound-in-japan.htm The Transition to Sound in Japan]", FilmSound.org, no date. Retrieved November 13, 2024. Originally in: T. O'Regan, B. Shoesmith (eds.). ''History on/and/in Film.''  History & Film Association of Australia, Perth 1987, pp. 76–80.</ref> For instance, [[Yasujirō Ozu]]'s ''An Inn in Tokyo'' (1935), considered a precursor to the [[Neorealism (art)|neorealism]] genre, was a silent film. A few Japanese sound shorts were made in the 1920s and 1930s, but Japan's first feature-length talkie was ''[[Fujiwara Yoshie no furusato]]'' (1930), which used the ''[[Mina Talkie System]]''. Notable talkies of this period include [[Mikio Naruse]]'s ''[[Wife, Be Like A Rose!]]'' (''Tsuma Yo Bara No Yoni'', 1935), which was one of the first Japanese films to gain a theatrical release in the U.S.; [[Kenji Mizoguchi]]'s ''[[Sisters of the Gion]]'' (''Gion no shimai'', 1936); ''[[Osaka Elegy]]'' (1936); ''[[The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums]]'' (1939); and [[Sadao Yamanaka]]'s ''[[Humanity and Paper Balloons]]'' (1937).

Film criticism shared this vitality, with many film journals such as ''[[Kinema Junpo]]'' and newspapers printing detailed discussions of the cinema of the day, both at home and abroad. A cultured "impressionist" criticism pursued by critics such as [[Tadashi Iijima]], [[Fuyuhiko Kitagawa]], and [[Matsuo Kishi]] was dominant, but opposed by leftist critics such as [[Akira Iwasaki]] and [[Genjū Sasa]] who sought an ideological critique of films.<ref name="Gerow">{{cite book|author1=Aaron Gerow|author-link1=Aaron Gerow|editor1-last=Miyao|editor1-first=Daisuke|editor1-link=Daisuke Miyao|title=The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Cinema|date=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-973166-4|url=http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199731664.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199731664-e-005|access-date=April 27, 2018|language=en|chapter=Critical Reception: Historical Conceptions of Japanese Film Criticism|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199731664.013.005}}</ref>

[[File:Mizunoe takiko in northern china.jpg|thumb|left|Japanese actress [[Takiko Mizunoe]] signing autographs for Japanese soldiers in Northern China, 1938]]

The 1930s also saw increased government involvement in cinema, which was symbolized by the passing of the [[Film Law]], which gave the state more authority over the film industry, in 1939. The government encouraged some forms of cinema, producing [[propaganda films]] and promoting [[documentary films]] (also called ''bunka eiga'' or "culture films"), with important documentaries being made by directors such as [[Fumio Kamei]].<ref>See Nornes, ''Japanese Documentary Film''.</ref> Realism was in favor; [[film theorist]]s such as [[Taihei Imamura]] and [[Heiichi Sugiyama]] advocated for documentary or realist drama, while directors such as [[Hiroshi Shimizu (director)|Hiroshi Shimizu]] and [[Tomotaka Tasaka]] produced fiction films that were strongly realistic in style. Films reinforced the importance of traditional Japanese values against the rise of the Westernised [[modern girl]], a character epitomised by [[Shizue Tatsuta]] in Ozu's 1930 film ''Young Lady''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Joo|first=Woojeong|title=Cinema of Ozu Yasujiro: Histories of the Everyday|location=Edinburgh|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|year=2017|isbn=978-0-74869-632-1|page=82}}</ref>

====Wartime movies====
[[File:Li_Xianglan.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Yoshiko Yamaguchi]]]]
{{further|War film}}

Because of World War II and the weak economy, unemployment became widespread in Japan, and the cinema industry suffered.

During this period, when Japan was expanding its empire, the Japanese government saw cinema as a propaganda tool to show the glory and invincibility of the [[Empire of Japan]]. Thus, many films from this period depict patriotic and militaristic themes. In 1942, [[Kajiro Yamamoto]]'s film ''[[The War at Sea from Hawaii to Malaya]]'' portrayed the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]]; the film made use of [[special effects]] directed by [[Eiji Tsuburaya]], including a miniature scale model of Pearl Harbor itself.

[[Kamishibai]] (紙芝居) or paper theater was a popular form of street entertainment, especially for the children. Kamishibai was often used to tell stories of Buddhist deities and the history of some Buddhist temples. In 1920 it started out as normal storytelling for the children, but in about 1932, it started to lean more to a militaristic viewpoint.

[[Yoshiko Yamaguchi]] was a very popular actress. She rose to international stardom with 22 wartime movies. The [[Manchukuo Film Association]] let her use the Chinese name Li Xianglan so she could represent Chinese roles in Japanese propaganda movies. After the war she used her official Japanese name and starred in an additional 29 movies. She was elected as a member of the [[Japanese parliament]] in the 1970s and served for 18 years.

[[Akira Kurosawa]] made his feature film debut with ''[[Sanshiro Sugata|Sugata Sanshiro]]'' in 1943.

====American occupation====
After the [[surrender of Japan]] in 1945, wartime controls and restrictions on the Japanese film industry were abolished, and the [[Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers]] (SCAP) established the [[Civil Information and Education Section]] (CIE), which came to manage the industry. All film proposals and [[screenplays]] were to be processed and approved by CIE. The script would then be processed by the [[Civil Censorship Detachment]] (CCD), which was under the direct control of American military.{{sfn|Hirano|1992|p=6}} Pre-war and wartime films were also subject to review, and over 500 were condemned, with half of them being burned. In addition, [[Toho]] and [[Daiei Film|Daiei]] pre-emptively destroyed films they thought to be incriminating.{{sfn|Richie|2005|p=108}} In November 1945, CIE announced that it would forbid films deemed to be: 
 
# infused with [[militarism]];
# showing [[revenge]] as a legitimate motive;
# [[nationalistic]];
# [[chauvinistic]] and anti-foreign;
# distorting historical facts;
# favoring [[Racism in Japan|racial]] or [[religious discrimination]];
# portraying [[fealty|feudal loyalty]] or contempt of life as desirable and honorable;
# approving [[suicide]] either directly or indirectly;
# dealing with or approving the subjugation or degradation of women;
# depicting brutality, violence or evil as triumphant;
# [[Criticism of democracy|anti-democratic]];
# condoning the exploitation of children; or
# at variance with the spirit or letter of the [[Potsdam Declaration]] or any SCAP directive{{sfn|Hirano|1992|p=45}}

A major consequence of these restrictions was that the production of ''[[jidaigeki]]'' films, especially those involving [[samurai]], became effectively impossible.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Yomota |first1=Inuhiko |title=What Is Japanese Cinema?: A History |date=2014 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York and Chichester |isbn=9780231549486 |page=101}}</ref> A notable case of censorship was of the war film ''[[Akatsuki no Dassō|Escape at Dawn]],'' written by [[Akira Kurosawa]] and [[Senkichi Taniguchi]], which was re-written over a dozen times at the request of CIE, largely erasing the original content of the story.<ref name="yomota107"/> On the other hand, the CIE favored the production of films that reflected the policies of the [[Occupation of Japan|Occupation]], such as [[agricultural reform]] and the organization of [[labor unions]], and promoted the peaceful redevelopment of Japan and the [[Human rights|rights of individuals]].

[[File:Yoko Sugi and Setsuko Hara in Aoi Sanmyaku.jpg|thumb|150px|''[[Aoi sanmyaku]]'' (1949) starring [[Yōko Sugi]] and [[Setsuko Hara]]]]
Significant movies among them are, [[Setsuko Hara]] appeared in [[Akira Kurosawa]]'s ''[[No Regrets for Our Youth]]'' (1946), [[Kōzaburō Yoshimura]]'s ''[[The Ball at the Anjo House|A Ball at the Anjo House]]'' (1947), [[Tadashi Imai]]'s ''[[Aoi sanmyaku]]'' (1949), etc. It gained national popularity as a star symbolizing the beginning of a new era. In [[Yasushi Sasaki]]'s ''[[Hatachi no Seishun]]'' (1946), the first kiss scene of a Japanese movie was filmed. The [[Mainichi Film Award]] was also created in 1946.<ref>{{cite web |script-title=ja:毎日映画コンクールとは |url=http://mainichi.jp/enta/cinema/mfa/etc/about.html |publisher=mainichi.jp |language=ja}}</ref>

The first movie released after the war was ''Soyokaze'', directed by [[Yasushi Sasaki]], and the theme song ''[[Ringo no Uta (1946 song)|Ringo no Uta]]'' was a big hit.<ref>{{cite book|first=Christine Reiko|last=Yano|title=Tears of Longing: Nostalgia and the Nation in Japanese Popular Song|location=Cambridge|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2010|page=39|isbn=978-0-67401-276-9}}</ref>

[[File:Yoshiko Kuga 530406 Scan10007.JPG|thumb|left|150px|[[Yoshiko Kuga]]]]

The first collaborations between [[Akira Kurosawa]] and actor [[Toshiro Mifune]] were ''[[Drunken Angel]]'' in 1948 and ''[[Stray Dog (film)|Stray Dog]]'' in 1949. [[Yasujirō Ozu]] directed the critically and commercially successful ''[[Late Spring]]'' in 1949.

In the later half of the Occupation, the [[Reverse Course]] came into effect. [[Left-wing]] filmmakers displaced from the major studios in the [[Red Purge]] joined those displaced after suppression of the [[Toho strikes]], forming a new [[independent film]] movement. Directors such as [[Fumio Kamei]], [[Tadashi Imai]] and [[Satsuo Yamamoto]] were members of the [[Japanese Communist Party]]. Independent [[social realist]] dramas saw a small and temporary boom amid the wave of sentimental war dramas produced after the end of Occupation.<ref name="yomota107">Yomota (2014), pp. 107, 109.</ref>

====Golden Age====
[[File:Yasujiro Ozu 01.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Yasujirō Ozu]]]]
The 1950s are widely considered the [[Golden age (metaphor)|Golden Age]] of Japanese cinema.<ref name="Kehr">Dave Kehr, [https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/20/movies/film-anime-japanese-cinema-s-second-golden-age.html Anime, Japanese Cinema's Second Golden Age], ''[[The New York Times]]'', January 20, 2002.</ref> Three Japanese films from this decade (''[[Rashomon (film)|Rashomon]]'', ''[[Seven Samurai]]'' and ''[[Tokyo Story]]'') appeared in the top ten of ''[[Sight & Sound]]''{{'}}s critics' and directors' polls for the [[Films considered the greatest ever|best films of all time]] in 2002.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/poll/| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20021222042917/http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/poll/| archive-date = December 22, 2002| title = BFI {{!}} Sight & Sound {{!}} Top Ten Poll 2002}}</ref> They also appeared in the 2012 polls,<ref name="bfi">{{cite web |author-link=Ian Christie (film scholar)|author=Ian Christie |url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/50-greatest-films-all-time |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180420040254/http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/50-greatest-films-all-time |archive-date=April 20, 2018 |title=The 50 Greatest Films of All Time |website=[[British Film Institute]] |orig-date=September 2012 |date=August 7, 2017 |access-date=April 24, 2018}}</ref><ref name="2012directors">{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/sight-sound-2012-directors-top-ten|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120803032035/http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/sight-sound-2012-directors-top-ten|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 3, 2012|title=2012 Directors' poll|publisher=[[British Film Institute]]|access-date=November 27, 2016}}</ref> with ''Tokyo Story'' (1953) dethroning ''[[Citizen Kane]]'' at the top of the [[The Sight & Sound Top 50 Greatest Films of All Time|2012 directors' poll]].<ref name="2012directors"/>

War movies covering themes previously restricted by [[Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers|SCAP]] began to be produced, such as Hideo Sekigawa's ''[[Listen to the Voices of the Sea]]'' (1950), [[Tadashi Imai]]'s ''Himeyuri no Tô'' (''Tower of the Lilies,'' 1953), [[Keisuke Kinoshita]]'s ''[[Twenty-Four Eyes]]'' (1954) and [[Kon Ichikawa]]'s ''[[The Burmese Harp (1956 film)|The Burmese Harp]]'' (1956). Works showcasing tragic and sentimental retrospectives of the war experience became a public phenomenon. Other films produced include ''Battleship Yamato'' (1953) and ''[[Eagle of the Pacific]]'' (1953). Under these circumstances, movies such as ''Emperor Meiji and the Russo-Japanese War'' (明治天皇と日露大戦争, 1957), where [[Kanjūrō Arashi]] played [[Emperor Meiji]], also appeared. It was a situation that was unthinkable before the war, the commercialization of the [[Emperor of Japan|Emperor]] who was supposed to be sacred and inviolable.

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The period after the [[Occupation of Japan|American Occupation]] led to a rise in diversity in movie distribution thanks to the increased output and popularity of the film studios of [[Toho]], [[Kadokawa Pictures|Daiei]], [[Shochiku]], [[Nikkatsu]], and [[Toei Company|Toei]]. This period gave rise to the six great artists of Japanese cinema: [[Masaki Kobayashi]], [[Akira Kurosawa]], [[Ishirō Honda]], [[Eiji Tsuburaya]], [[Kenji Mizoguchi]], and [[Yasujirō Ozu]]. Each director dealt with the effects the war and subsequent occupation by America in unique and innovative ways. During this decade, the works of Kurosawa, Honda, and Tsuburaya would become the first Japanese films to be widely distributed in foreign theaters.

The decade started with [[Akira Kurosawa]]'s ''[[Rashomon]]'' (1950), which won the [[Golden Lion]] at the [[Venice Film Festival]] in 1951 and the [[Academy Honorary Award|Academy Honorary Award for Best Foreign Language Film]] in 1952, and marked the entrance of Japanese cinema onto the world stage. It was also the breakout role for legendary star [[Toshiro Mifune]].<ref>{{cite book| author = Prince, Stephen| title = The Warrior's Camera| year = 1999| publisher = Princeton University Press| isbn = 978-0-691-01046-5 |page=127 }}</ref> In 1953, ''[[Entotsu no mieru basho]]'' by [[Heinosuke Gosho]] was in competition at the [[3rd Berlin International Film Festival]].

[[File:MasaichiNagata.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Masaichi Nagata]], the "Father of cinema",<ref>{{cite web|title=Company Profile |url=https://www.nagatakikaku.com/gaiyou/index3.html |work=Nagata Kikaku |access-date=February 11, 2025 |language= ja}}</ref> receiving an award at the [[27th Academy Awards]] for ''[[Gate of Hell (film)|Gate of Hell]]''. ]]
The first Japanese film in [[Color motion picture film|color]] was ''[[Carmen Comes Home]]'' directed by [[Keisuke Kinoshita]] and released in 1951. There was also a black-and-white version of this film available. ''[[Tokyo File 212]]'' (1951) was the first American feature film to be shot entirely in Japan. The lead roles were played by [[Florence Marly]] and [[Robert Peyton (actor)|Robert Peyton]]. It featured the geisha [[Ichimaru]] in a short cameo. Suzuki Ikuzo's Tonichi Enterprises Company co-produced the film.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tokyo File 212: Detail View|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=50894|publisher=[[American Film Institute]]}}</ref> ''[[Gate of Hell (film)|Gate of Hell]]'', a 1953 film by [[Teinosuke Kinugasa]], was the first movie that filmed using [[Eastmancolor]] film, ''Gate of Hell'' was both [[Daiei Film|Daiei]]'s first color film and the first Japanese color movie to be released outside Japan, receiving an [[Academy Honorary Award]] in 1954 for [[Academy Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design]] by [[Sanzo Wada]] and an Honorary Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It also won the [[Palme d'Or]] at the [[Cannes Film Festival]], the first Japanese film to achieve that honour.

[[File:Inoshiro Honda and Godzilla.jpg|thumb|Director [[Ishirō Honda]] (left) and effects director [[Eiji Tsuburaya]] (center) on the set of ''[[Godzilla (1954 film)|Godzilla]]'' (1954)]]

The year 1954 saw two of Japan's most influential films released. The first was the [[Akira Kurosawa|Kurosawa]] epic ''[[Seven Samurai]]'', about a band of hired samurai who protect a helpless village from a rapacious gang of thieves. The same year, Kurosawa's friend and colleague [[Ishirō Honda]] directed the anti-nuclear monster-drama ''[[Godzilla (1954 film)|Godzilla]]'', featuring award-winning effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. The latter film was first ever Japanese film to be given a wide release throughout the United States,<ref>{{cite book|title=ゴジラの超常識|trans-title=Super Common Knowledge of Godzilla|year=2016|publisher=[[Futabasha]]|pages=152–153|isbn=978-4-575-31156-3|language=Japanese}}</ref> where it was heavily re-edited, and featured new footage with actor [[Raymond Burr]] for its distribution in 1956 as ''[[Godzilla, King of the Monsters!]]''.<ref name="Ryfle">{{cite book |last=Ryfle |first=Steve |year=1998 |title=Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of the Big G |url=https://archive.org/details/japansfavoritemo0000ryfl |url-access=registration |page=58 |publisher=ECW Press |isbn=1-55022-348-8 |access-date=July 19, 2022}}</ref> Although it was edited for its Western release, [[Godzilla]] became an international icon of Japan and spawned an entire subgenre of ''[[kaiju]]'' films,<ref name="OTAQUEST">{{cite web|url=https://www.otaquest.com/kaiju-history-part-1-godzilla/|title=The History of Kaiju Part 1 – Godzilla (1954): Inspired By Greats, Defining A Genre|last=Haddick|first=Alicia|work=OTAQUEST|date=January 14, 2021|access-date=July 19, 2022|archive-date=August 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805005851/https://www.otaquest.com/kaiju-history-part-1-godzilla/}}</ref> as well as the [[Godzilla (franchise)|longest-running film franchise in history]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2014/9/jennifer-lawrence-game-of-thrones-frozen-among-new-entertainment-record-holders-in-guinness-world-records-2015-book-60021/|title=Jennifer Lawrence, Game of Thrones, Frozen among new entertainment record holders in Guinness World Records 2015 book|work=Guinness World Records|date=September 3, 2014|access-date=July 19, 2022|archive-date=December 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161206035254/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2014/9/jennifer-lawrence-game-of-thrones-frozen-among-new-entertainment-record-holders-in-guinness-world-records-2015-book-60021/|url-status=live}}</ref> Also in 1954, another Kurosawa film, ''[[Ikiru]]'' was in competition at the [[4th Berlin International Film Festival]].

In 1955, [[Hiroshi Inagaki]] won an Academy Honorary Award for Best Foreign Language Film for [[Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto|Part I]] of his [[Samurai Trilogy|''Samurai'' trilogy]] and in 1958 won the [[Golden Lion]] at the [[Venice Film Festival]] for ''[[Rickshaw Man]]''. [[Kon Ichikawa]] directed two anti-war dramas: ''[[The Burmese Harp (1956 film)|The Burmese Harp]]'' (1956), which was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, and ''[[Fires on the Plain (1959 film)|Fires on the Plain]]'' (1959), along with ''[[Enjo]]'' (1958), which was adapted from [[Yukio Mishima]]'s novel ''Temple of The Golden Pavilion''. [[Masaki Kobayashi]] made three films which would collectively become known as ''[[The Human Condition (film trilogy)|The Human Condition Trilogy]]'': ''No Greater Love'' (1959), and ''The Road to Eternity'' (1959). The trilogy was completed in 1961, with ''A Soldier's Prayer''.

Kenji Mizoguchi, who died in 1956, ended his career with a series of masterpieces including ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952), ''[[Ugetsu]]'' (1953) and ''[[Sansho the Bailiff]]'' (1954). He won the [[Silver Lion#Defunct Categories|Silver Lion]] at the [[Venice Film Festival]] for ''Ugetsu''. Mizoguchi's films often deal with the tragedies inflicted on women by Japanese society. [[Mikio Naruse]] made ''[[Repast (film)|Repast]]'' (1950), ''[[Late Chrysanthemums]]'' (1954), ''[[Sound of the Mountain]]'' (1954) and ''[[Floating Clouds]]'' (1955). Yasujirō Ozu began directing color films beginning with ''[[Equinox Flower]]'' (1958), and later ''[[Good Morning (1959 film)|Good Morning]]'' (1959) and ''[[Floating Weeds]]'' (1958), which was adapted from his earlier silent ''[[A Story of Floating Weeds]]'' (1934), and was shot by ''Rashomon'' and ''Sansho the Bailiff'' cinematographer [[Kazuo Miyagawa]].

The [[Blue Ribbon Awards]] were established in 1950. The first winner for Best Film was ''[[Until We Meet Again (1950 film)|Until We Meet Again]]'' by [[Tadashi Imai]].

[[File:Toshiro Mifune 1954 Scan10003 160913.jpg|thumb|150px|left|[[Toshiro Mifune]] was at the center of many of Kurosawa's films.]]

The number of films produced, and the cinema audience reached a peak in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://sites.google.com/site/japanesecinemain195060/| title = ''Japanese Cinema in the 1950s and 1960s''| access-date = March 28, 2018| archive-date = October 12, 2020| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201012041703/https://sites.google.com/site/japanesecinemain195060/| url-status = dead}}</ref> Most films were shown in double bills, with one half of the bill being a "program picture" or [[B movie]]. A typical program picture was shot in four weeks. The demand for these program pictures in quantity meant the growth of film series such as ''[[The Hoodlum Soldier]]'' or ''[[Akumyo series|Akumyo]]''.

The huge level of activity of 1960s Japanese cinema also resulted in many classics. Akira Kurosawa directed the 1961 classic ''[[Yojimbo (film)|Yojimbo]]''. Yasujirō Ozu made his final film, ''[[An Autumn Afternoon]]'', in 1962. Mikio Naruse directed the wide screen melodrama ''[[When a Woman Ascends the Stairs]]'' in 1960; his final film was 1967's ''Scattered Clouds''.

[[Kon Ichikawa]] captured the watershed [[1964 Summer Olympics|1964 Olympics]] in his three-hour documentary ''[[Tokyo Olympiad]]'' (1965). [[Seijun Suzuki]] was fired by [[Nikkatsu]] for "making films that don't make any sense and don't make any money" after his surrealist [[Yakuza film|yakuza flick]] ''[[Branded to Kill]]'' (1967).

The 1960s were the peak years of the ''[[Japanese New Wave]]'' movement, which began in the 1950s and continued through the early 1970s. [[Nagisa Oshima]], [[Kaneto Shindo]], [[Masahiro Shinoda]], [[Susumu Hani]] and [[Shohei Imamura]] emerged as major filmmakers during the decade. Oshima's ''[[Cruel Story of Youth]]'', ''[[Night and Fog in Japan]]'' and ''[[Death by Hanging]]'', along with Shindo's ''[[Onibaba (film)|Onibaba]]'', Hani's ''[[Kanojo to kare]]'' and Imamura's ''[[The Insect Woman]]'', became some of the better-known examples of Japanese New Wave filmmaking. Documentary played a crucial role in the New Wave, as directors such as Hani, [[Kazuo Kuroki]], [[Toshio Matsumoto]], and [[Hiroshi Teshigahara]] moved from documentary into fiction film, while feature filmmakers like Oshima and Imamura also made documentaries. [[Shinsuke Ogawa]] and [[Noriaki Tsuchimoto]] became the most important documentarists: "two figures [that] tower over the landscape of Japanese documentary."<ref name="Nornes">{{cite book|last=Nornes|first=Abé Mark|title=The Documentaries of Noriaki Tsuchimoto|chapter=Noriaki Tsuchimoto and the Reverse View Documentary|year=2011|publisher=Zakka Films|pages=2–4}}</ref>

Teshigahara's ''[[The Woman in the Dunes (film)|Woman in the Dunes]]'' (1964) won the Special Jury Prize at the [[Cannes Film Festival]], and was nominated for [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] and Best Foreign Language Film [[Academy Awards|Oscars]]. Masaki Kobayashi's ''[[Kwaidan (film)|Kwaidan]]'' (1965) also picked up the Special Jury Prize at Cannes and received a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards. ''[[Bushido, Samurai Saga]]'' by [[Tadashi Imai]] won the Golden Bear at the [[13th Berlin International Film Festival]]. ''[[Immortal Love]]'' by [[Keisuke Kinoshita]] and ''[[Twin Sisters of Kyoto]]'' and ''[[Portrait of Chieko]]'', both by [[Noboru Nakamura]], also received nominations for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards. ''[[Lost Spring]]'', also by Nakamura, was in competition for the Golden Bear at the [[17th Berlin International Film Festival]].

The 1970s saw the cinema audience drop due to the spread of television. Total audience declined from 1.2 billion in 1960 to 0.2 billion in 1980.<ref>
{{cite book|last1=Sato|first1=Tadao|title=Currents in Japanese Cinema|publisher=Kodansha|year=1982|page=244}}</ref>
Film companies refused to hire top actors and directors, not even the companies' production skills to the television industry, thereby making the film companies losing money.<ref name="age"></ref>

Film companies fought back in various ways, such as the bigger budget films of [[Kadokawa Pictures]], or including increasingly sexual or violent content and language which could not be shown on television. The resulting [[pink film]] industry became the stepping stone for many young independent filmmakers. The seventies also saw the start of the "[[idol films|idol eiga]]", films starring young [[Japanese idol|"idols"]], who would bring in audiences due to their fame and popularity.

[[File:Nakadai.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[Tatsuya Nakadai]]]]

[[Toshiya Fujita (director)|Toshiya Fujita]] made the revenge film ''[[Lady Snowblood (film)|Lady Snowblood]]'' in 1973. In the same year, [[Yoshishige Yoshida]] made the film ''[[Coup d'Etat (1973 film)|Coup d'État]]'', a portrait of [[Ikki Kita]], the leader of the Japanese coup of February 1936. Its experimental cinematography and mise-en-scène, as well as its avant-garde score by [[Toshi Ichiyanagi]], garnered it wide critical acclaim within Japan.

In 1976, the [[Hochi Film Award]] was created. The first winner for Best Film was ''[[The Inugamis (1976 film)|The Inugamis]]'' by [[Kon Ichikawa]]. Nagisa Oshima directed ''[[In the Realm of the Senses]]'' (1976), a film detailing a crime of passion involving [[Sada Abe]] set in the 1930s. Controversial for its explicit sexual content, it has never been seen uncensored in Japan.

[[Kinji Fukasaku]] completed the epic ''[[Battles Without Honor and Humanity]]'' series of yakuza films. [[Yoji Yamada]] introduced the commercially successful [[Otoko wa Tsurai yo|''Tora-San'' series]], while also directing other films, notably the popular ''[[The Yellow Handkerchief (1977 film)|The Yellow Handkerchief]]'', which won the first [[Japan Academy Prize (film)|Japan Academy Prize]] for Best Film in 1978. New wave filmmakers Susumu Hani and Shōhei Imamura retreated to [[Documentary film|documentary work]], though Imamura made a dramatic return to feature filmmaking with ''[[Vengeance Is Mine (1979 film)|Vengeance Is Mine]]'' (1979).

''[[Dodes'ka-den]]'' by Akira Kurosawa and ''[[Sandakan No. 8]]'' by Kei Kumai were nominated to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

The 1980s saw the decline of the major Japanese film studios and their associated chains of cinemas, with major studios [[Toho]] and [[Toei Company|Toei]] barely staying in business, [[Shochiku]] supported almost solely by the ''[[Otoko wa tsurai yo]]'' films, and [[Nikkatsu]] declining even further.

Of the older generation of directors, Akira Kurosawa directed ''[[Kagemusha]]'' (1980), which won the Palme d'Or at the [[1980 Cannes Film Festival]], and ''[[Ran (film)|Ran]]'' (1985). Seijun Suzuki made a comeback beginning with ''[[Zigeunerweisen (film)|Zigeunerweisen]]'' in 1980. [[Shohei Imamura]] won the [[Palme d'Or]] at the [[Cannes Film Festival]] for ''[[The Ballad of Narayama (1983 film)|The Ballad of Narayama]]'' (1983). [[Yoshishige Yoshida]] made ''[[A Promise (1986 film)|A Promise]]'' (1986), his first film since 1973's ''Coup d'État''.

[[File:1992 Juzo Itami.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Juzo Itami]]]]

New directors who appeared in the 1980s include actor [[Juzo Itami]], who directed his first film, ''[[The Funeral (1984 film)|The Funeral]]'', in 1984, and achieved critical and box office success with ''[[Tampopo]]'' in 1985. [[Shinji Sōmai]], an artistically inclined populist director who made films like the youth-focused [[Typhoon Club (film)|''Typhoon Club'']], and the critically acclaimed Roman porno [[Love Hotel (1985 film)|''Love Hotel'']] among others. [[Kiyoshi Kurosawa]], who would generate international attention beginning in the mid-1990s, made his initial debut with pink films and genre horror.

During the 1980s, [[anime]] rose in popularity, with new animated movies released every summer and winter, often based upon popular anime television series. [[Mamoru Oshii]] released his landmark ''[[Angel's Egg]]'' in 1985 while [[Hayao Miyazaki]] adapted his [[manga]] series, ''[[Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (manga)|Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind]],'' into a [[Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (film)|feature film of the same name]] in 1984. [[Katsuhiro Otomo]] followed suit by adapting his own manga ''[[Akira (manga)|Akira]]'' into a [[Akira (1988 film)|feature film of the same name]] in 1988.

Eventually [[Home video|the home video]] made it possible to where the Japanese civilians, and eventually citizens in other countries, could watch these films individually. This would increase sales in the [[direct-to-video]] film industry, allowing for further developments, such as [[DVD|DVD's]] and eventual [[List of streaming media services|streaming services]], to develop.

[[Mini theater]]s, a type of independent movie theater characterized by a smaller size and seating capacity in comparison to larger movie theaters, gained popularity during the 1980s.<ref name=masuda>{{cite web|url=https://blogs.cul.columbia.edu/makino/2015/06/10/the-advent-of-mini-theater-the-diversification-of-international-films-in-japan-and-a-new-kind-of-film-ephemera/|title=The Advent of "Mini Theater": The Diversification of International Films in Japan and a New Kind of Film Ephemera|last=Masuda|first=Miki|date=June 10, 2015|publisher=[[Columbia University Libraries]]|access-date=April 16, 2020}}</ref> Mini theaters helped bring [[Independent film|independent]] and [[arthouse film]]s from other countries, as well as films produced in Japan by unknown Japanese filmmakers, to Japanese audiences.<ref name=masuda />

==== Heisei and Reiwa eras ====
Because of economic recessions, the number of movie theaters in Japan had been steadily decreasing since the 1960s. The number of cinemas was under 2,000 in 1993 compared to more than 7,000 in 1960.<ref name="age">{{cite news |title=Thwarted talent hampers Japan's new media age |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/biztimes19950113-1.2.37.2 |work=Business Times |date=January 13, 1993}}</ref> The 1990s saw the reversal of this trend and the introduction of the [[Multiplex (movie theater)|multiplex]] in Japan. At the same time, the popularity of mini theaters continued.<ref name=masuda /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/article?a=20200416-00010015-realsound-ent|title=ミニシアターが日本映画界に与えてきた影響を考える "世界の多様さ"を教えてくれる存在を失わないために|date=April 16, 2020|website=[[Yahoo! Japan]]|access-date=April 16, 2020}}</ref>

[[Takeshi Kitano]] emerged as a significant filmmaker with works such as ''[[Sonatine (1993 film)|Sonatine]]'' (1993), ''[[Kids Return]]'' (1996) and ''[[Hana-bi]]'' (1997), which was given the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Shōhei Imamura again won the Palme d'Or (shared with [[Iran]]ian director [[Abbas Kiarostami]]), this time for ''[[The Eel (Japanese film)|The Eel]]'' (1997). He became the fifth two-time recipient, joining [[Alf Sjöberg]], [[Francis Ford Coppola]], [[Emir Kusturica]] and [[Bille August]].

Kiyoshi Kurosawa gained international recognition following the release of ''[[Cure (film)|Cure]]'' (1997). [[Takashi Miike]] launched a prolific career with titles such as ''[[Audition (1999 film)|Audition]]'' (1999), ''[[Dead or Alive (1999 film)|Dead or Alive]]'' (1999) and ''[[The Bird People in China]]'' (1998). Former documentary filmmaker [[Hirokazu Koreeda]] launched an acclaimed feature career with ''[[Maborosi]]'' (1996) and ''[[After Life (film)|After Life]]'' (1999).

Hayao Miyazaki directed two mammoth box office and critical successes, ''[[Porco Rosso]]'' (1992)&nbsp;– which beat ''[[E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial]]'' (1982) as the [[List of highest-grossing films in Japan|highest-grossing film in Japan]]&nbsp;– and ''[[Princess Mononoke]]'' (1997), which also claimed the top box office spot until ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]'' (1997).

Several new anime directors rose to widespread recognition, bringing with them notions of anime as not only entertainment, but modern art. Mamoru Oshii released the internationally acclaimed philosophical science fiction action film ''[[Ghost in the Shell (1995 film)|Ghost in the Shell]]'' in 1996. [[Satoshi Kon]] directed the award-winning psychological thriller ''[[Perfect Blue]]''. [[Hideaki Anno]] also gained considerable recognition with ''[[The End of Evangelion]]'' in 1997.

[[File:HayaoMiyazakiCCJuly09.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[Hayao Miyazaki]]]]

In the beginning of 21st century, Japan has been referenced numerous times in popular culture, which was a relatively successful one for Japanese film industry, returning to the idea of a second Japanese New Wave” in their cinematic releases. The country has appeared as a setting and topic multiple times in film, poetry, television, and music. The number of films being shown in Japan steadily increased, with about 821 films released in 2006. Films based on Japanese television series were especially popular during this period. Anime films now accounted for 60 percent of Japanese film production and would become one of the world’s leading producers of animated cinema.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Berra |first=John |date=June 1, 2010 |title=Directory of World Cinema: Japan |website=[[ProQuest]] |url=https://public.ebookcentral.proquest.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=3014871&ppg=36}}</ref> The 1990s and 2000s are considered to be "Japanese Cinema's Second Golden Age", due to the immense popularity of anime, both within Japan and overseas.<ref name="Kehr" />

Although not a commercial success, ''[[All About Lily Chou-Chou]]'' directed by [[Shunji Iwai]] was honored at the Berlin, the Yokohama and the Shanghai Film Festivals in 2001. Takeshi Kitano appeared in ''[[Battle Royale (film)|Battle Royale]]'' and directed and starred in ''[[Dolls (2002 film)|Dolls]]'' and ''[[Zatoichi (2003 film)|Zatoichi]]''. Beginning in the late 1990s, the [[Japanese horror|J-horror]] film genre began to boom, as films such as ''[[Ring (film)|Ringu]],'' ''[[Kairo (film)|Kairo]]'', ''[[Dark Water (2002 film)|Dark Water]]'', ''[[Yogen]]'', [[Ju-on|the ''Grudge'' series]] and ''[[One Missed Call (2004 film)|One Missed Call]]'' met with commercial success.<ref name=":0" /> In 2004, ''[[Godzilla: Final Wars]]'', directed by [[Ryuhei Kitamura]], was released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Godzilla. In 2005, director [[Seijun Suzuki]] made his 56th film, ''[[Princess Raccoon]]''. [[Hirokazu Koreeda]] claimed film festival awards around the world with two of his films ''[[Distance (2001 film)|Distance]]'' and ''[[Nobody Knows (2004 film)|Nobody Knows]]''. Female film director [[Naomi Kawase]]'s film ''[[The Mourning Forest]]'' won the [[Grand Prix (Cannes Film Festival)|Grand Prix]] at the [[Cannes Film Festival]] in 2007. [[Yoji Yamada]], director of the [[Otoko wa Tsurai yo]] series, made a trilogy of acclaimed revisionist samurai films, 2002's ''[[Twilight Samurai]]'', followed by ''[[The Hidden Blade]]'' in 2004 and ''[[Love and Honor (2006 film)|Love and Honor]]'' in 2006. In 2008, ''[[Departures (2008 film)|Departures]]'' won the Academy Award for best foreign language film.

In anime, [[Hayao Miyazaki]] directed ''[[Spirited Away]]'' in 2001, breaking Japanese box office records and winning several awards—including the [[Academy Award for Best Animated Feature]] in 2003<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2003|title=The 75th Academy Awards (2003)|work=[[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]]|date=October 5, 2014 |url-status=live|access-date=December 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171128072357/http://oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2003|archive-date=November 28, 2017}}</ref>—followed by ''[[Howl's Moving Castle (film)|Howl's Moving Castle]]'' and ''[[Ponyo]]'' in 2004 and 2008 respectively. In 2004, Mamoru Oshii released the anime movie ''[[Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence]]'' which received critical praise around the world. His 2008 film ''[[The Sky Crawlers (film)|The Sky Crawlers]]'' was met with similarly positive international reception. Satoshi Kon also released three quieter, but nonetheless highly successful films: ''[[Millennium Actress]]'', ''[[Tokyo Godfathers]]'', and ''[[Paprika (2006 film)|Paprika]]''. [[Katsuhiro Otomo]] released ''[[Steamboy]]'', his first animated project since the 1995 short film compilation ''[[Memories (1995 film)|Memories]]'', in 2004. In collaboration with [[Studio 4C]], American director [[Michael Arias]] released ''[[Tekkon Kinkreet]]'' in 2008, to international acclaim. After several years of directing primarily lower-key live-action films, [[Hideaki Anno]] formed [[Studio Khara|his own production studio]] and revisited his still-popular ''Evangelion'' franchise with the ''[[Rebuild of Evangelion]]'' tetralogy, a new series of films providing an alternate retelling of the original story.

Some Hollywood directors have turned to Tokyo as a backdrop for movies set in Japan. Post-war period examples include ''[[Tokyo Joe (1949 film)|Tokyo Joe]]'' (1949), ''[[My Geisha]]'' (1962) and the [[James Bond]] film ''[[You Only Live Twice (film)|You Only Live Twice]]'' (1967). Recent examples include ''[[Lost in Translation (film)|Lost in Translation]]'' (2003), ''[[The Last Samurai]]'' (2003), ''[[Kill Bill: Volume 1]]'' (2004), ''[[Kill Bill: Volume 2]]'' (2004), ''[[The Day After Tomorrow]]'' (2004), ''[[Memoirs of a Geisha (film)|Memoirs of a Geisha]]'' (2005), ''[[The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift]]'' (2006), ''[[Babel (film)|Babel]]'' (2006), ''[[The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008 film)|The Day the Earth Stood Still]]'' (2008), ''[[2012 (film)|2012]]'' (2009), ''[[Inception (2010 film)|Inception]]'' (2010), ''[[Emperor (2012 film)|Emperor]]'' (2012), ''[[Pacific Rim (film)|Pacific Rim]]'' (2013), ''[[The Wolverine (film)|The Wolverine]]'' (2013), ''[[Geostorm]]'' (2017), and ''[[Avengers: Endgame]]'' (2019).

Since February 2000, the Japan Film Commission Promotion Council was established. On November 16, 2001, the Japanese Foundation for the Promotion of the Arts laws were presented to the [[House of Representatives of Japan|House of Representatives]]. These laws were intended to promote the production of media arts, including film scenery, and stipulate that the government&nbsp;– on both the national and local levels&nbsp;– must lend aid in order to preserve film media. The laws were passed on November 30 and came into effect on December 7. In 2003, at a gathering for the Agency of Cultural Affairs, twelve policies were proposed in a written report to allow public-made films to be promoted and shown at the Film Center of the National Museum of Modern Art.

Japanese cinema has always been perceived as either having feminist male directors as well as female directors, furthering the notion of the importance of women in Japanese cinema. This is proven most profusely in 2009, where a symposium for the Nippon Connection Festival was held, which the entire meeting was devoted to women: as a subject, as female directors, and as their importance to Japanese cinema.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bingham |first=Adam |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt16r0hfm |title=Contemporary Japanese Cinema Since Hana-Bi |date=2015 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-7486-8373-4 |jstor=10.3366/j.ctt16r0hfm }}</ref> The impact of women is seen in various film festivals, including ‘Peaches,’ where Japanese women graduates were allowed to display their achievements in the cinematic field willingly.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bingham |first=Adam |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt16r0hfm |title=Contemporary Japanese Cinema Since Hana-Bi |date=2015 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-7486-8373-4 |jstor=10.3366/j.ctt16r0hfm }}</ref> Through these interpretations and diverse views of males in cinema, women have a major impact on Japanese cinema, about politically and socially: they themselves are a part of the Japanese narrative and their stories need to be studied in films for audiences to fully grasp their stories.

Four films have so far received international recognition by being selected to compete in major film festivals: ''[[Caterpillar (2010 film)|Caterpillar]]'' by [[Kōji Wakamatsu]] was in competition for the Golden Bear at the [[60th Berlin International Film Festival]] and won the [[Silver Bear for Best Actress]], ''[[Outrage (2010 film)|Outrage]]'' by [[Takeshi Kitano]] was In Competition for the Palme d'Or at the [[2010 Cannes Film Festival]], ''[[Himizu (film)|Himizu]]'' by [[Sion Sono]] was in competition for the [[Golden Lion]] at the [[68th Venice International Film Festival]].

In March 2011, Japanese film and television industry was afflicted by the [[2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami|Tohoku earthquake and tsunami]] and the subsequent [[Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster|Fukushima nuclear disaster]], which was greatly suffered due to ongoing triple disaster.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hill |first=Matthew |date=2018 |title=JAPAN'S 2D TRAUMA CULTURE: DEFINING CRISIS CINEMA IN POST-3/11 JAPAN |url=https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6788&context=etd}}</ref> However, many Japanese studios were officially closed or reorganized to prevent the triple disaster. As of result, many of Japanese studios began to reopen and production rates have increased.

In October 2011 (after fully reopening of Japanese film and television industry), [[Takashi Miike]]'s ''[[Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai]]'' was In Competition for the Palme d'Or at the [[2012 Cannes Film Festival]], the first [[3D film]] ever to screen In Competition at Cannes. The film was co-produced by British independent producer [[Jeremy Thomas]], who had successfully broken Japanese titles such as [[Nagisa Oshima]]'s ''[[Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence]]'' and '' [[Taboo (1999 film)|Taboo]]'', [[Takeshi Kitano]]'s ''[[Brother (2000 film)|Brother]]'', and Miike's ''[[13 Assassins (2010 film)|13 Assassins]]'' onto the international stage as producer.

In 2018, [[Hirokazu Kore-eda]] won the Palme d'Or for his movie ''[[Shoplifters (film)|Shoplifters]]'' at the [[2018 Cannes Film Festival|71st Cannes Film Festival]], a festival that also featured [[Ryūsuke Hamaguchi]]'s ''[[Asako I & II]]'' in competition.

The 2020 Japanese epic disaster drama film ''[[Fukushima 50 (film)|Fukushima 50]]'', released on March 6, 2020, directed by Setsurō Wakamatsu and written by Yōichi Maekawa. The film is based on the book by Ryusho Kadota, titled ''On the Brink: The Inside Story of Fukushima Daiichi'', and it is the first Japanese film to depict the disaster. 

In early 2020, the Japanese media industry was afflicted by the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], which greatly suffered due to health requirements. This gave the nation its worst day of film and television industry impacted by health crises since the end of World War II. From the first (of many) 'health lockdowns' until the end of September 2021, many Japanese studios were closed or reorganized to suit the legal requirements for spread prevention which ultimately resulted in the suspension of filming for many movies, however, it did not stop from people wanting to see movies.<ref name=":2" /> Despite this pandemic occurring, many films were slowly being reintroduced to Japanese cinemas, which changed how Japan would approach cinema within the following years. From 2021-2022, there was the reinstating of Japanese cinema to Japanese audiences, as theater attendance had increased from the original 54.5% from 2020,<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=November 28, 2017 |title=REPORTS OF FILM EXHIBITION {{!}} Japan Community Cinema Center |url=http://jc3.jp/wp/reports-fe/ |access-date=December 2, 2024 |language=ja}}</ref> to about 78% by 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 28, 2017 |title=REPORTS OF FILM EXHIBITION {{!}} Japan Community Cinema Center |url=http://jc3.jp/wp/reports-fe/ |access-date=December 2, 2024 |language=ja}}</ref> In 2022 alone, though there was a significant decrease from 2019’s numbers, there were 590 movie theatres that were open and available to the public, allowing for the public to reengage with normal activities while being amid the pandemic.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 28, 2017 |title=REPORTS OF FILM EXHIBITION {{!}} Japan Community Cinema Center |url=http://jc3.jp/wp/reports-fe/ |access-date=December 2, 2024 |language=ja}}</ref> 

In October 2020 (after the reopening film industry), a Japanese anime film ''[[Demon Slayer: Mugen Train]]'' based on the ''[[Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba]]'' manga series broke all box-office records in the country, becoming the highest-grossing film of all time in Japan, the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time and the highest-grossing film of 2020.

[[File:Ryusuke Hamaguchi (HKAFF2018) (cropped).png|thumb|right|200px|[[Ryusuke Hamaguchi]]]]

In October 2021, a Japanese [[Drama (film and television)|drama]]-[[Road movie|road film]] ''[[Drive My Car (film)|Drive My Car]]'' won [[Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film|Best Foreign Language Film]] at the [[79th Golden Globe Awards]] and received the [[Academy Award for Best International Feature Film]] at the [[94th Academy Awards]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2022/03/28/films/ryusuke-hamaguchi-oscars-drive-my-car/ | title=Japan's 'Drive My Car' wins Academy Award for best international film | date=March 28, 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=January 10, 2022 |title=Japan's 'Drive My Car' wins Golden Globe for best non-English film |work=[[The Japan Times]] |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2022/01/10/films/drive-my-car-golden-globes/ |access-date=February 8, 2022}}</ref>

In May 2023, a Japanese [[Drama (film and television)|drama film]] ''[[Perfect Days]]'' won [[Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]] and [[Prize of the Ecumenical Jury|Ecumenical Jury]] at the [[2023 Cannes Film Festival|76th Cannes Film Festival]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2023/film/news/cannes-film-festival-2023-palme-dor-prizes-awards-1235627110/|title=Cannes Awards: 'Anatomy of a Fall' Takes Palme d'Or, 'The Zone of Interest' and 'The Pot au Feu' Among Winners|website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|first=Peter|last=Debruge|date=May 27, 2023|access-date=May 27, 2023|archive-date=May 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528070941/https://variety.com/2023/film/news/cannes-film-festival-2023-palme-dor-prizes-awards-1235627110/|url-status=live}}</ref> Besides that a Japanese [[psychological drama]]tic [[Mystery film|mystery]] [[Psychological thriller|thriller film]] ''[[Monster (2023 Japanese film)|Monster]]'' won [[Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]] as well as the [[Queer Palm]] at the same festival.<ref>{{cite news|date=May 26, 2023|title=Festival de Cannes 2023 - La Queer Palm au film japonais ''Monster''|url=https://www.lalibre.be/dernieres-depeches/2023/05/27/festival-de-cannes-2023-la-queer-palm-au-film-japonais-monster-UDC3GCDSLRFQ5AJ5WU6O2T4MAY/|newspaper=[[La Libre Belgique|La Libre]]|language=fr|agency=[[Belga (news agency)|Belga]]|access-date=May 26, 2023|archive-date=May 27, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230527000951/https://www.lalibre.be/dernieres-depeches/2023/05/27/festival-de-cannes-2023-la-queer-palm-au-film-japonais-monster-UDC3GCDSLRFQ5AJ5WU6O2T4MAY/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In September 2023, a Japanese [[Drama (film and television)|drama]] [[mystery film]] ''[[Evil Does Not Exist]]'' won [[Grand Jury Prize (Venice Film Festival)|Grand Jury]] and [[FIPRESCI Award]] at the [[80th Venice International Film Festival]] and also awarded Best Film at the [[2023 BFI London Film Festival]].<ref name="Grand Jury Prize">{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2023/09/venice-film-festival-2023-awards-winners-full-list-1235541624/|title=Venice Winners: Golden Lion Goes To Yorgos Lanthimos For 'Poor Things'; Hamaguchi, Sarsgaard, Spaeny Also Score — Full List|website=[[Deadline Hollywood|Deadline]]|first1=Nancy|last1=Tartaglione|first2=Zac|last2=Ntim|date=September 9, 2023|accessdate=September 9, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=October 15, 2023 |title=Award winners announced at 67th BFI London Film Festival |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/london-film-festival/news/award-winners-67th-bfi-london-film-festival |access-date=March 2, 2024 |website=[[BFI]]}}</ref>

Hayao Miyazaki's ''[[The Boy and the Heron]]'' and [[Takashi Yamazaki]]'s ''[[Godzilla Minus One]]'' (both released in 2023) each won an award at the [[96th Academy Awards]] and garnered critical acclaim.<ref name="Non-EnglishOscar">{{Cite web |last=Goodfellow |first=Melanie |date=March 11, 2024 |title=Record Number Of Non-English-Language Movies Take Home Oscar Statuettes |url=https://deadline.com/2024/03/godzilla-minus-one-makes-vfx-oscar-record-number-of-non-english-language-movies-oscar-winners-1235854658/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240311183300/https://deadline.com/2024/03/godzilla-minus-one-makes-vfx-oscar-record-number-of-non-english-language-movies-oscar-winners-1235854658/ |archive-date=March 11, 2024 |access-date=March 11, 2024 |website=Deadline}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Yamat |first=Rio |date=March 10, 2024 |title=At 83, filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki earns historic Oscar for ''The Boy and the Heron'' |url=https://apnews.com/article/best-animated-film-2024-oscars-346ebe9c9392126031969ff51044a4a2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240311010819/https://apnews.com/article/best-animated-film-2024-oscars-346ebe9c9392126031969ff51044a4a2 |archive-date=March 11, 2024 |access-date=March 10, 2024 |work=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> ''The Boy and the Heron'' also won [[Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film|Best Animated Feature Film]] at the [[81st Golden Globe Awards]], the first non-English-language animated film to do so.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 8, 2024 |title=Hayao Miyazaki wins Golden Globe for The Boy and the Heron |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67909246 |access-date=January 16, 2024 |website=[[BBC News]]|archive-date=January 16, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116203259/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67909246 |url-status=live }}</ref> Likewise, ''Godzilla Minus One'' became the first foreign-language film to win the [[Academy Award for Best Visual Effects]].<ref name="Non-EnglishOscar" />

In July 2025, a Japanese anime film ''[[Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle]]'' based on the ''Infinity Castle'' arc of ''[[Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba]]'' manga series broke all box-office records in the country, becoming the highest-grossing film of all time in Japan. It is a direct sequel to the [[Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba season 4|fourth season]] of the [[Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (TV series)|anime television series]] as well as the manga fourth, fifth, and sixth adaptations, following the film ''[[Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train|Mugen Train]]'' (2020) and the feature-length compilations ''[[Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Swordsmith Village|To the Swordsmith Village]]'' (2023) and ''[[Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – To the Hashira Training|To the Hashira Training]]'' (2024).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harding |first=Daryl |date=September 24, 2025 |title=Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle Becomes Highest-Grossing Anime Film Worldwide |url=https://www.crunchyroll.com/news/latest/2025/9/23/demon-slayer-kimetsu-no-yaiba-infinity-castle-highest-grossing-anime-film-worldwide |access-date=2025-09-28 |website=[[Crunchyroll News]]}}</ref>

==Genres==
* '''[[Anime]]''': [[animated films]]
** '''[[Mecha anime|Mecha]]''': films featuring [[mecha]] robots
* '''''[[Gendai-geki]]''''': films set in the present day, the opposite of ''jidaigeki''
* '''[[Japanese horror]]''': [[horror film]]
* '''[[Japanese science fiction]]''': [[science fiction films|science fiction film]]
** '''[[Japanese cyberpunk]]''': [[cyberpunk]] films
** '''''[[Kaiju]]''''': [[monster films]]
** '''''[[Tokusatsu]]''''': films that make heavy use of special effects, usually involving costumed superheroes
* '''''[[Jidaigeki]]''''': [[List of historical films set in Asia|period film]] set during the [[Edo period]] (1603–1868) or earlier, the opposite of ''gendai-geki''
** '''[[Samurai cinema]]''': films featuring swordplay, also known as ''chanbara'' (an [[onomatopoeia]] describing the sound of swords clashing)
* '''[[Ninja films]]''': films featuring [[ninjas]]
* '''[[Pink film]]s''': [[Softcore pornography|softcore]] [[pornographic films]]
* '''''[[Shomingeki]]''''': realistic films about common working people
* '''[[Tendency film]]s''': socially conscious, [[left-leaning]] films
* '''[[Yakuza films]]''': [[gangster films]] about [[yakuza]] mobsters

==Box office==
{{expand section|date=April 2015}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Gross<br /><small>(in billions <br />of yen)</small> !! Domestic<br />share !! Admissions<br /><small>(in millions)</small> !! Source(s)
|-
| 2009 || 206 || 57% || 169 ||<ref name=fba28012011>{{cite web |url= http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/japanese-box-office-climbs-7-in-2010|title= Japanese box office climbs 7% in 2010|author= Patrick Frater|date= January 28, 2011|access-date= April 12, 2015|work= [[Film Business Asia]]}}</ref>
|-
| 2010 || 221 || 54% || 174 ||<ref name=fba28012011/>
|-
| 2011 || 181 || 55% || 144.73 ||<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/japanese-bo-plunges-by-18|title= Japanese BO plunges by 18%|author= Patrick Frater|date= January 27, 2012|access-date= April 12, 2015|work= [[Film Business Asia]]}}</ref><ref name=sd>{{cite web |url= http://www.screendaily.com/news/japanese-box-office-up-77/5051223.article|title= Japanese box office up 7.7%|author= Jason Gray|date= January 30, 2013|access-date= April 12, 2015|work= [[screendaily.com]]}}</ref>
|-
| 2012 || 195.2 || 65.7% || 155.16 ||<ref name=sd/><ref>{{cite web |url= https://variety.com/2013/film/news/japanese-b-o-rises-7-7-to-2-14-bil-1118065391/|title= Japanese B.O. rises 7.7% to $2.14 bil|author= Mark Schilling|date= January 30, 2013|access-date= April 12, 2015|work= [[variety.com]]}}</ref>
|-
| 2013 || 194 ||  60.6%  || 156 ||<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/japan-bo-down-05-in-2013|title= Japan B.O. down 0.5% in 2013|author= Kevin Ma|date= January 29, 2014|access-date= January 30, 2014|work= [[Film Business Asia]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303202557/http://www.filmbiz.asia/news/japan-bo-down-05-in-2013|archive-date=March 3, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/japan-box-office-drops-slightly-674780|title= Japan Box Office Drops Slightly in 2013|author= Gavin J. Blair|date= January 28, 2014|access-date= April 12, 2015|work= [[The Hollywood Reporter]]}}</ref>
|-
| 2014 || 207 || 58% || 161 ||<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/japans-box-office-up-66-767472|title= Japan's Box Office Up 6.6 Percent to $1.75 billion in 2014|author= Gavin J. Blair|date= January 26, 2015|access-date= April 12, 2015|work= [[The Hollywood Reporter]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://variety.com/2015/film/asia/japan-box-office-in-2014-is-third-biggest-of-21st-century-1201416117/|title= Japan Box Office in 2014 is Third Biggest of 21st Century|author= Mark Schilling|date= January 27, 2015|access-date= April 12, 2015|work= [[variety.com]]}}</ref>
|-
| 2015 || 217.119 || 55.4% || 166.63 ||<ref name=eiren/>
|}

==See also==

* [[Japan Academy Film Prize]], hosted by the Nippon Academy-shō Association, is the Japanese equivalent of the [[Academy Awards]].
* [[Japan Academy Prize (film)|Japan Academy Prize]]
* [[List of highest-grossing Japanese films]]
* [[List of highest-grossing films in Japan]]
* [[List of highest-grossing non-English films]]
* [[List of Japanese actors]]
* [[List of Japanese actresses]]
* [[List of Japanese film directors]]
* [[List of Japanese films]]
* [[Cinema of the world]]
* [[History of cinema]]
** Genres:
*** [[List of jidaigeki]]
*** [[Samurai cinema]]
*** [[List of ninja films|Ninja]]
*** [[Tokusatsu#Tokusatsu movies|Tokusatsu]]
* [[List of Japanese-language films]]
* [[List of Japanese movie studios]]
* [[List of Japanese submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film]]
* [[Nuberu bagu]] (The Japanese New Wave)
* [[Television in Japan]]
* [[Voice acting in Japan]]
* [[Godzilla]]
* [[Studio Ghibli]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=nb}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
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* Bingham, Adam. Contemporary Japanese Cinema Since Hana-Bi. 95–119. Edinburgh University Press, 2015. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt16r0hfm.11. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctt16r0hfm.11.]    
* {{audie-bock-directors}}
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* {{cite book| last = Burch| first = Nöel| author-link = Noel Burch| title = To the Distant Observer: Form and Meaning in the Japanese Cinema| year = 1979| publisher = University of California Press| hdl = 2027/spo.aaq5060.0001.001| isbn = 978-0-520-03605-5 }}
* {{cite book| last = Cazdyn| first = Eric| title = The Flash of Capital: Film and Geopolitics in Japan| year = 2002| publisher = Duke University Press| isbn = 978-0-8223-2912-1 }}
* Córdoba-Arroyo, E. (2024). “From Disenchantment to Glory: Fluctuations in the Memory of World War II in Japanese Cinema (1980–2020).” Memory Studies, 17(4), 923-939. {{doi|10.1177/17506980231170352}} 
* {{cite book| last = Desser| first = David| author-link = David Desser| title = Eros Plus Massacre: An Introduction to the Japanese New Wave Cinema| url = https://archive.org/details/erosplusmassacre00davi| url-access = registration| year = 1988| publisher = Indiana University Press| isbn = 978-0-253-20469-1 }}
* {{cite book| author = Dym, Jeffrey A.| title = Benshi, Japanese Silent Film Narrators, and Their Forgotten Narrative Art of Setsumei: A History of Japanese Silent Film Narration| year = 2003| location = [[Lewiston, New York]] |publisher= [[Edwin Mellen Press]] | isbn = 978-0-7734-6648-7 }} ([http://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/reviews/2005/Shimoda.html review])
* {{cite book| last = Furuhata| first = Yuriko| title =   Cinema of Actuality: Japanese Avant-garde Filmmaking in the Season of Image Politics | year = 2013| publisher = Duke University Press| isbn = 978-0-8223-5490-1 }}
* {{cite book| last = Gerow| first = Aaron| author-link = Aaron Gerow|title = A Page of Madness: Cinema and Modernity in 1920s Japan| year = 2008| publisher = Center for Japanese Studies, [[University of Michigan]]| isbn = 978-1-929280-51-3 }}
* {{cite book| last = Gerow| first = Aaron| author-link = Aaron Gerow|title = Visions of Japanese Modernity: Articulations of Cinema, Nation, and Spectatorship, 1895–1925| year = 2010| publisher = University of California Press| isbn = 978-0-520-25456-5 }}
* {{high-imperial-screen}}
* {{cite book| last = Hirano| first = Kyoko| title = Mr. Smith Goes to Tokyo: The Japanese Cinema under the Occupation, 1945–1952| year = 1992| publisher = [[Smithsonian Institution]]| isbn = 978-1-56098-157-2| url = https://archive.org/details/mrsmithgoestotok00hira}}
* Japan Community Cinema Center. “Reports of Film Exhibition: Japan Community Cinema Center.” Japan Community Cinema Center | 一般社団法人コミュニティシネマセンター, February 28, 2024. [http://jc3.jp/wp/reports-fe/. http://jc3.jp/wp/reports-fe/.] 
* {{cite book| last = Lamarre| first = Thomas| author-link = Thomas Lamarre|title = Shadows on the Screen: Tanizaki Junʾichirō on Cinema and "Oriental" Aesthetics| year = 2005| publisher = Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan| isbn = 978-1-929280-32-2 }}
* {{cite book| last = Mellen| first = Joan|author-link1=Joan Mellen| title = The Waves At Genji's Door: Japan Through Its Cinema| year = 1976| publisher = Pantheon, New York| isbn = 978-0-394-49799-0 | url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/wavesatgenjisdoo0000mell}}
*{{cite book|last1=Miyao|first1=Daisuke|author-link1=Daisuke Miyao|title=The Aesthetics of Shadow: Lighting and Japanese Cinema|date=2013|publisher=Duke University Press|location=Durham|isbn=978-0-8223-5422-2}}
*{{cite book|editor1-last=Miyao|editor1-first=Daisuke|editor1-link=Daisuke Miyao|title=The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Cinema|date=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-973166-4}}
* {{cite book| editor1-last = Nolletti| editor1-first = Arthur Jr.| editor2-last = Desser| editor2-first = David| title = Reframing Japanese Cinema: Authorship, Genre, History| year = 1992| publisher = Indiana University Press| isbn = 978-0-253-34108-2| url = https://archive.org/details/reframingjapanes00arth}}
* {{cite book| last = Nornes| first = Abé Mark| title = Japanese Documentary Film: The Meiji Era through Hiroshima| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SYTuXyCNdlQC| year = 2003| publisher = [[University of Minnesota Press]]| location = Minneapolis| isbn = 978-0-8166-4045-4 }}
* {{cite book| last = Nornes| first = Abé Mark| title = Forest of Pressure: Ogawa Shinsuke and Postwar Japanese Documentary| year = 2007| publisher = [[University of Minnesota Press]]| location = Minneapolis| isbn = 978-0-8166-4908-2 }}
* {{cite book| last1 = Nornes| first1 = Abé Mark| last2 = Gerow| first2 = Aaron| title = Research Guide to Japanese Film Studies| year = 2009| publisher = Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan| isbn = 978-1-929280-53-7 }}
* {{cite book| last = Prince| first = Stephen| author-link = Stephen Prince|title = The Warrior's Camera| year = 1999| publisher = Princeton University Press| isbn = 978-0-691-01046-5 }}
* {{cite book| last = Richie| first = Donald| author-link = Donald Richie| title = A Hundred Years of Japanese Film: A Concise History, with a Selective Guide to DVDs and Videos| year = 2005| publisher = Kodansha America| isbn = 978-4-7700-2995-9 }}
* {{cite book| last = Sato| first = Tadao| author-link = Tadao Sato| title = Currents In Japanese Cinema| year = 1982| publisher = Kodansha America| isbn = 978-0-87011-815-9 }}
* {{cite book| last = Wada-Marciano| first = Mitsuyo| title = Nippon Modern: Japanese Cinema of the 1920s and 1930s| year = 2008| publisher = [[University of Hawaii Press]]| isbn = 978-0-8248-3240-7 }}

==Further reading==
*Junichiro Tanaka, ''{{ill|The History of the Development of Japanese Cinema|ja|日本映画発達史}}'', a five-volume set

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|Appendix:Japanese film credit terms}}
* [http://eiga9.altervista.org/chronology.html ''Chronology of Japanese Cinema''] by Joaquín da Silva
* Toki Akihiro & Mizuguchi Kaoru (1996) [http://www.cmn.hs.h.kyoto-u.ac.jp/NO1/SUBJECT1/INAEN.HTM ''A History of Early Cinema in Kyoto, Japan (1896–1912). Cinematographe and Inabata Katsutaro''].
* Kato Mikiro (1996) [http://www.cmn.hs.h.kyoto-u.ac.jp/NO1/SUBJECT1/KYOTO.HTM ''A History of Movie Theaters and Audiences in Postwar Kyoto, the Capital of Japanese Cinema''].
* [http://www.japanese-cinema-db.jp/ Japanese Cinema Database], maintained by the [[Agency for Cultural Affairs]] (films after 1896, in Japanese)
* [http://jfdb.jp/en/ Japanese Film Database], maintained by UniJapan (in English, films after 2002)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120130080218/http://www.kinejun.jp/ Kinema Junpo Database], maintained by [[Kinema Junpo]] (films after 1945, in Japanese)
* [http://www.momat.go.jp/search.html National Film Center Database] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150520111733/http://www.momat.go.jp/search.html |date=May 20, 2015 }} (films in the national archive collection, in Japanese)
* [http://www.eiren.org/aboutus_e/index.html Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan] (includes film database, box office statistics)
* [http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/ Japanese Movie Database] (in Japanese)
* [[Japan Cuts|JAPAN CUTS]]: Festival of New Japanese Film ([[Japan Society (Manhattan)|Japan Society]], New York)
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100224104532/http://pears.lib.ohio-state.edu/Markus/Welcome.html Kinema Club]
* [http://www.midnighteye.com/ Midnight Eye]
* [http://guides.library.yale.edu/JapanFilm Japanese Reference Materials for Studying Japanese Cinema at Yale University] by Aaron Gerow
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110514095309/http://www.greencine.com/static/primers/japan-60-1.jsp Japanese Cinema to 1960] by Gregg Rickman
* [[Japanese Film Festival (Singapore)]]&nbsp;– An annual curated film program focusing on classic Japanese cinema and new currents, with regular guest directors and actors.

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{{Japan topics}}
{{World cinema}}
{{Media of Japan}}
{{Asia topic|Cinema of}}

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[[Category:Cinema of Japan| ]]