Japanese Academy Nominations

by Nathaniel R

Two of the nominees this year, a journalism mystery and a trans drama

Anyone have any theories as to why American theaters (pretend there's not a pandemic) so rarely get Japanese movies? Chinese, Indian, and South Korean movies hit the US quite regularly (on the coasts at least) but otherwise Asian movies don't seem to get much play in the US. Streaming sites appear to have the same preferences for Asian cinema (though you can add in Thai cinema to the mix there). We try to cover the Golden Horse Awards each year -- which honors Chinese language cinema -- but we realize we've never covered the Japanese Academy (now in their 44th year). That's surely because we've rarely heard of the movies or the stars. With Chinese cinema the titles and stars are often familiar to cinephiles. Theories?

Anyway, here are the nominees this year for the forthcoming March 19th ceremony in Tokyo. Three names -- two of which have been up for Oscars -- are familiar...

UPDATED WITH WINS (★) MARCH 19TH, 2021

Best Picture 

• The Asadas (a post-disaster family drama)
• Tora-San, Wish You Were Here (part of a long running dramedy franchise now in its 50th year)
• The Voice of Sin (a mystery drama about a reporter and a cassette tape)
• ★ Midnight Swan (a LGBTQ drama about a trans woman in Tokyo)
• Fukushima 50 (a disaster drama about workers at a nuclear power plant)

The Japanese Academy doesn't have a lot of categories but these five films are nominated in most of them.

Best Director

Naomi Kawase on set

• Eiji Uchida, Midnight Swan
• Naomi Kawase, True Mothers
• Nobuhiro Doi - The Voice of Sin
• Ryota Nakano - The Asadas
• ★ Setsuro Wakamatsu - Fukushima 50

While True Mothers didn't get a Best Picture nomination here it is Japan's submission to the Oscars this year... surely based on Naomi Kawase's international film festival favourite status.

Best Actress

33 year old star Masami Nagasaw (pictured here in THE CONFIDENCE MAN) is double-nominated this year

• Nana Komatsu - Threads: Our Tapestry of Love
• Hiromi Nagasaku - True Mothers
• ★ Masami Nagasaw - Mother
• Masami Nagasaw - The Confidence Man
• Chieko Baisho - Tora-San, Wish You Were Here
• Suzu Hirose - Not Quite Dead Yet

Best Actor 

Kazunari Ninomiya stars as a photographer in THE ASADAS

• Shun Oguri - The Voice of Sin
• ★ Tsuyoshi Kusanagi - Midnight Swan
• Koichi Sato - Fukushima 50
• Masak Suda- Threads: Our Tapestry of Love
• Kazunari Ninomiya - The Asadas

Here we have a cis male actor Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, former boy bander, playing a trans woman... which is no longer acceptable here in the US of course. But different countries have different political movements, social causes, and norms as well as timetables of progress ... that seems to be especially true on LGBTQ issues.

Best Supporting Actress

• Noriko Eguchi - Stigmatized Properties
• ★ Haru Kuroki - The Asadas
• Kumiko Goto - Tora-San, Wish You Were Here
• Kaori Momoi - I Never Shot Anyone
• Narumi Yasuda - Fukushima 50

Best Supporting Actor  

Ken Watanabe in "FUKUSHIMA 50"

• Shohei Uno - The Voice of Sin
• Satoshi Tsumabuki - The Asadas
• Ryo Narita -The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese
• Gen Hoshino - The Voice of Sin
• ★ Ken Watanabe - Fukushima 50

Ken Watanabe is familiar to US audiences of course via his Oscar nomination (The Last Samurai) and his Tony nomination (The King and I) and numerous famous English language movie appearances (Godzilla, Pokemon, Letters from Iwo Jima, and Chris Nolan movies)

On another note, how great is the film title The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese? It's a romance about a serial cheater whose wife hires an investigator to spy on him. 

Best Screenplay

• Eiji Uchinda - Midnight Swan
• Ryota Nakano & Tomoe Kanno - The Asadas
• ★ Akiko Nogi - The Voice of Sin
• Yoichi Maekawa - Fukushima 50
• Yoji Yamada -Tora-San, Wish You Were Here

Yoji Yamada, who is now 89 years old, previously wrote and directed the Oscar nominee Twilight Samurai (2002). He got the writing nomination at the Japanese Academy this year for his long running Tora San series, but not the directing nod. 

Best Animated Film

• Violet Evergarden
• Poupelle of Chimney Town
• ★ Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train (eligible for the Oscars this year) 
• Josee, The Tiger and the Flesh
• Stand By Me Doraemon 2

Outstanding Foreign Language Film

• 1917 (UK)
• Ford v Ferrari (US)
• ★ Parasite (South Korea)
• Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (US)
• Tenet (UK)

A litle repeat of last year's Oscar race right here.

Comments

[Arkaan]

Really? I think Indian films operate in another category altogether compared to any other non-English language cinema, but do Japanese films really get less play than their Chinese/Korean counterparts? Especially when you add in animated films? I'm now curious.

[NATHANIEL R]

Arkaan -- well the animated stuff travels, yes. I guess i should have noted that.

[Dave in Hollywood]

I don't know how long it's been since a Japanese movie really hit in the West. I mean I have my dusty DVD of Tampopo and after that...?

[Amy Camus]

Shoplifters!!! Another masterpiece by Hirokazu Koreeda and further proof heis one of the handful of geniuses still working. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to see The Truth yet.

[Arkaan]

So I wanted to engage some more so I did some research. Nowhere near done (barely started) but I wanted to talk about it anyway. Now, to be honest, I don't understand a lot about modern film distribution. I don't get how certain films can "unlock" a nation to the English speaking west (and you might even quibble with that generalization). After only the most obvious decisions, I don't understand why certain films can get distribution and others cannot.

So, throwing this into the ring. I took a look at the domestic box office grosses for Asian films in 2010 (I hope to do the whole decade. I'm on vacation!). I could find 20 Asian (using language and subject matter) that grossed over 100K in 2010. Two were Japanese. But get this - they were reissues (Ran and House). No new Japanese film released in 2010 grossed over 100K (I'm willing to say I overlooked something, of course, or misclassified a film).

But here's another odd fact. If you look at 2010-2019, Japan is the most represented Asian nation at Cannes (In competition and if you combine competition, UCR, ICW and DF).

Just weird, isn't it?

[NATHANIEL R]

Arkaan -- that's incredible. I hope to hear more about this!

[leon]

This article shows a little bit of the Japanese Cinema and pop culture, which had been in decline in recent years, especially comparing Korea: https://www.vox.com/world/2020/3/3/21158315/parasite-oscar-south-korea-japan-film-bong-joon-ho

[Ron]

Wow, two boyband members--Tsuyoshi Kusanagi (SMAP) and Kazunari Ninomiya (Arashi)--nominated in the Best Actor category!
"But different countries have different political movements, social causes, and norms as well as timetables of progress..." Thanks for pointing this out. It's important not to demand that another country's works conform to your own cultural norms. Context is very important. So we should also be careful what we mean by "progress."

[NATHANIEL R]

LEON -- thank you so much. This article is totally interesting and it makes a lot of sense as to why i've noticed this strange absence of Japanese films.

[Simon Gartz]

As a lover of Japanese cinema, I'm glad I stumbled across the Japanese Academy nominations. It made me think once again about the incredible talent and diversity in the world of cinema. As we celebrate these outstanding achievements, we must recognize that women have played a significant role in shaping the landscape of art history. Furthermore, there is a deep connection between women's role in art history and the film industry. Women have been instrumental in challenging stereotypes, pushing boundaries, and creating stories that resonate with diverse audiences.