Lee Sang-il’s Kokuho — an almost three-hour interval drama concerning the cloistered world of conventional kabuki theater — has defied all affordable expectations to turn into Japan’s top-grossing home live-action movie of all time.
The Sony-backed characteristic, produced by Aniplex in affiliation with Myriagon Studio and distributed by Toho, has earned greater than ¥17.37 billion ($111 million) since its June launch in Japan, surpassing the ¥17.35 billion report held for 22 years by crime-comedy Bayside Shakedown 2 (2003).
The movie has drawn over 12 million admissions — a feat that few would have predicted for such an artistically demanding work. However the movie premiered to rave critiques within the Administrators’ Fortnight part of the Cannes Movie Pageant in Might, and it has been incomes effusive admirers and constructing momentum ever since. In April, Japan chosen Kokuho as its official submission for the 2026 Oscars in the most effective worldwide characteristic class, the place it’s now thought of a severe contender.
Kokuho (which interprets as “nationwide treasure”) traces 5 a long time within the intertwined lives of two kabuki actors: an orphaned outsider and the inheritor of a prestigious stage household, whose friendship curdles into obsession and rivalry. Adapting a novel by Shuichi Yoshida, Lee — finest recognized internationally for Villain (2010) and Rage (2016) — crafts what THR’s reviewer described as a “transporting and operatic” story that “blends backstage melodrama, succession saga and making-of-an-artist dynamics” right into a sweeping meditation on ambition, artistry and sacrifice.
‘Kokuho’
GKIDS
Critics have hailed the movie’s visible poetry and its deep immersion within the rarefied traditions of kabuki. Sofian El Fani’s cinematography and Yohei Taneda’s lavish manufacturing design have been praised for his or her tactile grandeur, whereas stars Ryo Yoshizawa and Ryusei Yokohama have been persistently celebrated for his or her “exquisitely layered performances that interweave offstage characterization and onstage theatricality,” as THR’s critic put it.
The box-office triumph is especially outstanding given the movie’s lengthy runtime (two hours and 55 minutes) and comparatively esoteric material — a lavish kabuki-theater epic in an period when Japan’s field workplace is persistently dominated by anime and franchise fare. Native analysts have enthused that Kokuho’s success proves the enduring attraction of status storytelling on the large display screen and the ability of distinctly Japanese materials amongst home audiences.
The movie’s reputation has additionally helped drive a wave of ticket gross sales at real-world kabuki homes throughout Japan. The success of Kokuho has sparked renewed curiosity within the centuries-old theater type, with main venues reporting surges in attendance, youthful demographics filling seats, and lots of first-time or lapsed patrons returning to the normal stage performances.
Kokuho made its North American debut on the Toronto Worldwide Movie Pageant in September, adopted by a restricted Oscar-qualifying run within the U.S. this month courtesy of Toho’s North American distribution subsidiary, GKIDS. The corporate is planning a wider U.S. launch in early 2026.