It’s been a long time coming. After 22 years, the record for most successful domestic live-action film at the Japanese box office has finally been broken. The new reigning champion of non-animated Japanese fare is Kokuho, a three-hour-long drama that mixes yakuza intrigue with the stagebound world of kabuki theatre.
Since its wide release in June 2025, Kokuho (ๅฝๅฎ, “National Treasure”) has taken the local box office by storm. Now, the film’s distributor, Toho, has announced that the film has taken in 17.4 billion yen at the box office as of November 25th.
This amount, worth approximately 111 million USD, has allowed Kokuho to dethrone longtime domestic live-action box office champ Bayside Shakedown 2. (่ธใๅคงๆๆป็ท THE MOVIE 2 ใฌใคใณใใผใใชใใธใๅฐ้ใใ!). That film, a theatrical follow-up to a popular police procedural comedy, had remained Japan’s top live-action hit since its release all the way back in 2003.
Kokuho is based on the popular novel by Akutagawa award-winning author Yoshida Shuichi. Its director, Lee Sang-il, is the successful filmmaker behind previous hits like 2006’s Hula Girls and 2010’s Villain. (The latter of which was also based on a novel by Yoshida.) Lee, who is of Zainichi Korean descent, broke into the industry in 2000 with his short film Chong, detailing the lives of young third-generation Japanese Koreans. Lee’s films often focus on interpersonal conflict and societal underbellies. With Kokuho, he’s now achieved a record-breaking success.
Unparalleled… in its Field, That is
While Kokuho is now the biggest domestic live-action film in Japanese history, it’s still not the biggest overall. That honor belongs to 2020’s animated Demon Slayer: Mugen Train. That film, a continuation of the mega-popular Demon Slayer anime series, grossed 40.75 billion yen in Japan. At twice Kokuho‘s gross, Mugen Train shows just how dominant animated fare remains. The film not only dethroned Miyazaki Hayao’s Spirited Away, the longtime domestic box office top record holder, but also emerged as the first Japanese film in history to be the top global box office hit of any given year.
Another Demon Slayer film, Infinity Castle (2025), has made nearly as much at the Japanese box office, and is now the biggest Japanese film of all time in terms of global gross ($730,015,293). It’s also the highest-grossing international film in US box office history, beating out 2000’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Back at the domestic Japanese box office, Kokuho remains outmatched by two foreign live-action films: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001, at ยฅ20.3 billion) and Titanic (1997, at ยฅ27.77 billion). Still, Kokuho‘s run has been nothing less than spectacular. In an era when not even top-grossing foreign films can break into the Japanese top ten, Kokuho has done the near-impossible. (Avengers: Endgame, for example, made only $55 million of its world-record $2,799,439,100 gross in Japan.) The two remaining live-action record holders come from a very different era of theatrical film; seeing a modern movie rise to the challenge shows that the film industry still has some vigor remaining.
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Why Kokuho?
Kokuho is an epic spanning 50 years, detailing the travails and triumphs, both personal and professional, of a kabuki actor from a yakuza family. Yoshizawa Ryo, formerly best known for roles in anime adaptations and tokusatsu, stars. An additional international element is added to the film’s production thanks to noted Tunisian cinematographer Sofian El Fani. (Timbuktu, Blue Is the Warmest Colour.)
To learn what makes this film special, we reached out to Joe Meringolo, Public Relations Specialist at the Japanese Consulate in New York. Joe recently attended a special premiere of the film in NYC, and had the following to say:
“Kokuhoโs brilliance lies in how it uses a universal tale of the corrupting costs of ambition to bring the audience into the esoteric, culturally bespoke world of Kabuki. Sofia El Faniโs cinematography captures both sides of the curtain. The panicked tension of backstage preparation gives way to the ethereal, effortless beauty of the onnagata. Hara Marihiko’s score provides an emotional anchor during these scenes that complements the on-stage performance, orienting the viewer towards the story being told. Ultimately, it is the performance of the two leadsโYoshizawa Ryo as the prodigy Kikuo, and Yokohama Ryusei as the more wayward Shunsukeโthat gives the story its poignancy and humanity.”
Kokuho is officially the Japanese entry for Best International Feature Film at the 2025 Academy Awards. Japanese films have recently done quite well at this competition; now, with the tailwinds of massive financial and critical success, taking home an Oscar may be next on Kokuho‘s docket. With a film like this, the sky may be the limit.
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