Oscar Entry ‘Kokuho’ Breaks 22-Year-Old Japan Box Office Record

A woman walks past the poster of Japanese movie "Kokuho" (R) outside a cinema in Tokyo's Roppongi district on September 4, 2025. Lasting almost three hours, "Kokuho" is about two "onnagata", male players of female roles in kabuki, a rarefied form of classical Japanese theatre. Lee Sang-il's film, shot by Tunisian cinematographer Sofian El Fan, follows the friendship and rivalry of the son of a slain yakuza gangster and a boy born into a kabuki family. (Photo by Philip FONG / AFP) / To go with 'JAPAN-ANIMATION-FILM-CINEMA, FOCUS' by Natsuko FUKUE & Kyoko HASEGAWA (Photo by PHILIP FONG/AFP via Getty Images)