The winners of the Excellence Awards and Best New Actor Award in the 15 main award categories of the 49th Japan Academy Awards were announced on January 19th. Five films were selected for the Excellence Award: "National Treasure," "Treasure Island," "Bomb," "First Kiss," and "TOKYO Taxi."
In addition to the Best Picture award, "National Treasure" won 16 awards in 12 categories, including Best Actor (Ryo Yoshizawa Ryo), Best Director (Lee Sang-il), Best Supporting Actor (Tanaka Min, Ryusei Yokohama, Watanabe Ken), and Best Supporting Actress (Takahata Mitsuki, Terajima Shinobu, Mori Nana), and Mikami Ai won the Ai Mikami Newcomer Award.
In addition to Yoshizawa for "National Treasure," the Best Actor Award went to Satoshi Tsumabuki for "Treasure Island," Nagatsuka Kyozo for "Enemy," Matsumura Hokuto for "5 Centimeters per Second," and Yuki Yamada for "Bomb."
The Best Actress award went to Keiko Kitagawa for "Night Flower,"Masami Nagasawa Masami for "Dollhouse," Chieko Baisho for " TOKYO Taxi ," Suzu Hirose for "Distant Mountain Light," and Takako Matsu for "First Kiss."
In addition to Mikami from "National Treasure," the New Actor Award went to Kawachi Yamato from "Exit 8," Hakusan Noa from "5 Centimeters per Second," Nakajima Runa from "TOKYO Taxi,"Ryota Bando from "Bomb," Matsutani Takaya from "Glory Back Home," and Misato Morita from "Night Flower."
This year's selection is open to films (168 Japanese films and 179 foreign films) that were released in Japan between January 1st and December 31st, 2025 and met the selection criteria. The top awards in each category will be announced at the 49th Japan Academy Awards ceremony to be held in Tokyo on March 13th. The ceremony will be hosted by freelance announcer Hatori Shinichi and actress Yuumi Kawai, who won the 48th Best Actress Award for "Ankoto." Comments from Hatori and Kawai are as follows:
◇Comment from Shinichi Hatori
The year 2025 saw many films that generated a lot of buzz. I believe the Japan Academy Awards are the culmination of that year. The fact that they are selected by people involved in the film industry makes them even more valuable, and the smiles on the stage of the actors and staff who received Excellence Awards remain in my memory every year.
I am looking forward to seeing what kind of smiles we will see this year, what kind of fun stories we will hear, and who will win the grand prize. I will do my best to support the event so that it can be a wonderful one.
◇Comment from Yuumi Kawai
I visited the venue for the first time last year, and was deeply impressed by its unreal brilliance and the solidarity between the many predecessors who have worked in the film industry.
I will do my best to make this a wonderful day for this year's award recipients, everyone involved in the film industry, and all the film fans who are looking forward to watching the ceremony! Thank you for your support!
◇The main Excellence Award winning works and winners are as follows (titles omitted):
Excellence Award: "National Treasure," "Treasure Island," "Bomb," "First Kiss," "TOKYO Taxi"
Outstanding Animation Award: "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba : 100 Meters the Movie: Infinity Castle Arc Chapter 1 - Akaza Returns," "Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc," "100 M," "Peleliu: Guernica in Paradise," and " Detective Conan: One-Eyed Flashback Flashback"
Best Director Award: Eiji Uchida "Night Flower" ▽ Keishi Otomo "Treasure Island" ▽ Ayuko Tsukahara "First Kiss" ▽ Satoshi Nagai "Bomb" ▽ Lee Sang-il "National Treasure"
Best Screenplay Award: Eiji Uchida's "Night Flower"; Satoko Okudera's "National Treasure"; Kaho Fukuda's "366 Days"; Hiroyuki Yatsu, Masahiro Yamaura's "Bomb"; Yoji Yamada, Yuzo Asahara's "TOKYO Taxi"
Best Actor Award: Satoshi Tsumabuki"Treasure Island" ▽ Nagatsuka Kyozo "Enemy" ▽ Matsumura Hokuto "5 Centimeters per Second" ▽ Yuki Yamada"Bomb" ▽ Ryo Yoshizawa"National Treasure"
Best Supporting Actor Award: Jiro Sato "Bomb" ▽ Min Tanaka "National Treasure" ▽ Hokuto Matsumura "First Kiss 1ST KISS" ▽ Ryusei Yokohama"National Treasure" ▽ Ken Watanabe"National Treasure"
Best Actress Award: Keiko Kitagawa(Night Flower) Masami Nagasawa(Dollhouse) Chieko Baisho(TOKYO Taxi) Suzu Hirose(Distant Mountain Light) Takako Matsu Matsu (First Kiss)
Best Supporting Actress Award: Yu Aoi "TOKYO Taxi" ▽ Mitsuki Takahata "National Treasure" ▽ Shinobu Terajima "National Treasure" ▽ Misato Morita"Night Flower" ▽ Nana Mori "National Treasure"
Best Foreign Film: "The Election of the Pope" (Kino Films) ▽ "The Twilight Warriors: Battle! Kowloon Walled City" (Klockworx) ▽ "Mission: Impossible - Final Reckoning" (Towa Pictures) ▽ "One Battle After Another" (Warner Bros. Pictures) ▽ "F1" (Warner Bros. Pictures)
New Actor Award: Yamato Kawachi "Exit 8" ▽ Noa Shirayama "5 Centimeters per Second" ▽ Runa Nakajima "TOKYO Taxi" ▽ Ryota Bando"Bomb" ▽ Takaya Matsutani "Glorious Back Home" ▽ Ai Mikami"National Treasure" ▽ Misato Morita"Night Flower"
