KOKUHO

An Unmissable Kabuki Saga and Box Office Juggernaut

Venue(s): 10 domestic theaters. Check on the bottom of the page.　https://eigakan.org/theaterpage/schedule.php?t=kokuhou
From October 3, 2025
Language: Japanese with English subtitles
Official website: kokuhou-movie.com/
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAiq_4YWXow
Tariff: Please check on the theater site.
Advance tickets: Please check on the theater site.
Talk event: Please check on the theater site.

Title: 国宝 (Kokuho)
Director: Lee Sang-il (李相日)
Duration: 175 min

If you’re in Japan, or follow its trends, you are already aware that Lee Sang-il’s Kokuho has made/is still making cinema history. The visually lavish 3-hour epic about two Kabuki actors, spanning 50 turbulent years of their fraught friendship and fiery rivalry, has been an unlikely hit, smashing box-office records, tallying nearly $95 million (¥14 billion) so far, and reaching the No. 2 spot in history for a Japanese live-action film. Just because it’s based on a best-selling novel by Shuichi Yoshida and stars two hot young actors was never a guarantee that audiences would come. But they have, in droves. And now—with English-subtitled screenings finally beginning—you can find out why.

Kokuho was released in Japan in early June, after a world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May. By its third week in theaters, it had snagged the top spot at the box office, and held that position for four weeks in a row, helping boost admissions even further. Over 10 million people have now seen the film domestically (although there are reports that some attendees are viewing it multiple times), and the global rollout hasn’t even begun.

Japan’s submission for Best International Feature at the Academy Awards traces the rise and rise of Kikuo (Ryo Yoshizawa, a shoo-in for multiple Best Actor trophies), a boy from Nagasaki who becomes one of Japan’s most celebrated Kabuki onnagata (men who perform female roles). Following the death of his yakuza gangster father in 1964, 14-year-old Kikuo is adopted by Kabuki master Hanjiro Hanai (Ken Watanabe), who sets him on a path of rigorous apprenticeship along with his own biological son, Shunsuke (Ryusei Yokohama, also very good). As Kikuo rises to the top of the profession against the backdrop of a rapidly evolving Japan, the film provides both lavish theater and probing social drama.

As critic/programmer Giovanna Fulvi puts it, Kokuho “reveals Kabuki as both exalted art and cutthroat business—built on hierarchies, family lineages, backroom politics, and patriarchy—while deftly introducing the uninitiated into its codes and practices.”

There’s also a formidable supporting cast to relish, including Shinobu Terajima, Mitsuki Takahata, Min Tanaka and Masatoshi Nagase, who all contribute memorable turns.

Lee, already an acclaimed director (Hula Girls, Villain, Rage), spent nearly a decade developing the film, attracted by the story’s themes of bloodline, belonging, and destiny. The title, which means Living “National Treasure,” frames kabuki as both cultural heritage and a battleground for identity. Yoshizawa trained in Kabuki for 18 months, and his efforts—as well as his uncanny performance precision—have been resoundingly applauded. Tunisian cinematographer Sofian El Fani (Blue Is the Warmest Color) captures a breathtaking blend of spectacle and intimacy, while production designer Nao Shimoyama illuminates a world that is both traditional and contemporary in its struggles.

Theaters showing the English subtitled film
—Tokyo, Kanagawa, Aichi, Osaka, Okinawa—

https://eigakan.org/theaterpage/schedule.php?t=kokuhou

• Look for "外国語字幕" or "英語字幕."