48th Japan Academy Film Prize – Windows on Worlds

The Japan Academy Film Prize, Japan’s equivalent of the Oscars awarded by the Nippon Academy-Sho Association of industry professionals, has announced the winners for its 48th edition which honours films released Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2024 that played in a Tokyo cinema at least three times a day for more than two weeks. Surprise indie hit A Samurai in Time takes the top prize with Michihito Fujii nabbing Best Director for Faceless. Ryusei Yokohama also took best actor for his role in Fujii’s film alongside Yuumi Kawai for A Girl Named Ann.

Picture of the Year

Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General
A Samurai in Time
Faceless
All the Long Nights
Last Mile

Animation of the Year

Give it All
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom
Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle
Detective Conan: The Million-dollar Pentagram
Look Back

Director of the Year

Shinsuke Sato (Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General)
Ayuko Tsukahara (Last Mile)
Michihito Fujii (Faceless)
Sho Miyake (All the Long Nights)
Junichi Yasuda (A Samurai in Time)

Screenplay of the Year

Yu Irie (A Girl Named Ann)
Satomi Oshima (90 Years Old – So What?)
Kazuhisa Kodera & Michihito Fujii (Faceless)
Akiko Nogi (Let’s Go Karaoke!)
Akiko Nogi (Last Mile)
Junichi Yasuda (A Samurai in Time)

Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Go Ayano (Let’s Go Karaoke!)
Tsuyoshi Kusanagi (Bushido)
Makiya Yamaguchi (A Samurai in Time)
Kento Yamazaki (Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General)
Ryusei Yokohama (Faceless)

Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Satomi Ishihara (Missing)
Mone Kamishiraishi (All the Long Nights)
Yuumi Kawai (A Girl Named Ann)
Mitsuko Kusabue (90 Years Old – So What?)
Hikari Mitsushima (Last Mile)

Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Seiyo Uchino (Hakkenden)
Takao Osawa (Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General)
Masaki Okada (Last Mile)
Jiro Sato (A Girl Named Ann)
Takayuki Yamada (Faceless)

Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Mana Ashida (Cells at Work!)
Kaya Kiyohara (Bushido)
Tao Tsuchiya (Hakkenden)
Anna Yamada (Faceless)
Riho Yoshioka (Faceless)

Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography

Tomoyuki Kawakami (Faceless)
Akira Sako (Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General)
Takeshi Seki (Last Mile)
Daisuke Soma (Golden Kamuy)
Junichi Yasuda (A Samurai in Time)

Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Direction

Koshiro Ueno (Faceless)
Hiroyuki Kase (Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General)
Kazuyuki Kawasato (Last Mile)
Kota Sato (Golden Kamuy)
Kinya Doi, Hiroshi Hano, Junichi Yasuda (A Samurai in Time)

Outstanding Achievement in Music

Takashi Ohmama (Faceless)
Hiroko Sebu (Let’s Go Karaoke!)
Masahiro Tokuda (Last Mile)
Yutaka Yamada (Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General)
Face 2 fAKE (Cells at Work!)

Theme Song of the Year

Mrs. GREEN APPLE, “Dear”, (Dear Family)

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

Toshihiro Isomi & Emiko Tsuyuki (Golden Kamuy)
Masazumi Okihara (11 Rebels)
Hidetaka Ozawa (Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General)
Shintaro Matsumoto (Faceless)
Masumi Miura (Cells at Work!)

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Recording

Tomohara Urata (11 Rebels)
Takashi Kanasugi (Cells at Work)
Hiroyuki Saijo (Last Mile)
Kazushiko Yokono (Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General)
Toru Yonezawa (recording) / Yosuke Hamada (post-production) (Faceless)

Outstanding Achievement in Film Editing

Hiroaki Itabe (Last Mile)
Tsuyoshi Imai (Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General)
Tatsuma Furukawa (Faceless)
Hiroshi Matsuo (Cells at Work)
Junichi Yasuda (A Samurai in Time)

Outstanding Foreign Language Film

Poor Things
Oppenheimer
The Zone of Interest
Civil War
Laapataa Ladies

Newcomer of the Year

Asuka Saito (Oshi No Ko – The Final Act)
Nagisa Shibuya (Sana: Let Me Hear)
Anna Yamada (Golden Kamuy, Faceless)
Eiji Akaso (6 Lying University Students, What If Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa Was to Become the Prime Minister)
Rihito Itagaki (Hakkenden, Cells at Work!, The Ying Yang Master 0)
Keitatsu Koshiyama (My Sunshine)
Jun Saito (Let’s Go Karaoke!)
Shintaro Morimoto (Faceless)