The 42nd Japan Academy Prize was presented at Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa on 1st March, 2019. Hirokazu Koreeda swept the board for a second year in a row with his Palme d’Or winning family drama Shoplifters which picked up eight awards including Picture, Director, Actress, and Supporting Actress. Meanwhile, Kazuya Shirashi’s retro gangster epic The Blood of Wolves picked up prizes for both of its leading men as well as a handful of technical awards.
Picture of the Year
- One Cut of the Dead (Shinichirou Ueda)
- Sakura Guardian in the North (Yojiro Takita)
- The Blood of Wolves (Kazuya Shiraishi)
- Recall (Katsuhide Motoki)
- Shoplifters (Hirokazu Koreeda)
Animation of the Year
- Dragon Ball Super: Broly (Tatsuya Nagamine)
- Penguin Highway (Hiroyasu Ishida)
- Mirai (Mamoru Hosoda)
- Detective Conan: Zero The Enforcer (Yuzuru Tachikawa)
- Okko’s Inn (Kitaro Kosaka)
Director of the Year
- Shinichirou Ueda (One Cut of the Dead)
- Hirokazu Koreeda (Shoplifters)
- Kazuya Shiraishi (The Blood of Wolves)
- Yojiro Takita (Sakura Guardian in the North)
- Katsuhide Motoki (Recall)
Best Screenplay
- Junya Ikegami (The Blood of Wolves)
- Shinichirou Ueda (One Cut of the Dead)
- Hirokazu Koreeda (Shoplifters)
- Machiko Nasu (Sakura Guardian in the North)
- Tamio Hayashi (Recall)
Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
- Junichi Okada (Samurai’s Promise)
- Hiroshi Tachi (Life in Overtime)
- Takayuki Hamatsu (One Cut of the Dead)
- Koji Yakusho (The Blood of Wolves)
- Lily Franky (Shoplifters)
Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
- Sakura Ando (Shoplifters)
- Haru Kuroki (Every Day a Good Day)
- Ryoko Shinohara (The House Where the Mermaid Sleeps)
- Mayu Matsuoka (Tremble All You Want)
- Sayuri Yoshinaga (Sakura Guardian in the North)
Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
- Ittoku Kishibe (Sakura Guardian in the North)
- Dean Fujioka (Recall)
- Hidetoshi Nishijima (Life in Overtime)
- Kazunari Ninomiya (Killing for the Prosecution)
- Tori Matsuzaka (The Blood of Wolves)
Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
- Kirin Kiki (Every Day a Good Day, Shoplifters)
- Ryoko Shinohara (Sakura Guardian in the North)
- Kyoko Fukada (Recall)
- Yoko Maki (The Blood of Wolves)
- Mayu Matsuoka (Shoplifters)
Outstanding Achievement in Music
- Kei Ogura, Katsu Hoshi, Shogo Kaida (Sakura Guardian in the North)
- Takashi Kako (Samurai’s Promise)
- Nobuhiro Suzuki, Shoma Ito, Kyle Nagai (One Cut of the Dead)
- Haruomi Hosono (Shoplifters)
- Goro Yasukawa (The Blood of Wolves, Recall)
Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
- Daisaku Kimura (Samurai’s Promise)
- Ryuto Kondo (Shoplifters)
- Takeshi Sone (One Cut of the Dead)
- Takahiro Haibara (The Blood of Wolves)
- Takeshi Hamada (Sakura Guardian in the North)
Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Direction
- Kenjiro So (Samurai’s Promise)
- Isamu Fujii (Shoplifters)
- Minoru Kawai (The Blood of Wolves)
- Hitoshi Takaya (Sakura Guardian in the North)
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
- Tsutomu Imamura (The Blood of Wolves)
- Takashi Nishimura (Recall)
- Mitsuo Harada (Samurai’s Promise)
- Kyoko Heya (Sakura Guardian in the North)
- Keiko Mitsumatsu (Shoplifters)
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Recording
- Kazuharu Urata (The Blood of Wolves)
- Osamu Onodera (Sakura Guardian in the North)
- Kazuhiro Kurihara (Recall)
- Kokichi Komoda (One Cut of the Dead)
- Kazuhiko Tomita (Shoplifters)
Outstanding Achievement in Film Editing
- Shinichirou Ueda (One Cut of the Dead)
- Hitomi Kato (The Bloood of Wolves)
- Isao Kawase (Recall)
- Hirokazu Koreeda (Shoplifters)
- Lee Yeong-mi (Sakura Guardian in the North)
Newcomer of the Year
(awarded to all nominees equally – announced along with nominations)
- Moka Kamishiraishi (A Forest of Wool and Steel)
- Shuri (Love At Least)
- Yurina Hirate (Hibiki)
- Kyoko Yoshine (Kasane, Samurai’s Promise)
- Kentaro (Cafe Funiculi Funicula)
- Taishi Nakagawa (Kids on the Slope, Lock-On Love)
- Ryo Narita (Stolen Identity, The Antique)
- Ryo Yoshizawa (River’s Edge)
Special Award of Honour from the Association
(Lifetime achievement awards – technical fields)
- Yasuo Otsuka (animator)
- Tadashi Kanada (still photography)
- Tsutomu Sakurai (producer)
- Keisuke Chiyoda (costuming)
Special Award of Honour from the Chairman
(Lifetime achievement awards celebrating contribution to the film industry)
- Mariko Okada (actress and producer)
- Keiko Kishi (actress)
- Junya Sato (director and screenwriter)
- Kiju Yoshida (director and screenwriter)
Special Award from the Chairman
(Lifetime achievement award presented to members of the film industry who passed away during 2018)
- Isao Takahata (animation director)
- Yuriko Hoshi (actress)
- Masahito Tsugawa (actor)
- Kirin Kiki (actress)
- Sadaji Yoshida (cinematographer)
- Mitsuru Kurosawa (producer)
In Memoriam
(special section commemorating previous winners of the special awards who passed away in 2018)
- Tadashi Sawashima (director)
- Chuji Kinoshita (composer)
- Shinobu Hashimoto (screenwriter, director, and producer)
Special In Memoriam
- Masayuki Nagare (world renowned sculptor and founding member of the Japan Academy Prize as well as the designer of the trophy).
Popularity Awards
(nominated by an All Night Nippon audience poll)
Movie: One Cut of the Dead
Actor: Kentaro (Cafe Funiculi Funicula)
Ahead of the official ceremony on 6th February, the Blue Ribbon Awards has released its list of winners for the 61st edition which honours films released in 2018. Runaway box office hit One Cut of the Dead (
The recently prolific Takahisa Zeze retreats to the Taisho era for a tale of sumo and revolution as a band of anarchists known as the Guillotine Society find themselves fascinated by an itinerant troupe of female sumo wrestlers shortly after the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923.
Not to be confused with Kazuya’s Shiraishi’s Sunny, Hitoshi Ohne’s Sunny: Tsuyoi Kimochi Tsuyoi Ai is a remake of the classic 2011 Korean film by Kang Hyeong-cheol in which a dying 40-year-old woman reunites with her high school friends from 1990 to relive her memories of a bubble-era adolescence.
A CEO discovers dark secrets about his own company when a tire comes off one of their trucks and kills a young mother.
Another of three films released this year by Best Director winner Kazuya Shiraishi, Dare To Stop Us revolves around the legendary figure of Koji Wakamatsu – a hugely influential director of pink film who sadly passed away in 2012 following a traffic accident. Set at Wakamatsu Productions between 1969 and 1972, the film is told from the point of view of female crew member Megumi Yoshizumi, played by Best Actress winner Mugi Kadowaki.
A conflicted young woman struggling to move on from lost love falls for a guy who looks just like her ex but can’t decide whether to embrace the fantasy of unresolved romance or the security of a steady relationship in Hamaguchi’s complex yet playful comedy drama adapted from the novel by Tomoka Shibasaki. 
Directed by third generation Zainichi director Wishing Chong, Yakiniku Dragon revolves around a Korean-Japanese family in the early ’70s who run a yakiniku restaurant on the outskirts of Osaka.
Seijun Suzuki (director) – As a previous recipient of the Special Award of Honour, Suzuki is ineligible for a second lifetime achievement award but his passing is marked with this special mention.
Adapted from the 1966 novel by Shuji Terayama and released in two parts, Yoshiyuki Kishi’s 
A love/hate letter to Tokyo, Yuya Ishii’s The Tokyo Night Sky is inspired by a collection of poems by Tahi Saihate and follows two lonely city souls as they struggle with their place in a society which they often feel has no place for them. 
A departure of sorts from the director’s earlier career, 
Satoshi Tsumabuki stars as a mild-mannered reporter investigating the murder of a model family while supporting his younger sister (Hikari Mitsushima) who is currently in prison charged with child neglect. Less a murder mystery than a dark social drama, the world of Gukoroku is one defined by unfairness in which pervasive systems of social inequality have destroyed the precious harmony the same society praises so highly. 
Windows on Worlds 