Excellence award winners for the 41st Nippon Academy Awards (2017)

Unlike other movie awards which tend to refer to those in the running as nominees, the Nippon Academy Awards gives them excellence awards instead and chooses the best among them which will be announced during the prize giving ceremony. Effectively, this means that every nominee actually gets to be presented with an excellence award although there is only one in each category to be crowned the best. In this list announced for the 41st Nippon Academy Awards, "Sekigahara" and "Sandome no Satsujin" are the biggest "winners" with 10 awards with Yakusho Koji picking up two best supporting actor awards in these two movies.


The prize giving ceremony will be held on 2 March and hosted by Nishida Toshiyuki who is the vice chairman of the organising committee and has done this for five years in a row and Miyazawa Rie who was the best leading actress last year. Nishida is also in the running for the best supporting actor award.

Films must meet the following criteria in order to be considered for entry:

- Shown in commercial cinemas within the Tokyo area between 16 December 2016 and 15 December 2017 for a fee

- Screenings must be held more than thrice a day and shown for more than 2 weeks

- Films must be longer than 40 minutes

Here is the list of excellence award winners for each category:

Best Movie
Kimi no suizou wo tabetai
Sandome no Satsujin
Sekigahara
Namiya Zakkaten no Kiseki
Hanaikusa

Best Animation
Uchiage hanabi, shita kara miru ka? Yoko kara miru ka?
Hirunehime ~ Shiranai watashi no monogatari ~
Mary to Majo no Hana
Meitantei Conan kara kurenai no Love Letter
Yoru wa mijikashi arukeyo otome

Best Director
Kurosawa Kiyoshi - Sanposuru Shinryakusha
Koreeda Hirokazu - Sandome no Satsujin
Shinohara Tetsuo - Hanaikusa
Harada Masato - Sekigahara
Hiroki Ryuuichi - Namiya Zakkaten no Kiseki

Best Leading Actor
Ooizumi Yo - Tantei wa BAR ni iru 3
Okada Junichi - Sekigahara
Sato Takeru - Hachinengoshi no Hanayome Kiseki no Jitsuwa
Suda Masaki - Aa, Kouya Zenpen
Fujiwara Tatsuya - 22nenme no Kokuhaku Watashi ga satsujinhan desu -

Best Leading Actress
Aoi Yu - Kanojo ga sono na wo shiranai toritachi
Aragaki Yui - Mix
Tsuchiya Tao - Hachinengoshi no Hanayome Kiseki no Jitsuwa
Nagasawa Masami - Sanposuru Shinryakusha
Yoshitaka Yuriko - Yurigokoro

Best Supporting Actor
Nishida Toshiyuki - Namiya Zakkaten no Kiseki
Nishimura Masahiko - Kazoku wa tsurai yo 2
Matsuda Ryuhei - Tantei wa BAR ni iru 3
Murakami Nijirou - MUKOKU
Yakusho Koji - Sandome no Satsujin
Yakusho Koji - Sekigahara

Best Supporting Actress
Ono Machiko - Namiya Zakkaten no Kiseki
Kitagawa Keiko - Tantei wa BAR ni iru 3
Natsukawa Yui - Kazoku wa tsurai yo 2
Hirose Suzu - Sandome no Satsujin
Yakushimaru Hiroko - Hachinengoshi no Hanayome Kiseki no Jitsuwa

Best Newcomer
Nakajo Ayami - Chia Dan ~ Joshikousei ga chia dansu de zenbei seiha shichatta honto no hanashi ~
Hamabe Minami - Kimi no suizou wo tabetai
Kitamura Takumi - Kimi no suizou wo tabetai
Takeuchi Ryoma - Teiichi no Kuni

Source: Oricon