Excellence award winners for the 40th Nippon Academy Awards (2016)

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 40th Nippon Academy Awards, Ikari is the biggest "winner" with 12 awards in 11 categories (newcomer category not counted).

The prize giving ceremony will be held on 3 March and hosted by Nishida Toshiyuki who is the vice chairman of the organising committee and has done this for four years in a row and Ando Sakura who was the best leading actress last year.

Films must meet the following criteria in order to be considered for entry:
- Shown in commercial cinemas within the Tokyo area between 16 December 2015 and 15 December 2016 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
Ikari
Kazoku wa tsurai yo
Shin Godzilla
Yu wo wakasu hodo no atsui ai
64 Rokuyon Zenpen

Best Animation
Kimi no na wa
Koe no katachi
Kono sekai no katasumi ni
Rudolf to Ippai Attena
ONE PIECE FILM GOLD

Best Director
Anno Hideaki / Higuchi Shinji (Shin Godzilla)
Shinkai Makoto (Kimi no na wa)
Zeze Takahisa (64 Rokuyon Zenpen)
Nakano Ryota (Yu wo wakasu hodo no atsui ai)
Lee Sang-il (Ikari)

Best Leading Actor
Ayano Go (Nihon de Ichiban Warui Yatsura)
Okada Junichi (Kaizoku to yobareta otoko)
Sato Koichi (64 Rokuyon Zenpen)
Hasegawa Hiroki (Shin Godzilla)
Matsuyama Kenichi (Satoshi no Seishun)

Best Leading Actress
Ootake Shinobu (Gosaigyou no Onna)
Kuroki Haru (Rip van Winkle no Hanayome)
Hirose Suzu (Chihayafuru - Kami no ku -)
Miyazaki Aoi (Ikari)
Miyazawa Rie (Yu wo wakasu hodo no atsui ai)

Best Supporting Actor
Takehara Pistol (Nagai Iiwake)
Tsumabuki Satoshi (Ikari)
Higashide Masahiro (Satoshi no Seishun)
Moriyama Mirai (Ikari)
Lily Frankie (SCOOP!)

Best Supporting Actress
Ishihara Satomi (Shin Godzilla)
Ichikawa Mikako (Shin Godzilla)
Sugisaki Hana (Yu wo wakasu hodo no atsui ai)
Hirose Suzu (Ikari)
Miyazaki Aoi (Birthday Card)

Newcomer Awards
Sugisaki Hana (Yu wo wakasu hodo no atsui ai)
Takahata Mitsuki (Shokubutsu Zukan Unmei no Koi, hiroimashita)
Hashimoto Kanna (Sailorfuku to kikanjuu - Sotsugyou -)
Iwata Takanori (Shokubutsu Zukan Unmei no Koi, hiroimashita)
Sakaguchi Kentaro (64 Rokuyon Zenpen / 64 Rokuyon Gohen)
Sakumoto Takara (Ikari)
Chiba Yuudai (Dono, Risoku de gozaru!)
Mackenyuu (Chihayafuru - Kami no Ku - / Chihayafuku - Shimo no Ku -)

Source: Oricon

Ayano Go to star in new movie "Nihon de Ichiban Warui Yatsura"

Ayano Go is starring in a new movie titled "Nihon de Ichiban Warui Yatsura" (The Worst Bad Guys in Japan) due to be shown in cinemas from 25 June net year. The movie directed by Shiraishi Kazuya is based on the "Inaba Case" which is regarded as the biggest blemish in the Japanese police history where Ayano will play a corrupt police inspector who strongly believes in upholding justice and yet falls to temptation from the evil. The story timeline will span a total of 26 years. During the filming of this movie, Ayano had to gain and then lose 10kg for his role.

The Inaba Case began in 2002 where a police inspector from the Hokkaido Prefectural Police named Inaba Yoshiaki was arrested for seemingly mild offences of drug consumption and possession as well as illegal possession of firearms. As his trial proceeded, it became clear that some police officers in the Hokkaido Prefectural Police were guilty of bogus investigations which made their performances look better than actual and the later discovery in 2013 of receiving criminal proceeds from the yakuza. Ayano's role will be modeled on Inaba who has since been released from prison in September 2011 after serving his 9-year sentence. Upon his release, Inaba wrote the book "Hajisarashi Hokkaidokei Akutoku Keiji no Kokuhaku" which was published in October the following year.

Despite being very busy this year with 5 movie releases and starring in the ongoing TBS Autumn 2015 drama "Kounodori", Ayano still decided to take on this role in just three days after being approached so as to work together with Shiraishi. The filming took place between June and July this year. At the beginning, Ayano put on 10kg in order to look like a built-up police inspector who used to be a judo club member during his university days. He also had to go through intense judo training as part of the preparations for the training. Towards the end of the filming, he went back to his original weight so as to look like his character who was facing immense pressure before he was due to be arrested. Post-production work for the movie is due to be completed by February next year.

Source: Sanspo / Cinema Today / Eiga.com