Winners of the 26th Japan Movie Critics Award

Best Movie: Yu wo wakasu hodo atsui ai

Best Director: Nakano Ryota (Yu wo wakasu hodo atsui ai)

Best Leading Actor: Kobayashi Kaoru (Zoku Shinya Shokudou)

Best Leading Actress: Miyazawa Rie (Yu wo wakasu hodo atsui ai)

Best Supporting Actor: Higashide Masahiro (Satoshi no Seishun)

Best Supporting Actress: Sugisaki Hana (Yu wo wakasu hodo atsui ai)

Best Newcomer (Komori Kazuko Award): Takahata Mitsuki (Shokubutsu Zukan Unmei no Koi, Hiroimashita)

Best Newcomer (Minami Toshiko Award): Iwata Takanori (Shokubutsu Zukan Unmei no Koi, Hiroimashita)

Best New Director: Shoji Hiroshi (Ken to Kazu)

Golden Glory Award (Mizuno Haruo Award): Komatsu Masao & Naraoka Tomoko

Diamond Award (Yodogawa Nagaharu Award): Kiki Kirin

Best Editing: Hogaki Junnosuke (Chihayafuru)

Best Script: Nishikawa Miwa (Nagai Iiwake)

Best Movie Music: Kako Takashi (Everest Kamigami no Itadaki)

Best Cinematography: Kita Nobuyasu (Everest Kamigami no Itadaki)

Best Documentary: Hibi Yuichi (Ken-san)

Special Award: Sato Tadao - movie critic

Best Anime Movie: Koe no Katachi

Best Anime Film Director: Shinkai Makoto (Kimi no na wa)

Best Voice Actor: Nozawa Masako (Kaze no you ni)

Diamond Award for Anime Category: Matsumoto Reiji

Source: Japan Movie Critics Award

Winners of the 59th Blue Ribbon Awards (2016)

Best Movie: Shin Godzilla

Best Director: Katabuchi Sunao (Kono sekai no katasumi ni)

Best Leading Actor: Matsuyama Kenichi (Chinyuuki /  Satoshi no Seishun)

Best Leading Actress: Ootake Shinobu (Gosaigyou no Onna)

Best Supporting Actor: Lily Frankie (Onna ga nemuru toki / Umi yori mo mada fukaku / Nijuu Seikatsu / Himitsu THE TOP SECRET / SCOOP! / Otousan to Itou-san / Satoshi no Seishun)

Best Supporting Actress: Sugisaki Hana (Yu wo wakasu hodo no atsui ai)

Best Newcomer: Okamura Izumi (Gymnopedies ni midareru)

Special Award: Kimi no na wa

Best Foreign Movie: Rogue One Star Wars Story

Top 10 Japanese movies (in alphabetical order)
Ikari
Kimi no na wa
Gosaigyou no Onna
Satoshi no Seishun
Shin Godzilla
SCOOP!
Nagai Iiwake
Yu wo wakasu hodo no atsui ai
Rip van Winkle no Hanayome
64 - Rokuyon -

Top 10 Foreign movies (there are 11 listed here as two movies ranked at No.10 had the same score)
The Martian
Carol
Suicide Squad
Zootopia
Spotlight
Trumbo
Sully
Bridge of Spies
The Danish Girl
The Revenant
Rogue One Star Wars Story

Source: Cinema Today

Winners of the 71st Mainichi Eiga Concurs (2016)

Japanese Movie Grand Award: Shin Godzilla

Japanese Movie Excellence Award: Kono sekai no katasumi ni

Foreign Movie Best One Award: Sully

Best Director: Nishikawa Miwa (Nagai Iiwake)

Best Scriptwriter: Mukai Kousuke (Satoshi no Seishun)

Best Leading Actor: Motoki Masahiro (Nagai Iiwake)

Best Leading Actress: Tsutsui Mariko (Fuchi ni tatsu)

Best Supporting Actor: Kagawa Teruyuki (Creepy Itsuwari no Rinjin)

Best Supporting Actress: Ichikawa Mikako (Shin Godzilla)

Sponichi Grand Prix Newcomer Award: Maiguma Katsuya (Ken to Kazu) / Nakajo Ayami (Setoutsumi)

Tanaka Kinuyo Award: Matsubara Chieko

Best Photography: Saito Kouichi (64 Rokuyon Zenpen / 64 Rokuyon Kohen)

Best Art: Hayashida Yuji & Sakushima Eri (Shin Godzilla)

Best Music: Kotoringo (Kono sekai no katasumi ni)

Best Sound: Shiratori Mitsugu (Satoshi no Seishun)

Documentary Movie Award: Sakura no ki no shita

Animation Movie Award: Kimi no na wa

Oofuji Noburo Award: Kono sekai no katasumi ni

TSUTAYAxFilmarks Movie Fan Award - Japanese Movie: Kimi no na wa

TSUTAYAxFilmarks Movie Fan Award - Foreign Movie: Zootopia

Special Award: Shimamura Tatsuo (CEO of Shirogumi)

Source: Natalie

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

Top 10 best movies of 2016 as selected by Yokohama Film Festival

1) Kono sekai no katasumi ni

2) Yu wo wakasu hodo no atsui ai

3) Distraction Babies

4) Shin Godzilla

5) Nagai Iiwake

6) Fuchi ni tatsu

7) Ikari

8) Satoshi no Seishun

9) Katsuragi Jiken

10) Kimi no na wa

Source: Yokohama Film Festival

Top 10 movies box office ranking for the weekend of 19th & 20th Nov

Numbers in brackets indicate the number of cinemas showing the movie:

1) Kimi no na wa (296)

2) Museum (331)

3) Jack Reacher NEVER GO BACK (343)

4) Death Note Light up the NEW world (342)

5) Satoshi no Seishun (159)

6) Inferno (346)

7) Oboreru Knife (153)

8) Eiga Mahou Tsukai Puri Kyua! Kiseki no Henshin! Kyua Morufun! (212)

9) Kido Senshi Gundam THE ORIGIN IV Unmei no Zenya (15)

10) Kono sekai no katasumi ni (68)

Source: Eiga.com

First-day-screening event of new movie "Satoshi no Seishun"

The first-day-screening event of new movie "Satoshi no Seishun" was held at Marunouchi Picadilly 1 on 19 November which was attended by the director Mori Yoshitaka and cast members Matsuyama Kenichi, Higashide Masahiro, Lily Frankie and Emoto Tokio and professional shogi player Habu Yoshiharu. The movie which is based on the non-fiction novel by Osaki Yoshio that had won the 13th Shincho Gakueisho, features Matsuyama as the lead character Murayama Satoshi who devoted his whole life to shogi and died at the young age of 29 while battling nephrosis and cancer.

In order to look like the real Murayama who put on weight due to his illness, Matsuyama increased his weight by nearly 20kg and managed to lose the weight towards the end of the filming. Upon seeing that Matsuyama had regained his previous figure, Lily revealed that he actually liked the larger-sized Matsuyama which led the latter to comment that even his wife Koyuki said the same thing. However, if he were to maintain that weight, he could only become a sumo wrestler or play Murayama forever. Lily joked that he can just alternate between those two roles which led Matsuyama to say that he can't do that until his children reach adulthood.

Habu who was Murayama's biggest rival when the latter was live, appeared as a guest during the event and presented Matsuyama and Higashide who played Habu in the movie with the first level shogi license. The two actors expresed their joy at receiving the license and said that it was a honour to be able to show the beautiful ways the shogi players lived to pursue their passion. When asked about his impression of the two actors, Habu commented that he was happy to see Murayama again through the acting of Matsuyama but admitted that he was a bit embarrased about himself appearing in the movie since it's usually people who had already passed away to appear in such films. As such, he was glad to be able to see this movie while he is still alive.

In the movie, there is a line where Murayama said that the only thing that his shogi teacher (Lily) taught him was drinking and playing mahjong. As such, before the filming started, Matsuyama suggested that they should play mahjong once so Lily arranged for Arai Hirofumi and Pierre Taki who were unrelated to the movie to play mahjong together. Lily also joked that during the filming, they teased Matsuyama for giving off the vibe of a virgin despite being a father of three. However, Matsuyama did not mind this nickname at all and even vowed to get the title back from Emoto who was regarded as a level above him in this regard.

Sources: Nikkansports / Sanspo / Sponichi / Eiga.com / Oricon

Matsuyama Kenichi & Higashide Masahiro appear at the screening of their movie "Satoshi no Seishun" at Tokyo international Film Festival

Matsuyama Kenichi and Higashide Masahiro appeared at the screening of their new movie "Satoshi no Seishun" held at EX Theatre Roppongi on 2 November which was the closing film of the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival. Also present was the film's director Mori Yoshitaka. During this event, Olympic medalists Yoshida Saori, Miyake Hiromi and Haneda Takuya also made a surprise appearance to present flower bouquets to the actors and directors. The movie which is based on the non-fiction novel by Osaki Yoshio who won the 13th Shincho Gakugeisho, features Matsuyama in the role of the late professional shogi player Murayama Satoshi who passed away at the young age of 29 due to an illness he had been suffering from since he was a child.

Matsuyama commented that he was very happy that the movie was selected to be the closing film for the festival while Higashide who plays professional shogi player Habu Yoshiharu, jokingly referred to himself as the "heroine" of this movie. Higashide also said that he was proud and glad that the movie which featured shogi that is a sign of Japanese tradition, could be featured during the festival. When asked about his thoughts on participating in the film festival, Matsuyama said that it was full of fun memories and he was honoured to be able to meet Meryl Streep and Abe Mario-san i.e. the Prime Minister Abe Shinzo who had appeared as Mario during the closing ceremony of the Rio Olympics. He also revealed that he gets a lot of positive energy by meeting the festival's participants which in turn provides a lot of courage for him to move forward in his career. As for the question about how Matsuyama feels resonant with Murayama's way of living, he stated that both of them have a career which they are fully immersed in and dedicate their lives to i.e. shogi and acting. However, the movie is not only about shogi and also features how Murayama drank with his friends and played mahjong. As such, he likes the way how Murayama lived according to his wishes and this has been inspiring to his own life as well. The movie also showcases the traditional culture of shogi so he hopes that everyone in the world can get to see it and appreciate the beauty of this game.

"Satoshi no Seishun" will be shown in cinemas from 19 November while the Tokyo International Film Festival will end on 3 November.

Source: Eiga.com

Completion screening event of new movie "Satoshi no Seishun"

The completion screening event of new movie "Satoshi no Seishun" was held at Marunouchi Picadilly 1 on 5 october which was attended by the director Mori Yoshitaka and cast members Matsuyama Kenichi, Higashide Masahiro, Takeshita Keiko and Yasuda Ken. The movie which will be shown in cinemas from 19 November, features Matsuyama as the talented professional shogi player Murayama Satoshi who suffered from nephrosis as a child and died at the young age of 29 due to bladder cancer.

Matsuyama recounted that when he first read the script, he was very moved by the story and had grown to like Murayama so much that he was prepared to throw away a lot of things in order to play him in the movie. Although it was tough for him physically and mentally to immerse himself fully into the character, he still enjoyed the experience because there were more things he liked than disliked. In order to look convincing as Murayama, Matsuyama put on nearly 20kg, wore Murayama's favourite tie during the shogi game scenes and visited the Tokyo Shogi Kaikan regularly to observe the games. However, he thinks that whether he actually succeeded in playing Murayama will have to depend on the audience's response to the movie which he will find out gradually later on.

Higashide who plays Murayama's biggest rival Habu Yoshiharu, revealed that he had goosebumps after reading the script and was so elated when he got the role that he shook the hand of his manager for the first time. Before the filming started, Higashide and the director went to meet Habu and borrowed his glasses which were worn when he won his 7th championship title. Through this movie, he had also come to realise the idea that some things needed to be thrown away in order to achieve certain goals.

Matsuyama "complained" about not being invited to the meeting with Habu and revealed that he only came to know about it halfway into the filming. Although the director had deliberately arranged for him to be absent so that Matsuyama would not be affected by his impression of his rival through the meeting, the latter still lamented that he would still have wanted to meet Habu before the start of the filming.

Sources: Oricon / Eiga.com

List of Japanese films screened as special entries in the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival

The 29th Tokyo International Film Festival will be held from 25 October to 3 November and here is the list of 6 Japanese films which will be taking part in the special entry category along with their information:

1) Satoshi no Seishun starring Matsuyama Kenichi
The closing film of the festival
To be shown in Japan from 19 November

2) Kono sekai no katasumi ni
Animation film about the people who lived in Hiroshima during WWII
To be shown in Japan from 12 November

3) Museum starring Oguri Shun
To be shown in Japan from 12 November

4) Tane maku tabibito Yume no tsugiki starring Takanashi Rin & Saitou Takumi
To be shown in Japan in November

5) Ikinari sensei ni natta boku ga kanojo ni koi wo shita starring Yesung from Super Junior & Sasaki Nozomi
To be shown in Japan from 3 November

6) Itazura na Kiss THE MOVIE High School Hen
To be shown in Japan from 25 November

Source: Eiga.com

Hata Motohiro to sing the theme song for new movie "Satoshi no Seishun"

Hata Motohiro will be singing the theme song for new movie "Satoshi no Seishun" starring Matsuyama Kenichi as the young genius shogi player Murayama Satoshi who died at the age of 29 in 1998. The song titled "Owari no nai sora" (The endless sky) is written by Hata who was inspired by how Murayama gave his all in shogi despite his worsening health condition. After watching unedited footage from the movie in May, he wrote the lyrics in the midst of his nationwide concert tour while reading the original novel. Hata recounted that there was a line in Murayama's notebook which said that humans are born to be sad and tortured but that destiny is what makes them happy so he incorporated that into the song as well.

"Satoshi no Seishun" will be shown during the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival taking place from 25 October as the closing film. It will be shown in cinemas nationwide from 19 November.

Source: Eiga.com

Details of the 29th Tokyo International Film Festival taking place this autumn

The 29th Tokyo International Film Festival will be held between 25 October and 3 November at Roppongi Hills and EX Theatre Roppongi which will be the venues for the opening and closing ceremony and the screening of films in the competition category.  The outdoor screening of "Tokyo International Film Festival Cinema Arena" will be held at Hills Arena.

The opening film this year will be "Florence Foster Jenkins" directed by Stephen Frears while the closing film will be "Satoshi no Seishun" starring Matsuyama Kenichi and directed by Mori Yoshitaka. Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant will be in Tokyo for the opening screening of their film.

Source: Eiga.com

Higashide Masahiro to act as shogi player Habu Yoshiharu in the new movie "Satoshi no Seishun"

Higashide Masahiro will be playing shogi player Habu Yoshiharu in the new movie "Satoshi no Seishun" which is due to be shown this autumn. The film features Matsuyama Kenichi as the talented shogi player Murayama Satoshi who died at the young age of 29 and achieved 7 championship titles by 1996 which nobody had achieved before then while Higashide will play the 25-year-old Habu who was the biggest rival of Murayama at that time. Higashide commented that he was very happy and motivated about participating in this movie even before filming began especially since he is a shogi lover himself and had played against professional shogi player Watanabe Akira in a TV programme before. In preparation for the role, Higashide borrowed the same pair of spectacles used by Habu when he won his 7th title and had spent a lot of time studying the famous shogi games played by Habu and observing his mannerisms and gestures.

Co-stars in this movie include Lily Frankie, Takeshita Keiko and Sometani Shota.

Source: Yomiuri Hochi

Matsuyama Kenichi to play a genius shogi player in new movie "Satoshi no Seishun"

Matsuyama Kenichi will play a genius shogi player in the new movie "Satoshi no Seishun" (The Youth of Satoshi) directed by Mori Yoshitaka which will be screened in autumn this year. The movie which is based on a non-fiction novel by Osaki Yoshio about a genius shogi player Murayama Satoshi who passed away at the young age of 29 years old in 1998 due to bladder cancer. Despite being regarded as the genius in West Japan and rivals with Habu Yoshiharu in East Japan, Murayama couldn't realise his dream of rising to the Meijin rank due to his early demise.

As Murayama suffered from kidney nephrosis since he was a child, he was constantly hospitalised. His father then suggested that his son learn shogi which led to the latter starting to dream of being a Meijin one day. Due to his illness, Murayama put on weight gradually thus leading to his big build. Despite his health condition, Murayama poured everything into his shogi career and was still talking about shogi while on his deathbed.

In order to look like Murayama, Matsuyama started to increase his food intake since last summer by eating every few hours and put on a lot of weight. In addition, he started to visit the Tokyo Shogi Kaikan in order to improve his shogi skills and even let his hair and nails grow longer. As a result, even Murayama's teacher Mori Nobuo Shichidan said that Matsuyama bore a striking resemblance to his late student. Matsuyama commented that when he read the book on Murayama, he had wanted to act as the latter and was especially touched by how he used his life to pursue his passion. It was especially difficult for him to portray the inner world of Murayama who was battling his illness so in order to know more about Murayama, Matsuyama went to visit his grave in Hiroshima and met with his parents and teacher Mori Nobuo before interviewing patients who had the same condition. As such, with his preparations to portray Murayama as accurately as possible, Matsuyama was confident about making a strong impression on everyone who watch this movie.

The novel's author Osaki revealed that the first time he was approached about the movie adaptation was 10 years ago and he was convinced by the production crew's passion and perseverance after all these years of hard work. He was especially impressed with Matsuyama's efforts in changing his image to play the role and is eagerly anticipating about seeing Murayama on screen for the first time in 17 years.

Filming began from last month and is expected to end in the middle of this month. Further cast announcements will be made at a later date.

Source: Sponichi / Oricon