GODZILLA MINUS ONE has received multiple nominations from the Hochi Film Awards. Photo courtesy of Toho Co., Ltd. ©TOHO CO., LTD.

Source: The Hochi Shimbun Co. press release
Official Site: https://www.hochi.co.jp/award/hochi_eigashou/ (Japan)

The nominations for the 48th Hochi Film Awards, one of Japan's top film awards, have been revealed. Each award was selected by the Hochi Film Awards Secretariat (advisor, Ms. Sachiko Watanabe) from the most fan votes. The Selection Committee will conduct rigorous screenings and announce the results of each award later this month.

The two-part BAIAN: THE ASSASSIN M.D. (藤枝梅安, Fujieda Baian) was nominated in 6 categories, the most of any film. GODZILLA MINUS ONE (ゴジラ-1.0/ゴジラマイナスワン, Gojira Mainasu Wan) was nominated in 4, including Best Film.

Hochi Film Award-winners receive a bronze statue. Photo courtesy of the Hochi Shimbun. ©The Hochi Shimbun

The Hochi Film Awards were established in 1976 as the first independent film award held by a sports newspaper. Readers are also invited to vote by postcard to select the best film and actor of the year. The reader-participatory film awards have become a major feature of the Hochi Film Awards.

At first, the awards were given in seven categories: Best Picture, Best Leading Male and Female Actor, Best Supporting Male and Female Actor, Best Newcomer, and Best Foreign Work. The Best Director Award was added in the 10th edition (1985), and the Best Animation Award was added in the 42nd edition (2017). Special awards are selected in some years.

At the awards ceremony held every December, the winners are presented with a certificate, prize money, and a bronze statue designed by illustrator Makoto Wada. The year following the birth of the Hochi Film Awards, the Japan Academy Prize was also launched. The Blue Ribbon Awards and other film awards, as well as film festivals honoring films and actors, are held throughout Japan from the end of the year to the beginning of the new year. Since the Hochi Film Awards are announced ahead of the other awards, they attract a great deal of attention in terms of predicting the winners across the entire award season.

This year's Selection Committee Members are Hisafumi Araki (film critic), Naoko Kimura (Yomiuri Shimbun's Culture Department in charge of movies), Toru Mishiro (President of Gentosha Inc.), Susumu Fujita (President of CyberAgent, Inc.), Shinobu Matsumoto (freelance announcer), YOU (TV personality), LiLiCo (film commentator), Shoko Watanabe (film critic) and Hochi Shimbun's film staff.

◆Nominations

▼ Best Film Awards - Japanese

FROM SIBERIA WITH LOVE (ラーゲリより愛を込めて,  Rāgeri Yori Ai o Komete)

SMALL, SLOW BUT STEADY (ケイコ 目を澄ませて, Me o Sumasete)

Work in Progress - BAIAN: THE ASSASSIN M.D. 1, 2

TEA FRIENDS (茶飲友達,  Cha in Tomodachi)

EGOIST (エゴイスト,  Egoisuto)

MY HAPPY MARRIAGE (わたしの幸せな結婚★,  Watashi no Shiawasena Kekkon★)

LOST CARE (ロストケア,  Rosuto Kea)

THE VILLAGE (ヴィレッジ,  Virejji)

TOKYO MER: Mobile Emergency Room - THE MOVIE (劇場版『TOKYO MER～走る緊急救命室～』, Gekijōban “ TOKYO MER ～ Hashiru Kinkyū Kyūmeishitsu ～”)

FATHER OF THE MILKY WAY RAILROAD (銀河鉄道の父, Ginga Tetsudō no Chichi)

MONSTER (怪物, Kaibutsu)

ONE LAST BLOOM (春に散る, Haru Ni Chiru)

MOM, IS THAT YOU?! (こんにちは、母さん, Konnichiha , Kāsan)

SEPTEMBER 1923 (福田村事件, Fukuda Mura Jiken)

BAD LANDS (バッド・ランズ, Baddo Ranzu)

THE MOON (月, Tsuki)

GODZILLA MINUS ONE　

 

▼ Best Director Award

Shin Adachi  BRATS BE AMBITIOUS! (雑魚どもよ、大志を抱け,  Jakodomoyo , Taishi o Dake)

Yuya Ishii THE MOON

Rikiya Imaizumi UNDERCURRENT (アンダーカレント,  Andākarento)

Shunsaku Kawage BAIAN: THE ASSASSIN M.D. 1, 2

Kazuyoshi Kumakiri YOKO (658kｍ、陽子の旅, 658 Kiromētoru, Yōshi no Tabi)

Hirokazu Kore-eda MONSTER

Takahisa Zeze FRAGMENTS OF THE LAST WILL (ラーゲリより愛を込めて, Rāgeri Yori Ai o Komete)

Fumiharu Toyama TEA FRIENDS

Ayuko Tsukahara MY HAPPY MARRIAGE

Masato Harada BAD LANDS

Tatsuya Mori SEPTEMBER 1923

Daishi Matsunaga EGOIST

Sho Miyake SMALL, SLOW BUT STEADY

Tatsuya Mori SEPTEMBER 1923

Takashi Yamazaki GODZILLA MINUS ONE

Yoji Yamada MOM, IS THAT YOU?!

 

▼ Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Yuta Kishi G-MEN (Gメン)

Ryunosuke Kamiki GODZILLA MINUS ONE

Yosuke Kubozuka SIN CLOCK

Yuuki Kura OUT

Koichi Sato ONE LAST BLOOM

Ryohei Suzuki EGOIST/TOKYO MER: Mobile Emergency Room - THE MOVIE

Etsushi Toyokawa BAIAN: THE ASSASSIN M.D. 1, 2

Kazuya Ninomiya FROM SIBERIA WITH LOVE/ANALOG (アナログ, Anarogu)

Tatsuya Fuji TAKANO TOFU (高野豆腐店の春, Takano Tōfuten no Haru)

Kenichi Matsuyama LOST CARE (ロストケア,  Rosuto Kea)

Koji Yakusho Familia/FATHER OF THE MILKY WAY RAILROAD

Ryusei Yokohama VILLAGE/ONE LAST BLOOM

 

▼ Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Award

Yuki Amami BAIAN: THE ASSASSIN M.D. 1

Haruka Ayase THE LEGEND & BUTTERFLY (レジェンド＆バタフライ, Rejendo ando Batafurai)/REVOLVER LILY (リボルバー・リリー,  Riborubā Rirī)

Sakura Ando MONSTER/BAD LANDS

Yukino Kishii SMALL, SLOW BUT STEADY

Rinko Kikuchi YOKO

Kuroki Hana OKIKU AND THE WORLD (せかいのおきく, Sekai no Okiku)

Honami Sato HANAKUTASHI

Mariko Tsutsui HAMON (波紋)

Masami Nagasawa LOST CARE

Mayu Matsuoka AI NI INAZUMA (愛にイナズマ)

Rie Miyazawa THE MOON

Sayuri Yoshinaga MOM, IS THAT YOU?!

 

▼ Best Supporting Actor Award

Arata Iura UNDERCURRENT

Yuto Isomura THE MOON

Ryudo Uzaki BAD LANDS

Akira Emoto EGOIST/LOST CARE/SEPTEMBER 1923

Yo Oizumi MOM, IS THAT YOU?!

Masataka Kubota ONE LAST BLOOM

Koichi Sato AI NI INAZUMA/BAIAN: THE ASSASSIN M.D.

Nagayama Eita SEPTEMBER 1923

Momori Matsuzaka FROM SIBERIA WITH LOVE

Tomokazu Miura SMALL, SLOW BUT STEADY

Ken Mitsuishi HAMON

Miyazawa Higo EGOIST/THE LEGEND & BUTTERFLY

Yusei Yagi ICHIKEI'S CROW (イチケイのカラス, Ichikei no Karasu)

Akira Yasuda FROM SIBERIA WITH LOVE

 

▼ Best Supporting Actress Award

Kumiko Aso TAKANO TOFU

Mio Imada MY HAPPY MARRIAGE

Sae Okazaki SAGA SAGA (緑のざわめき, Midori no Zawameki)

Miho Kanno BAIAN: THE ASSASSIN M.D. 1, 2

Shuri DOWNFALL (零落, Reiraku)

Yuko Tanaka MONSTER

Meiku Nagano MOM, IS THAT YOU?!

Fumi Nikaido THE MOON

Kanna Hashimoto ONE LAST BLOOM/KINGDOM 3 (キングダム 運命の炎, Kingudamu Unmei no Honō)

Minami Hamambe SHIN KAMEN RIDER/GODZILLA MINUS ONE

Haru ANALOG

MEGUMI DOWNFALL/AI NI INAZUMA

 

▼ Best Newcomer Award

Aina the End KYRIE (キリエのうた, Kirie no Uta)

Yukiya Ikegawa BRATS BE AMBITIOUS!

Toshisora Onishi THE WATER FLOWS TO THE SEA (水は海に向かって流れる, Mizu wa Umi ni Mukatte Nagareru)

Souya Kurokawa MONSTER

Ami Touma THE WATER FLOWS TO THE SEA

Yota Hiiragi MONSTER

Ren Meguro MY HAPPY MARRIAGE

Nanami Yamazaki THE DRY SPELL (渇水, Kassui)

 

▼ International Competition

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

A MAN CALLED OTTO

LIVING

ORPHAN: FIRST KILL

AIR

TAR

TO LESLIE 　

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE / DEAD RECKONING PART ONE　

GRAN TURISMO　

THE CREATOR　

 

▼ Best Animated Film Award

THE FIRST SLAM DUNK (ザ・ファーストスラムダンク, Za Fāsuto Suramu Danku)

LONELY CASTLE IN THE MIRROR (かがみの孤城, Kagami no Kojō)

KINGDOM OF GOLD, KINGDOM OF WATER (金の国　水の国,  Kin no Kuni Mizu no Kuni)　

BLUE GIANT

DETECTIVE CONAN: BLACK IRON SUBMARINE (名探偵コナン 黒鉄(くろがね)の魚影(サブマリン)

THE SUPER MARIO BROTHERS MOVIE

SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE

THE BOY AND THE HERON (君たちはどう生きるか, Kimitachi wa Dō Kiru ka)

NEW DIMENSION! CRAYON SHIN-CHAN THE MOVIE: GREAT PSYCHOKINETIC BATTLE ~ FLYING HAND-ROLLED SUSHI ~ (しん次元！クレヨンしんちゃんTHE MOVIE 超能力大決戦 ～とべとべ手巻き寿司～, Shin Jigen! Kureyon Shinchan THE MOVIE Chō Nōryoku Daikessen ～ Tobetobe Temakizushi ～ )

CITY HUNTER THE MOVIE: ANGEL'S DUST (劇場版シティーハンター　天使の涙, Gekijōban Shitī Hantā Tenshi no Namida)

 

■ Hochi Film Awards 

◆Sponsor: The Hochi Shimbun
◆Supported by: Dydo Drinko, CyberAgent, Syakou Rental Hanbai, Ltd.
◆Cooperation: Canon Marketing Japan, Shimizu Corporation, Mitsumura Printing, The Prince Park Tower Tokyo

© The Hochi Shimbun