
On February 5th local time, Japan's long-established film magazine "Film Junpo" released its annual awards special issue as usual, revealing the winners of each individual award at the 98th Japan Film Junpo Awards and the highly anticipated top ten Japanese films of the year.

Best Actor winner Matsumura Hokuto and Best Actress winner Kawai Yumi appear on the cover of the special issue of "Film Junpo"
The biggest winner of this year's Film Junpo Awards was none other than "Everything at Dawn" directed by Uta Miyake and starring Kamishiraishi Mone and Matsumura Hokuto, which won four awards: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Director by Readers' Choice. The film tells the story of a young man and woman who suffer from panic disorder and premenstrual syndrome respectively. Although they maintain a simple colleague relationship that is neither lovers nor friends, they comfort and warm each other.
This is also the second time in two years that Miyake Usagi's work has won the highest honor in the Film Junpo after "Keiko, Gaze". The difference is that he previously lost to Takahashi Banaki ("At the Bus Stop Until Dawn") in the competition for the Best Director Award, but this time he finally won the award as well.
In addition, Yumi Kawai won the Best Actress Award for "Namibian Desert" and "Apricot Luck"; Sosuke Ikematsu won the Best Supporting Actor Award for "My Sunshine" and "Gal Assassin 3"; and the Best Supporting Actress Award went to Akiko Oshitari for "The Two Worlds I Live In". Akiko Nogi won the Best Screenplay Award for the suspense film "The Last Mile" directed by Ayuko Tsukahara and starring Hikaru Mitsushima and Masaki Okada. "Where Justice Goes" won the Best Documentary Award. And because of the subject matter, "Oppenheimer", which was only screened on a small scale in Japan, won the Best International Film.
While winning the Best Picture award, "All About Dawn" also automatically topped the list of the top ten Japanese films of the year selected by "Kine Junpo". Founded in 1919, "Kine Junpo" has been selecting the best films of the year since 1924. Today, the so-called "Kine Junpo Top Ten of the Year" has become a recognized synonym for the best Japanese films of the year. Currently, more than 120 people are participating in the voting, including journalists, film critics, and film magazine editors. The selection rules are similar to those of the Oscars and other awards: each person lists ten movies from high to low according to their own preferences. The top movie gets 10 points, the second one gets 9 points, and the points decrease in order. Finally, the magazine lists the rankings according to the total score. Those with the same score will be skipped. The top ten works on the list are the "Top Ten of the Year".
In addition to "Everything at Dawn", "Namibia Desert" and "No Evil Exists" were also selected for the annual top ten. "Looking Back", which was released in China, ranked seventh and is the only animated film in the "top ten".
The 98th Film Junpo Awards ceremony will be held in Tokyo on February 20.
[List of winners of the 96th Film Junpo Awards]
Best Film: "Everything at Dawn"
Best International Film: Oppenheimer
Best documentary: "Where Justice Goes"
Best Director: Usagi Miyake (Everything at Dawn)
Best International Director: Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Best Screenplay: Akiko Nogi, "The Last Mile"
Best Actress: Yumi Kawai, "Deserts in Namibia" and "Apricot Luck"
Best Actor: Matsumura Hokuto (Everything at Dawn)
Best Supporting Actress: Akiko Oshitari, "Two Worlds I Live In"
Best Supporting Actor: Sosuke Ikematsu, "My Sunshine" and "Gal Assassin 3"
Best New Actress: Nakanishi Hiraya, My Sunshine
Best New Actor: Keida Koyama, My Sunshine
Readers voted for the best director: Uta Miyake for "Everything at Dawn"
Readers' Choice Award for Best International Director: Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
"Film Junpo" Reader Award: Saito Tamaki, serial column "The Shift of Film Perspective"
【Top 10 Japanese Films of 2024】
First place: "Everything at Dawn"
Second place: Namibian Desert
3. Evil Does Not Exist
Fourth place: Cloud
Fourth place: My Sunshine
6. The Two Worlds I Live In
Seventh place: Looking Back
8. "The Violent Youth"
9. The Last Mile
10th place: Apricot Luck