Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film of the Year

The Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film of the Year, also called the Kinema Junpo Best Ten Award for Best Japanese Film is given by Japanese film magazine Kinema Junpo as part of its annual Kinema Junpo Best Ten awards. Each film selected into the Japanese Film Best Ten list receives an award, the highest ranked one becoming Best Japanese Film accordingly. The award was first given for 1926. Here is a list of the award winners.^{[citation needed]}

Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film of the Year
Awarded for	Best Feature Film of the Year
Country	Japan
Presented by	Kinema Junpo
First award	1926
Most recent winner	All the Long Nights (2024)
Website	http://www.kinejun.com/

Winners

Year	Film (s)	Japanese title	Director
1926[1]	The Woman Who Touched the Legs [ja]	足にさはった女	Yutaka Abe
1927[1]	A Diary of Chuji's Travels (Parts I-II)	忠次旅日記	Daisuke Itō
1928[1]	The Street of Masterless Samurai/Beautiful Conquest	旋風児	Masahiro Makino
1929[1]	Beheading Place	明烏夢泡雪	Masahiro Makino
1930[1][Note 1]	What Made Her Do It? (modern film) & Ooka's Trial [ja] (historical film)	何が彼女をそうさせたか & 新版大岡政談	Shigeyoshi Suzuki & Daisuke Itō
1931[1]	The Neighbor's Wife and Mine	マダムと女房	Heinosuke Gosho
1932[2]	I Was Born, But...	大人の見る絵本　生れてはみたけれど	Yasujirō Ozu
1933[3]	Passing Fancy	出来ごころ	Yasujirō Ozu
1934[4]	A Story of Floating Weeds	浮草物語	Yasujirō Ozu
1935[1]	Wife! Be Like a Rose!	妻よ薔薇のやうに	Mikio Naruse
1936[1]	Sisters of the Gion	祇園の姉妹	Kenji Mizoguchi
1937[1]	Limitless Advance	限りなき前進	Tomu Uchida
1938[1]	Five Scouts	五人の斥候兵	Tomotaka Tasaka
1939[1]	Tsuchi	土	Tomu Uchida
1940[1]	Spring on Leper's Island	小島の春	Shirō Toyoda
1941[5]	The Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family	戸田家の兄妹	Yasujirō Ozu
1942[1]	The War at Sea from Hawaii to Malay	ハワイ・マレー沖海戦	Kajirō Yamamoto
1946[1]	Morning for the Osone Family [ja]	大曾根家の朝	Keisuke Kinoshita
1947[1]	A Ball at the Anjo House	安城家の舞踏会	Kōzaburō Yoshimura
1948[1]	Drunken Angel	酔いどれ天使	Akira Kurosawa
1949[6]	Late Spring	晩春	Yasujirō Ozu
1950[1]	Until We Meet Again	また逢う日まで	Tadashi Imai
1951[7]	Early Summer	麦秋	Yasujirō Ozu
1952[1]	Ikiru	生きる	Akira Kurosawa
1953[1]	An Inlet of Muddy Water	にごりえ	Tadashi Imai
1954[1]	Twenty-Four Eyes	二十四の瞳	Keisuke Kinoshita
1955[1]	Floating Clouds	浮雲	Mikio Naruse
1956[1]	Darkness at Noon	真昼の暗黒	Tadashi Imai
1957[1]	The Rice People	米	Tadashi Imai
1958[1]	The Ballad of Narayama	楢山節考	Keisuke Kinoshita
1959[1]	Kiku to Isamu	キクとイサム	Tadashi Imai
1960[1]	Her Brother	おとうと	Kon Ichikawa
1961[1]	Bad Boys	不良少年	Susumu Hani
1962[1]	Being Two Isn't Easy	私は二歳	Kon Ichikawa
1963[1]	The Insect Woman	にっぽん昆虫記	Shohei Imamura
1964[1]	The Woman in the Dunes	砂の女	Hiroshi Teshigahara
1965[1]	Red Beard	赤ひげ	Akira Kurosawa
1966[1]	The Great White Tower	白い巨塔	Satsuo Yamamoto
1967[1]	Samurai Rebellion	上意討ち 拝領妻始末	Masaki Kobayashi
1968[1]	The Profound Desire of the Gods	神々の深き欲望	Shōhei Imamura
1969[1]	Double Suicide	心中天網島	Masahiro Shinoda
1970[1]	Where Spring Comes Late	家族	Yoji Yamada
1971[1]	The Ceremony	儀式	Nagisa Oshima
1972[1]	The Long Darkness	忍ぶ川	Kei Kumai
1973[1]	Tsugaru Folk Song	津軽じょんがら節	Kōichi Saitō
1974[1]	Sandakan No. 8	サンダカン八番娼館 望郷	Kei Kumai
1975[1]	Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director	ある映画監督の生涯 溝口健二の記録	Kaneto Shindo
1976[1]	The Youth Killer	青春の殺人者	Kazuhiko Hasegawa
1977[1]	The Yellow Handkerchief	幸福の黄色いハンカチ	Yoji Yamada
1978[1]	Third Base	サード	Yōichi Higashi
1979[1]	Vengeance Is Mine	復讐するは我にあり	Shōhei Imamura
1980[1]	Zigeunerweisen	ツィゴイネルワイゼン	Seijun Suzuki
1981[1]	Muddy River	泥の河	Kōhei Oguri
1982[1]	Fall Guy	蒲田行進曲	Kinji Fukasaku
1983[1]	The Family Game	家族ゲーム	Yoshimitsu Morita
1984[1]	The Funeral	お葬式	Juzo Itami
1985[1]	And Then	それから	Yoshimitsu Morita
1986[1]	The Sea and Poison	海と毒薬	Kei Kumai
1987[1]	A Taxing Woman	マルサの女	Juzo Itami
1988[1]	My Neighbor Totoro	となりのトトロ	Hayao Miyazaki
1989[1]	Black Rain	黒い雨	Shohei Imamura
1990[1]	The Cherry Orchard	櫻の園	Shun Nakahara
1991[1]	My Sons	息子	Yōji Yamada
1992[1]	Sumo Do, Sumo Don't	シコふんじゃった。	Masayuki Suo
1993[1]	All Under the Moon	月はどっちに出ている	Yōichi Sai
1994[1]	A Dedicated Life	全身小説家	Kazuo Hara
1995	A Last Note	午後の遺言状	Kaneto Shindo
1996	Shall We Dance?	Shall we ダンス?	Masayuki Suo
1997	The Eel	うなぎ	Shohei Imamura
1998	Fireworks	はなび	Takeshi Kitano
1999	Wait and See	あ、春	Shinji Sōmai
2000	Face	顔	Junji Sakamoto
2001	Go	ゴー	Isao Yukisada
2002	The Twilight Samurai	たそがれ清兵衛	Yōji Yamada
2003	A Boy's Summer in 1945	美しい夏キリシマ	Kazuo Kuroki
2004	Nobody Knows	誰も知らない	Hirokazu Kore-eda
2005	Break Through!	박치기,パッチギ!	Kazuyuki Izutsu
2006	Hula Girls	フラガール	Lee Sang-il
2007	I Just Didn't Do It	それでもボクはやってない	Masayuki Suo
2008	Departures	おくりびと	Yōjirō Takita
2009	Dear Doctor	ディア・ドクター	Miwa Nishikawa
2010	Villain	悪人	Lee Sang-il
2011	Postcard	一枚のハガキ	Kaneto Shindo
2012	Our Homeland	かぞくのくに	Yang Yong-hi
2013	Pecoross' Mother and Her Days	ペコロスの母に会いに行く	Azuma Morisaki
2014	The Light Shines Only There	そこのみにて光輝く	Mipo O
2015	Three Stories of Love	恋人たち	Ryōsuke Hashiguchi
2016	In This Corner of the World	この世界の片隅に	Sunao Katabuchi
2017	The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue	夜空はいつでも最高密度の青色だ	Yuya Ishii
2018	Shoplifters	万引き家族	Hirokazu Kore-eda
2019	It Feels So Good	火口のふたり	Haruhiko Arai
2020	Wife of a Spy	スパイの妻	Kiyoshi Kurosawa
2021	Drive My Car	ドライブ・マイ・カー	Ryusuke Hamaguchi
2022	Small, Slow But Steady [ja]	ケイコ 目を澄ませて	Shō Miyake [ja]
2023	Okiku and the World	せかいのおきく	Junji Sakamoto
2024	All the Long Nights [ja]	夜明けのすべて	Shō Miyake [ja]

Notes

1. For 1930, separate lists were made for "modern films" and "historical films".