The 48th Japan Academy Film Prize ceremony was held on March 14, 2025, at the Grand Prince Hotel Shin Takanawa in Tokyo, Japan.
The critics hailed the Best Film victory of A Samurai in Time, recognizing both the film’s quality and its symbol of resistance and artistic passion, and celebrated a handcrafted project that triumphed over the country’s more traditional film industry.
Other major winners included Michihito Fujii for Best Director and Ryusei Yokohama for Best Actor, both for Faceless, while Yuumi Kawai won Best Actress for A Girl Named Ann.
Top Films: most awards
| Category | Winner | Film |
|---|---|---|
| Best Film | A Samurai in Time | A Samurai in Time |
| Best Director | Michihito Fujii | Faceless |
| Best Actor | Ryusei Yokohama | Faceless |
| Best Actress | Yuumi Kawai | A Girl Named Ann |
| Best Supporting Actor | Takao Osawa | Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General |
| Best Supporting Actress | Riho Yoshioka | Faceless |
| Best Screenplay | Akiko Nogi | Last Mile |
| Best Animation Film | Look Back | Look Back |
| Best Foreign Language Film | Oppenheimer | Oppenheimer |
Results tally
The table below shows the final awards tally for each film, ranked by the total number of awards won.
| Rank | Film | Awards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Faceless | 4 |
| 2 | A Samurai in Time | 1 |
| 2 | Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General | 1 |
| 2 | Last Mile | 1 |
| 2 | A Girl Named Ann | 1 |
| 2 | Karaoke Iko! | 1 |
| 2 | Look Back | 1 |
| 2 | Oppenheimer | 1 |
Faceless Dominates the Awards
The film that dominated the 48th Japan Academy Film Prize in terms of number of wins was Faceless (Shotai), followed by Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General.
Critics praised Faceless for its performances, particularly Ryusei Yokohama’s lead role, but much of the post-ceremony discussion focused on how the independent hit, A Samurai in Time, overcame the frontrunner to claim the top prize (Best Film).
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| Best Director | Michihito Fujii |
| Best Actor | Ryusei Yokohama |
| Best Supporting Actress | Riho Yoshioka |
| Best Film Editing | Tatsuma Furukawa |
Want to know more about these movie?
- Read our review of “Faceless“.
- Check out all the movies featuring actor Ryusei Yokohama.
- Check out all the movies featuring actress Riho Yoshioka.
Newcomer of the Year Winners
Actors and actresses at the beginning of their careers or who had a breakthrough role during 2025. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the person’s first film.
| Winner | Film |
|---|---|
| Asuka Saito | Oshi no Ko: The Final Act |
| Nagisa Saito | Oshi no Ko: The Final Act |
| Anna Yamada | Golden Kamuy |
| Eiji Akaso | 366 Days |
| Rihito Itagaki | Hakkenden |
| Keita Koshiyama | Buzzy Noise |
| Jun Saito | Karaoke Iko! |
| Shintaro Morimoto | MARS: The White Lion |
Films Reviewed here That Won Japan Academy Awards
Here you will find reviews of award-winning Japanese films and my impressions of Japanese culture as portrayed in these films.
Faceless (Drama/Mistery/Thriller)
Keiichi was on death row for triple homicide, but he managed to escape detention and was going to do everything to prove his innocence.
Ann is a drug-addicted call girl who heroically tries to get back on her feet with the help of a journalist and a police officer.
Erena works for a distribution site. In the night before Black Friday, a bomb explodes in a delivered package and news of other packaged devices spreads terror across Japan.
Fujino was an aspiring manga artist who produced comic strips for the school newspaper. Full of herself, she is confronted with the reality that Kyomoto is on another artistic level.
Actors Featured here Who Won Awards
Here you will find other reviewed Japanese films that the winning actors of the 48th Japan Academy Film Prize participated in.
| Category | Winner | Film |
|---|---|---|
| Best Actor | Ryusei Yokohama | Faceless |
| Best Actress | Yuumi Kawai | A Girl Named Ann |
| Best Supporting Actor | Takao Osawa | Kingdom 4: Return of the Great General |
| Best Supporting Actress | Riho Yoshioka | Faceless |
| Best Supporting Actress | Mana Ashida | Cells at Work! |
| Best Supporting Actress | Kaya Kiyohara | Bushido (碁盤斬り) |
| Best Supporting Actress | Tao Tsuchiya | Hakkenden: Fiction and Reality |
| Best Supporting Actress | Anna Yamada | Faceless (正体) |
Obs: at the Japan Academy Film Prize, this Supporting Actress category doesn’t just have a single winner — it can have multiple actresses awarded as “Best Supporting Actress (Excellence Awards)”, and then one of them is chosen as “Most Outstanding”, depending on the edition.