List of Japanese submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

A theatrical poster for Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon, which was voted the best foreign language film released in the United States in 1951, and received an Honorary Award.

Japan has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film[nb 1] since the inception of the award. The award is handed out annually by the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to a feature-length motion picture produced outside the United States that contains primarily non-English dialogue.[3]

The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film was not created until 1956; however, between 1947 and 1955, the academy presented Honorary Awards to the best foreign language films released in the United States. These awards were not competitive, as there were no nominees but simply a winner every year that was voted on by the Board of Governors of the academy.[4] Three Japanese films were recipients of Honorary Awards during this period. For the 1956 Academy Awards, a competitive Academy Award of Merit, known as the Best Foreign Language Film Award, was created for non-English speaking films, and has been given annually since.[5]

As of 2023, thirteen Japanese films have been nominees for Academy Award for Best International Feature Film, and two films, Departures and Drive My Car, have won the award.[6][7] The only Japanese directors to have multiple films be nominated for the award are Akira Kurosawa and Noboru Nakamura. Kurosawa received an Honorary Award prior to the inception of the formal award for his work on Rashomon and the actual Academy Award for Dersu Uzala (submitted for the former Soviet Union), and had four other films submitted, with two of them accepted as nominees.[8][9] Notably, Kurosawa's 1985 film Ran was deliberately not nominated by the Japanese film industry for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film due to the poor perception he had among Japanese filmmakers at the time.[10] Nakamura had two films, Twin Sisters of Kyoto and Portrait of Chieko, submitted as nominees for the award.[11] Among all the countries that have submitted films for the award, Japan ranks fourth in terms of total nominees, ahead of both Sweden (fourteen nominees) and the former Soviet Union (nine nominees).[12]

  1. ^ "Academy announces rules for 92nd Oscars". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Academy Announces Rule Changes For 92nd Oscars". Forbes. Archived from the original on 27 May 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  3. ^ "Rule Thirteen: Special Rules for the Foreign Language Film Award". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 22 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  4. ^ "History of the Academy Awards – Page 1". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 13 April 2008. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  5. ^ "History of the Academy Awards – Page 2". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 6 April 2008. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  6. ^ "List of Asian films nominated for Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film". University of California, Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 7 June 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
  7. ^ Variety Staff (1 March 2007). "Best Foreign Film". Variety. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2008.
  8. ^ Kamimura, Marina (7 September 1998). "Film world mourns loss of 'giant' Akira Kurosawa". CNN. Archived from the original on 1 January 2007. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
  9. ^ "Akira Kurosawa – Awards". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2008. Archived from the original on 5 June 2008. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
  10. ^ Prince, Stephen. "Great Performances . Kurosawa . Ask the Experts Q & A". PBS. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  11. ^ "Noboru Nakamura – Awards". Moviefone. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2008.
  12. ^ "Foreign Language Film Facts". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 8 March 2008. Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 11 June 2008.


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