Japanese films, Q1 2024: the quarter in review

Released on March 15 by Toho. In this mystery horror film, occult YouTuber Amemiya (Shotaro Mamiya) is asked to look into the floor plan of a detached house that hides a strange space, and tracks down the house's secret together with architect Kurihara (Jiro Sato). Based on Uketsu's web video and book Strange Houses, it was directed by Junichi Ishikawa from a screenplay by Kentaro Ushio. Rina Kawaei co-stars.

It held No. 1 at the weekend box office for four consecutive weeks, and with 5.07 billion yen it ranked seventh among Japanese films of 2024 and third among live-action films. A ghost story born on the internet that passed 5 billion yen as a live-action film, it is the highest-grossing of the live-action films released in the first half of 2024.

Released on January 19 by Toho in 393 theaters, including 50 IMAX screens. In Hokkaido at the end of the Meiji era, Russo-Japanese War veteran Saichi Sugimoto (Kento Yamazaki) teams up with the Ainu girl Asirpa (Anna Yamada) to hunt for hidden Ainu gold. It adapts Satoru Noda's manga from volume 1 through the first half of volume 3, and was directed by Shigeaki Kubo from a screenplay by Tsutomu Kuroiwa, writer of the live-action Kingdom series. Yuma Yamoto, Hiroshi Tamaki, Gordon Maeda and Hiroshi Tachi co-star.

It opened at No. 1 with 356,186 admissions and 533.85 million yen on its first weekend, and grossed 2.99 billion yen. After its worldwide release on Netflix on May 19, it ranked No. 1 worldwide among non-English films in the week ending May 26 (two weeks in the Top 10), and in Japan it was No. 1 in the week ending July 14. Anna Yamada won Newcomer of the Year at the 48th Japan Academy Film Prize. The story later continued as a WOWOW drama series.

Released on March 22 by Toho. Psychiatrist Shun Fujishiro (Takeru Satoh), who is about to get married, receives a letter from Haru Iyoda (Nana Mori), his first love from ten years earlier, and his fiancée Yayoi Sakamoto (Masami Nagasawa) suddenly vanishes. Based on Genki Kawamura's novel, it was directed by Tomokazu Yamada from a screenplay by Yuichiro Kido, Tomokazu Yamada and Genki Kawamura. Taiga Nakano, Ayumu Nakajima and Yuumi Kawai co-star.

With 1.19 billion yen, it is the third-highest-grossing Japanese live-action film released in the first quarter.

Released on February 9 by Bandai Namco Filmworks and Asmik Ace. Misa Fujisawa (Mone Kamishiraishi), who suffers from PMS (premenstrual syndrome), and Takatoshi Yamazoe (Hokuto Matsumura), who has panic disorder, meet at a small company and help each other as coworkers rather than lovers. Based on Maiko Seo's 2020 novel, it was directed by Sho Miyake, who co-wrote the screenplay with Kiyoto Wada. Kiyohiko Shibukawa and Ken Mitsuishi co-star.

It screened in the Forum section of the 74th Berlin International Film Festival and placed first among Japanese films in the 98th Kinema Junpo Best Ten, which covers films of 2024. It also received an Award of Excellence for Picture of the Year at the 48th Japan Academy Film Prize. It opened in South Korea on September 18, 2024.

Released exclusively on Netflix on February 29, with no theatrical run. Minako (Masami Nagasawa), who wakes up on an unfamiliar beach, meets the dead who still have unfinished business in this world and sets out to find the person she lost. Michihito Fujii wrote and directed it as an original work, with Kentaro Sakaguchi, Ryusei Yokohama, Lily Franky, Shinobu Terajima and Nana Mori co-starring.

It spent one week at No. 10 worldwide among Netflix's non-English films (1.1 million views) and was No. 1 in Japan in the week ending March 3. Fujii released Faceless in November of the same year.