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Box office top 10 in 2005

Eiga.com reports the top 10 box hit among Japanese movies in 2005 on Dec. 13.  This ranking does not include the recent big hit "YAMATO", which probably will be included in 2006 figure, just as "Howl" is included in this year's list.  Please note the list also includes animations.  Here are the 2005 top hit movies;

1.  Howl's Moving Castle (Toho, animation)   19.6 bil. yen

2.  Pokemon Advanced Generation (Toho, animation)  4.3 bil. yen

3.  Negotiator Mashita Masayoshi  (Toho)  4.2 bil. yen

4.  NANA (Toho)  4.03 bil. yen

5.  Suspect Murio Shinji  (Toho)  3.83 bil. yen

6.  Train Man  (Toho)  3.7 bil. yen

7.  Year One in the North  (Toei)  2.7 bil. yen

8.  Always  - Sunset in the Third Street (Toho)  2.5 bil. yen (estimate)

9.  Lorelei  (Toho)  2.4 bil. yen

10.  Shining Boy and Little Randy  (Toho)  2.3 bil. yen

If "YAMATO" goes as is estimated, it will be No. 2, 3 or 4.  It is notable that 9 out of the top 10 is by Toho studio.

As a side note, their report on top foreign movies says that the No. 1 is "Star Wars Episode III - Revenge of Sith" which made 9.2bil. yen.  So again this year, over all top box office goes to Hayao Miyazaki's animation.

More Japanese actors in Chinese movies

Zhang Yimou's "Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles", starring Japanese veteran Ken Takakura, opened in China on December 22, and it is getting good reviews.  The film is about a Japanese fisherman and his son traveling to China to meet a traditional opera dance, to revive his ties with his ailing son.  In addition to Takakura, Kiichi Nakai plays his son (voice only) and Shinobu Terajima his daughter-in-law.  Chinabe Cinema blog reports, from various Chinese sources, how Takakura gets respect from co-stars and staff as a professional, humble, friendly and has sense of humor.  In fact, many top Japanese younger top actors, such as Nakai and Sanada (see below), name Takakura as their mentor, so Zhang Yimou is not the only one.

"The Promise" (US Title:  "Master of the Crimson Armor"), starring Hiroyuki Sanada, already raked in the record box office since its start on Dec. 15 (approx. $12 mil.).  "Master..." was supposed to be screened in Los Angeles from Dec. 30 till Jan. 5, ....but I just read now on Variety that the distribution company The Weinsten Company handed back the rights.  So the fate of this movie in the U. S. is really up in the air.

And it is not the end of the list of Japanese actors in Chinese movies.  My recent favorite Shidou Nakamura, whose latest "YAMATO" is currently red-hot in Japanese box office, will be appearing in Jet Li- starring "Fealess" (China/Hong Kong) as a Judo master.  Nakamura is originally a Kabuki actor, but he is more successful these days as a movie actor, well known for his very different characters such as the skin-head champion in "Ping Pong" and the outworldly gentle husband in "Be With You".  "Fealess" will open in China on January 16.

All of these movies are also featured in recent MonkeyPeaches articles.  See below.

MonkeyPeaches (English)

Chinabe Cinema (Japanese)

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