‘Demon Slayer’ And Oscar-Nominated ‘Kokuho’ Push Japan Box Office To Record High In 2025

In a much-needed push for Japan’s box office, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle – Part 1 and Oscar-nominated film Kokuho have emerged as the industry’s shining beacons of hope. The world’s third-biggest film market surged to a record 274.45 billion yen (U$1.79 billion) gross in the year, per figures from the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, marking a 32 per cent increase from 2024.

The rebound is a significant leap over the previous high of 261.18 billion yen (U$1.70 billion) set in 2019, with the blockbuster anime title adding 39.14 billion yen (U$255 million) to the combined haul. In second place was Lee Sang-il’s Kokuho (19.55 billion yen / U$127 million), which notched an Oscar nod for best makeup and hairstyling, and made history as the highest-grossing Japanese live-action film ever released domestically.

Anime dominance continued into the remaining ranks of the top 10 charts, where Detective Conan: One-Eyed Flashback (US$95.8 million) and Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc (US$67.8 million) took the third and fourth spots, respectively. Local productions filled out the remainder, comprising Cells at Work! (US$41.1 million), Tokyo Mer: Mobile Emergency Room – “Nankai Mission” (US$33.9 million), Exit 8 (US$33.3 million), Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s Art World Tales (US$30.0 million), Grande Maison Paris (US$27.4 million) and Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX – Beginning (US$23.5 million).

While Hollywood releases were more modest, most of them still crossed the billion-yen (US$6.5 million) mark. Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning led the pack with US$33.9 million, followed by Moana 2 (US$33.3 million) and Universal’s Jurassic World: Rebirth (US$31.9 million). Beyond the top three, the list is as follows:

•  A Minecraft Movie (Warner Bros): US$25.5 million
• Wicked Part I (Universal): US$22.8 million
• Lilo & Stitch (Disney): US$21.5 million
• Mufasa: The Lion King (Disney): US$14.3 million
• F1: The Movie (Apple): US$13.7 million
• Conclave (Universal): US$7.2 million
• Captain America: Brave New World (Marvel): US$7.2 million

Of the 38 domestic titles that surpassed one billion yen in box office revenue, 14 were anime features, remaining unchanged from the year before. Check out the breakdown below:

Si Jia

Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.