# Mainichi Film Award for Best Cinematography

The Mainichi Film Award for Best Cinematography is a film award given at the Mainichi Film Awards.

## List of winners

| Year | Film | Cinematographer |
| 1946 | Hinoki Butai | Mikiya Tachibana |
| 1947 | Ima Hitotabi no | Mitsuo Miura |
| 1948 | Drunken Angel | Takeo Itō |
| 1949 | Aoi sanmyaku Stray Dog | Asakazu Nakai |
| 1950 | Escape at Dawn | Akira Mimura |
| 1951 | Repast | Masao Tamai |
| 1952 | Nishijin no Shimai Thousand Cranes | Kazuo Miyagawa |
| 1953 | Before the Dawn Kanikōsen | Yoshio Miyajima |
| 1954 | Ai to Shi no Tanima Niwatori wa Futatabi Naku | Jōji Obara |
| 1955 | She Was Like a Wild Chrysanthemum Tōi Kumo | Hiroshi Kusuda |
| 1956 | The Legend of the White Serpent Neko to Shōzō to Futari no Onna | Mitsuo Miura |
| 1957 | Kichigai Buraku Seigiha | Hiroyuki Nagaoka |
| 1958 | Hi no Ataru Sakamichi | Saburō Isayama |
| 1959 | The Human Condition | Yoshio Miyajima |
| 1960 | Her Brother | Kazuo Miyagawa |
| 1961 | A Soldier's Prayer | Yoshio Miyajima |
| 1962 | An Autumn Afternoon | Yūharu Atsuta |
| 1963 | Twin Sisters of Kyoto | Tōichirō Narushima |
| 1964 | Unholy Desire | Shinsaku Himeda |
| 1965 | Kwaidan | Yoshio Miyajima |
| 1966 | Umi no Koto Ichiman Sanzen-nin no Yōgisha | Masahiko Iimura |
| 1967 | Sekishun Portrait of Chieko | Hiroshi Takemura |
| 1968 | Kuroneko Tsuyomushi Onna to Yowamushi Otoko | Kiyomi Kuroda |
| 1969 | Goyokin | Kōzō Okazaki |
| 1970 | Akazukin Chan Ki o Tsukete | Asakazu Nakai |
| 1971 | Inochi Bō ni Furou | Kōzō Okazaki |
| 1972 | The Rendezvous Tabi no Omosa | Noritaka Sakamoto |
| 1973 | Tsugaru Jongara Bushi | Noritaka Sakamoto |
| 1974 | Karei Naru Ichizoku Nemu no Ki no Uta | Kōzō Okazaki |
| 1975 | Kaseki I Am a Cat | Kōzō Okazaki |
| 1976 | The Inugamis | Kiyoshi Hasegawa |
| 1977 | Ballad of Orin | Kazuo Miyagawa |
| 1978 | The Incident The Demon | Takashi Kawamata |
| 1979 | Ah! Nomugi Toge | Setsuo Kobayashi |
| 1980 | Zigeunerweisen | Kazue Nagatsuka |
| 1981 | Station | Daisaku Kimura |
| 1982 | Farewell to the Land | Masaki Tamura |
| 1983 | Antarctica | Akira Shiizuka |
| 1984 | MacArthur's Children | Kazuo Miyagawa |
| 1985 | Sorekara Checkers in Tan Tan Tanuki Yabanjin no Yō ni | Yonezō Maeda |
| 1986 | A Promise Rikon Shinai Onna | Yoshihiro Yamazaki |
| 1987 | Eiga Joyū | Yukio Isohata |
| 1988 | Wuthering Heights Kyōshū | Junichirō Hayashi |
| 1989 | Rikyu | Fujio Morita |
| 1990 | Dreams | Takao Saito Shōji Ueda |
| 1991 | My Sons | Tetsuo Takaha |
| 1992 | The River with No Bridge | Kōichi Kawakami |
| 1993 | We Are Not Alone | Takeshi Hamada |
| 1994 | 800 Two Lap Runners | Naoki Kayano |
| 1995 | Sharaku | Tatsuo Suzuki |
| 1996 | Nemuru Otoko | Osame Maruike |
| 1997 | Yūkai | Daisaku Kimura |
| 1997 | Suzaku 2/Duo | Masaki Tamura |
| 1998 | Hana-bi The Bird People in China | Hideo Yamamoto |
| 1999 | Spellbound | Yoshitaka Sakamoto |
| 2000 | After the Rain | Shōji Ueda |
| 2001 | Inugami Turn Koko ni Irukoto | Masakazu Fujisawa |
| 2002 | The Twilight Samurai | Mutsuo Naganuma |
| 2003 | My House Sayonara, Kuro Akame 48 Waterfalls | Norimichi Kasamatsu |
| 2004 | Vibrator Kikansha Sensei Girlfriend Kokoro to Karada | Kazuhiro Suzuki |
| 2005 | Always Sanchōme no Yūhi | Kōzō Shibasaki |
| 2006 | The Blossoming of Kamiya Etsuko | Kōichi Kawakami |
| 2007 | The Mourning Forest | Hideo Nakano |
| 2008 | United Red Army | Tomohiko Tsuji |
| 2009 | Mt. Tsurugidake | Daisaku Kimura |
| 2010 | Sketches of Kaitan City | Ryūto Kondō |
| 2011 | Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai | Nobuyasu Kita |
| 2012 | Chronicle of My Mother | Akiko Ashizawa |
| 2013 | The Backwater | Takahiro Imai |
| 2014 | Pale Moon | Shiguma Makoto |
| 2015 | Solomon's Perjury | Masakazu Fujisawa |
| 2016 | 64: Part I & 64: Part II | Kōichi Saitō |
| 2017 | The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue | Yōichi Kamakari |
| 2018 | Mori, The Artist's Habitat | Yūta Tsukinaga |
| 2019 | They Say Nothing Stays the Same | Christopher Doyle |
| 2020 | Underdog | Hiromitsu Nishimura |
| 2021 | Under the Open Sky | Norimichi Kasamatsu |
| 2022 | Small, Slow But Steady | Yūta Tsukinaga |
| 2023 | The Moon | Yōichi Kamakari |