# Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film of the Year

The Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film of the Year, also called the Kinema Junpo Best Ten Award for Best Japanese Film is given by Japanese film magazine Kinema Junpo as part of its annual Kinema Junpo Best Ten awards. Each film selected into the Japanese Film Best Ten list receives an award, the highest ranked one becoming Best Japanese Film accordingly. The award was first given in 1927, but regarded the 1926 season (since then, every award has been given for movies released in the previous year). Here is a list of the award winners.

## Winners

| Year | Film (s) | Japanese title | Director |
| 1927 | Ashi ni sawatta onna | 足にさはった女 | Yutaka Abe |
| 1928 | A Diary of Chuji's Travels | 忠次旅日記 | Daisuke Itō |
| 1929 | Jobless Samurai | 旋風児 | Masahiro Makino |
| 1930 | Beheading Place | 明烏夢泡雪 | Masahiro Makino |
| 1931 | What Made Her Do It? | 何が彼女をそうさせたか | Shigeyoshi Suzuki |
| 1932 | The Neighbor's Wife and Mine | マダムと女房 | Heinosuke Gosho |
| 1933 | I Was Born, But... | 大人の見る絵本　生れてはみたけれど | Yasujirō Ozu |
| 1934 | Passing Fancy | 出来ごころ | Yasujirō Ozu |
| 1935 | A Story of Floating Weeds | 浮草物語 | Yasujirō Ozu |
| 1936 | Wife! Be Like a Rose! | 妻よ薔薇のやうに | Mikio Naruse |
| 1937 | Sisters of the Gion | 祇園の姉妹 | Kenji Mizoguchi |
| 1938 | Limitless Advance | 限りなき前進 | Tomu Uchida |
| 1939 | Five Scouts | 五人の斥候兵 | Tomotaka Tasaka |
| 1940 | Tsuchi | 土 | Tomu Uchida |
| 1941 | Kojima no haru | 小島の春 | Shirō Toyoda |
| 1942 | The Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family | 戸田家の兄妹 | Yasujirō Ozu |
| 1943 | The War at Sea from Hawaii to Malay | ハワイ・マレー沖海戦 | Kajirō Yamamoto |
| 1947 | Morning for the Osone Family | 大曾根家の朝 | Keisuke Kinoshita |
| 1948 | A Ball at the Anjo House | 安城家の舞踏会 | Kōzaburō Yoshimura |
| 1949 | Drunken Angel | 酔いどれ天使 | Akira Kurosawa |
| 1950 | Late Spring | 晩春 | Yasujirō Ozu |
| 1951 | Until We Meet Again | また逢う日まで | Tadashi Imai |
| 1952 | Early Summer | 麦秋 | Yasujirō Ozu |
| 1953 | Ikiru | 生きる | Akira Kurosawa |
| 1954 | An Inlet of Muddy Water | にごりえ | Tadashi Imai |
| 1955 | Twenty-Four Eyes | 二十四の瞳 | Keisuke Kinoshita |
| 1956 | Floating Clouds | 浮雲 | Mikio Naruse |
| 1957 | Darkness at Noon | 真昼の暗黒 | Tadashi Imai |
| 1958 | The Rice People | 米 | Tadashi Imai |
| 1959 | The Ballad of Narayama | 楢山節考 | Keisuke Kinoshita |
| 1960 | Kiku to Isamu | キクとイサム | Tadashi Imai |
| 1961 | Her Brother | おとうと | Kon Ichikawa |
| 1962 | Bad Boys | 不良少年 | Susumu Hani |
| 1963 | Being Two Isn't Easy | 私は二歳 | Kon Ichikawa |
| 1964 | The Insect Woman | にっぽん昆虫記 | Shohei Imamura |
| 1965 | The Woman in the Dunes | 砂の女 | Hiroshi Teshigahara |
| 1966 | Red Beard | 赤ひげ | Akira Kurosawa |
| 1967 | The Great White Tower | 白い巨塔 | Satsuo Yamamoto |
| 1968 | Samurai Rebellion | 上意討ち 拝領妻始末 | Masaki Kobayashi |
| 1969 | The Profound Desire of the Gods | 神々の深き欲望 | Shōhei Imamura |
| 1970 | Double Suicide | 心中天網島 | Masahiro Shinoda |
| 1971 | Where Spring Comes Late | 家族 | Yoji Yamada |
| 1972 | The Ceremony | 儀式 | Nagisa Oshima |
| 1973 | The Long Darkness | 忍ぶ川 | Kei Kumai |
| 1974 | Tsugaru Folk Song | 津軽じょんがら節 | Kōichi Saitō |
| 1975 | Sandakan No. 8 | サンダカン八番娼館 望郷 | Kei Kumai |
| 1976 | Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director | ある映画監督の生涯 溝口健二の記録 | Kaneto Shindo |
| 1977 | The Youth Killer | 青春の殺人者 | Kazuhiko Hasegawa |
| 1978 | The Yellow Handkerchief | 幸福の黄色いハンカチ | Yoji Yamada |
| 1979 | Third Base | サード | Yōichi Higashi |
| 1980 | Vengeance Is Mine | 復讐するは我にあり | Shōhei Imamura |
| 1981 | Zigeunerweisen | ツィゴイネルワイゼン | Seijun Suzuki |
| 1982 | Muddy River | 泥の河 | Kōhei Oguri |
| 1983 | Fall Guy | 蒲田行進曲 | Kinji Fukasaku |
| 1984 | The Family Game | 家族ゲーム | Yoshimitsu Morita |
| 1985 | The Funeral | お葬式 | Juzo Itami |
| 1986 | And Then | それから | Yoshimitsu Morita |
| 1987 | The Sea and Poison | 海と毒薬 | Kei Kumai |
| 1988 | A Taxing Woman | マルサの女 | Juzo Itami |
| 1989 | My Neighbor Totoro | となりのトトロ | Hayao Miyazaki |
| 1990 | Black Rain | 黒い雨 | Shohei Imamura |
| 1991 | The Cherry Orchard | 櫻の園 | Shun Nakahara |
| 1992 | My Sons | 息子 | Yōji Yamada |
| 1993 | Sumo Do, Sumo Don't | シコふんじゃった。 | Masayuki Suo |
| 1994 | All Under the Moon | 月はどっちに出ている | Yōichi Sai |
| 1995 | A Dedicated Life | 全身小説家 | Kazuo Hara |
| 1996 | A Last Note | 午後の遺言状 | Kaneto Shindo |
| 1997 | Shall We Dance? | Shall we ダンス? | Masayuki Suo |
| 1998 | The Eel | うなぎ | Shohei Imamura |
| 1999 | Fireworks | はなび | Takeshi Kitano |
| 2000 | Wait and See | あ、春 | Shinji Sōmai |
| 2001 | Face | 顔 | Junji Sakamoto |
| 2002 | Go | ゴー | Isao Yukisada |
| 2003 | The Twilight Samurai | たそがれ清兵衛 | Yōji Yamada |
| 2004 | A Boy's Summer in 1945 | 美しい夏キリシマ | Kazuo Kuroki |
| 2005 | Nobody Knows | 誰も知らない | Hirokazu Kore-eda |
| 2006 | Break Through! | 박치기,パッチギ! | Kazuyuki Izutsu |
| 2007 | Hula Girls | フラガール | Lee Sang-il |
| 2008 | I Just Didn't Do It | それでもボクはやってない | Masayuki Suo |
| 2009 | Departures | おくりびと | Yōjirō Takita |
| 2010 | Dear Doctor | ディア・ドクター | Miwa Nishikawa |
| 2011 | Villain | 悪人 | Lee Sang-il |
| 2012 | Postcard | 一枚のハガキ | Kaneto Shindo |
| 2013 | Our Homeland | かぞくのくに | Yang Yong-hi |
| 2014 | Pecoross' Mother and Her Days | ペコロスの母に会いに行く | Azuma Morisaki |
| 2015 | The Light Shines Only There | そこのみにて光輝く | Mipo O |
| 2016 | Three Stories of Love | 恋人たち | Ryōsuke Hashiguchi |
| 2017 | In This Corner of the World | この世界の片隅に | Sunao Katabuchi |
| 2018 | The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always the Densest Shade of Blue | 夜空はいつでも最高密度の青色だ | Yuya Ishii |
| 2019 | Shoplifters | 万引き家族 | Hirokazu Kore-eda |
| 2020 | It Feels So Good | 火口のふたり | Haruhiko Arai |
| 2021 | Wife of a Spy | スパイの妻 | Kiyoshi Kurosawa |
| 2022 | Drive My Car | ドライブ・マイ・カー | Ryusuke Hamaguchi |
| 2023 | Small, Slow But Steady | ケイコ 目を澄ませて | Shō Miyake |
| 2024 | Okiku and the World | せかいのおきく | Junji Sakamoto |
| 2025 | All the Long Nights | 夜明けのすべて | Sho Miyake |