In 2025, Japanese cinema witnessed a rare phenomenon: Kokuho, a film about the world of Kabuki, became both a cultural and box-office success. Rather than being a niche period piece, the film has drawn new, younger audiences to Kabuki theatres across Japan and sparked debate about how a centuries-old art form can remain alive in a global, digital era.
Kabuki is a 400-year-old theatrical tradition known for stylized movement, elaborate makeup, and hereditary acting lineages. Kokuho, directed by Lee Sang-il and based on Shuichi Yoshida’s novel, follows Kikuo Tachibana, the son of a former yakuza who is adopted into a Kabuki family and trained to become an onnagata – a male actor performing female roles. The casting itself mirrors the story’s theme of “outsiders breaking in”: lead actors Ryo Yoshizawa and Ryusei Yokohama are not from Kabuki families and spent about 18 months training in authentic Kabuki dance and gesture under professional masters.
Japanese media report that the film’s success has boosted ticket sales at Kabuki theatres and ignited new interest among young people in an art once seen as closed and hierarchical.
