The 49th Japan Academy Prize awards ceremony, a celebration of Japanese cinema, was held in Tokyo on March 13th, and Jiro Sato, who starred in the film "Bakudan" (directed by Satoshi Nagai), was selected for the Best Supporting Actor award. He expressed his joy by saying, "This will make me cry!"
Sato confessed, "To be honest, I haven't been watching many Japanese films lately, and the reason is quite embarrassing. It's because I feel jealous." He continued, "But last year I attended the Japan Academy Awards for the first time, and I realized that Ayano (Go), Sakura Ando, Ishihara Satomi, Hikari Mitsushima, and Takayuki Yamada are all supporting Japanese films. Yakusho Koji said to all the newcomers who won the Best Newcomer award last year, 'It's okay, everyone is on your side.' I felt ashamed to even be there." He added, "For the past year, I've watched a lot of Japanese films almost every day. I've watched many films, from the great Showa-era films of our predecessors to recent Japanese films. I truly felt that this is a place worth fighting for. There are so many wonderful Japanese films."
He further expressed his heartfelt feelings, saying, "It's a great night for me to be standing here. To everyone on the bomb team, and everyone here even if you're not on the bomb team, everyone involved in Japanese cinema, everyone who loves Japanese cinema and watches it, and everyone who watches Japanese cinema from time to time, even if you don't love it that much. I love you all. It's a great night, thank you."
The award was established to promote the advancement and development of Japanese film art, technology, and science, and the selection is made by votes from members of the Japan Academy Prize Association. This year's selection covered films released between January 1st and December 31st, 2025. Shinichi Hatori and Yuumi Kawai served as the hosts.
◇The winners of the Best Supporting Actor Award are as follows (titles omitted):
Jiro Sato: "Bomb" ▽ Min Tanaka: "National Treasure" ▽ Hokuto Matsumura: "First Kiss" ▽ Ryusei Yokohama: "National Treasure" ▽ Ken Watanabe:"National Treasure"
