An epic tale of friendship, rivalry and commitment to one’s art, Kokuho is a glorious representation of kabuki theatre and was Japan’s submission for the Academy Awards this year.
It’s taken a while to get to UK and Irish cinemas (not unusual) but Sang-il Lee’s epic film of kabuki actors set over five decades finally arrives on 8th May. Kokuho premiered at Cannes last year and was Japan’s Oscar submission; it didn’t make the final five, but it did receive a nomination in the Makeup and Hairstyling category, where it promptly lost out to Frankenstein.
Firstly let me say that you don’t need to know much about kabuki theatre to follow the narrative. Everything which is important to the film is either deftly woven into the dialogue, or briefly captioned on screen for those not immersed in the traditional stories which are dramatised.
Beginning in Nagasaki in 1964, we meet Kikuo (Ryô Yoshizawa), a 16 year old who has shown an aptitude for kabuki theatre, and who is taken in as an apprentice by actor Hanjiro (Ken Watanabe) when the boy’s father is killed in a yakuza brawl. Kikuo learns his trade alongside Hanjiro’s own son Shunsuke (Ryûsei Yokohama) and after a rocky start, the two become close friends and perform together on stage. As the years roll past, their friendship is tested by jealousy, rivalry and scandal, with each experiencing ups and downs in both life and career at different times.
Kokuho clocks in at almost 3 hours in length but there are two things which make it absolutely worth the time investment. The first is the stunning kabuki staging, including costumes, hair and makeup. It is a vibrant feast for the eyes, glorious to watch the makeup being applied and the costumes being swished away on-stage mid scene for dramatic effect. While the delivery of the words in these scenes might be a little out of the ordinary for western ears, the meaning and emotion cannot be overlooked, and it all combines to create an emotional experience. The 2 hour 54 minute runtime actually gives these set pieces the time and space they need to breathe, and allows the craft of all those involved to shine through.
The second impressive item is the performances of the two leading men, Yoshizawa and Yokohama, and by extension the actors playing their characters in their early years – Soya Kurokawa (previously seen as one of the young leads in Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Monster) and Keitatsu Koshiyama. Having spent months and months training to capture the nuances of kabuki theatre, their partnerships on stage are so in tune with each other that it is amazing to see. When not playing their theatre roles, the performances are equally as good, with each man conveying the strength of motivation to achieve their goals, or the disappointment at what life has presented them, without overstatement.
There’s no denying that Kokuhois a long film, but any shorter and there would have been too much to pack in to make it a comprehensive whole. Having said that, there were a couple of loose ends that didn’t get tied up, or that could have been excluded, but this is a film which will benefit from a big-screen experience, and if you’re even vaguely interested, don’t let it pass you by.
Kokuho is released in UK and Irish cinemas on 8th May 2026.
An epic tale of friendship, rivalry and commitment to one’s art, Kokuho is a glorious representation of kabuki theatre and was Japan’s submission for the Academy Awards this year.
It’s taken a while to get to UK and Irish cinemas (not unusual) but Sang-il Lee’s epic film of kabuki actors set over five decades finally arrives on 8th May. Kokuho premiered at Cannes last year and was Japan’s Oscar submission; it didn’t make the final five, but it did receive a nomination in the Makeup and Hairstyling category, where it promptly lost out to Frankenstein.
Firstly let me say that you don’t need to know much about kabuki theatre to follow the narrative. Everything which is important to the film is either deftly woven into the dialogue, or briefly captioned on screen for those not immersed in the traditional stories which are dramatised.
Beginning in Nagasaki in 1964, we meet Kikuo (Ryô Yoshizawa), a 16 year old who has shown an aptitude for kabuki theatre, and who is taken in as an apprentice by actor Hanjiro (Ken Watanabe) when the boy’s father is killed in a yakuza brawl. Kikuo learns his trade alongside Hanjiro’s own son Shunsuke (Ryûsei Yokohama) and after a rocky start, the two become close friends and perform together on stage. As the years roll past, their friendship is tested by jealousy, rivalry and scandal, with each experiencing ups and downs in both life and career at different times.
Kokuho clocks in at almost 3 hours in length but there are two things which make it absolutely worth the time investment. The first is the stunning kabuki staging, including costumes, hair and makeup. It is a vibrant feast for the eyes, glorious to watch the makeup being applied and the costumes being swished away on-stage mid scene for dramatic effect. While the delivery of the words in these scenes might be a little out of the ordinary for western ears, the meaning and emotion cannot be overlooked, and it all combines to create an emotional experience. The 2 hour 54 minute runtime actually gives these set pieces the time and space they need to breathe, and allows the craft of all those involved to shine through.
The second impressive item is the performances of the two leading men, Yoshizawa and Yokohama, and by extension the actors playing their characters in their early years – Soya Kurokawa (previously seen as one of the young leads in Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Monster) and Keitatsu Koshiyama. Having spent months and months training to capture the nuances of kabuki theatre, their partnerships on stage are so in tune with each other that it is amazing to see. When not playing their theatre roles, the performances are equally as good, with each man conveying the strength of motivation to achieve their goals, or the disappointment at what life has presented them, without overstatement.
There’s no denying that Kokuho is a long film, but any shorter and there would have been too much to pack in to make it a comprehensive whole. Having said that, there were a couple of loose ends that didn’t get tied up, or that could have been excluded, but this is a film which will benefit from a big-screen experience, and if you’re even vaguely interested, don’t let it pass you by.
Kokuho is released in UK and Irish cinemas on 8th May 2026.
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