Most successful movies in Japan 2023, based on box office gross
With a box office gross of almost 102 million U.S. dollars, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" was the leading movie at movie theaters in Japan in 2023. It was followed by "Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine" and "The First Slam Dunk."
High popularity of movie theaters during the 2010s
Movie theaters enjoyed an increasing popularity during the 2010s. After a slump in the 1990s and a subsequent recovery in the 2000s, the number of admissions reached record highs in 2016 and 2019 that were not seen since the early 1970s. The success of movie theaters is largely depending on the release of hit titles. In 2016, Makoto Shinkai's "Your Name" became a phenomenon by enticing many young people to visit theaters and spread the word via social media. "Your Name" was the first anime movie to exceed a revenue of 10 billion Japanese yen aside from the works of Hayao Miyazaki. It has since been eclipsed by "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train," which was released in October 2020 and became Japan's most successful film to date despite the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on theaters.
The Japanese movie industry
The total number of movies released to Japanese theaters amounted to more than 1.2 thousand titles in 2023. With the exception of 2020 and 2021, the number of annual releases has consistently remained above a level of 1.1 thousand movies since 2013, which was considerably higher than in earlier decades. While there were more foreign than domestic movies released between 1987 and 2005, Japanese movies dominated from 2006 to 2019 and again from 2021 onward. The share of Japanese movies with regard to box office gross receipts amounted to 66.9 percent in 2023.
High popularity of movie theaters during the 2010s
Movie theaters enjoyed an increasing popularity during the 2010s. After a slump in the 1990s and a subsequent recovery in the 2000s, the number of admissions reached record highs in 2016 and 2019 that were not seen since the early 1970s. The success of movie theaters is largely depending on the release of hit titles. In 2016, Makoto Shinkai's "Your Name" became a phenomenon by enticing many young people to visit theaters and spread the word via social media. "Your Name" was the first anime movie to exceed a revenue of 10 billion Japanese yen aside from the works of Hayao Miyazaki. It has since been eclipsed by "Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Mugen Train," which was released in October 2020 and became Japan's most successful film to date despite the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on theaters.
The Japanese movie industry
The total number of movies released to Japanese theaters amounted to more than 1.2 thousand titles in 2023. With the exception of 2020 and 2021, the number of annual releases has consistently remained above a level of 1.1 thousand movies since 2013, which was considerably higher than in earlier decades. While there were more foreign than domestic movies released between 1987 and 2005, Japanese movies dominated from 2006 to 2019 and again from 2021 onward. The share of Japanese movies with regard to box office gross receipts amounted to 66.9 percent in 2023.
