Japanese cinema, or hōga, began in the late 1890s and has since become one of the world's oldest and largest film industries. The 1950s marked a "Golden Age," bringing international acclaim for legendary directors like Akira Kurosawa and Yasujirō Ozu, whose Tokyo Story (1953) is consistently ranked among the greatest films ever made. Japan also proudly holds five Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film, more than any other Asian country.
From the 1980s, anime rose dramatically in popularity, with influential works by Hayao Miyazaki (Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind, 1984) and Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away, 2001) now dominating the list of highest-grossing Japanese films. The late 1990s also saw a global boom for Japanese horror, epitomized by commercially successful titles like Ringu (1998). This vibrant industry is primarily supported by "Big Four" studios—Toho, Toei, Shochiku, and Kadokawa—and celebrates its achievements with the annual Japan Academy Film Prize.