How hit Japanese film Kokuho is reviving the centuries-old performing art of kabuki

Modern film has shown that it can breathe new life into traditional art forms, particularly in Japan, where live-action films have historically struggled to make a lasting cultural mark.

Kokuho, which focuses on the classical Japanese theatre art of kabuki, has not only become a surprise box office hit in Japan but has rekindled public interest in the centuries-old performing art.Portraying a captivating mix of onstage action with resplendent costumes and personal dramas within insular kabuki circles, the film starring Ryo Yoshizawa grossed 12.4 billion yen (US$84 million) between its nationwide release on June 6 and the end of August.

In Japan, anime titles and foreign blockbusters have dominated the box office charts for decades. But Kokuho, which translates as “national treasure”, is already the second highest-grossing domestic live-action film.

Kokuho has leapfrogged Antarctica, a 1983 real-life story of a pack of dogs abandoned on the icy southern continent by scientists, to place just below the 2003 police action comedy Bayside Shakedown 2, which raked in 17.3 billion yen.