As Japan trudged on through the COVID-19 pandemic, its film industry found some cause for celebration in 2021. For the second year in a row, domestic films dominated the box office, with Japanese films accounting for nine of the top 10 earning titles. By contrast, in pre-pandemic 2019, six of the top 10 films were from Hollywood.
It’s not yet clear whether 2022 will deliver the same box-office results, as Hollywood may well rebound from its dismal 2021 showing, with titles like “The Batman” (March 11), “Sing 2” (March 18), “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” (April 8) and “Top Gun: Maverick” (May 27) in the pipeline.
Also, despite the triumph of domestic fare at the box office, 2021 was still a rough year for Japan’s film industry: Total box-office earnings for the year were still only about 60% of 2019’s, as independent theater owners struggled to stay afloat due to financial hits brought on by the pandemic. On Jan. 11, Iwanami Hall, a pioneering venue for art films in Tokyo’s Jimbocho neighborhood, announced that it would shut its doors in July.