“Kokuho” Gets Oscar Nomination in Makeup, Hairstyling

Los Angeles, Jan. 22 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s box-office hit “Kokuho” made the Oscar nominee list in makeup and hairstyling, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Thursday. Kyoko Toyokawa, Naomi Hibino and Tadashi Nishimatsu became the first makeup staff of a Japanese film to be nominated for the prestigious award, although Kazu Hiro, a Japanese native who obtained U.S. citizenship, has won the prize twice as a makeup artist in non-Japanese works. Meanwhile, the film focusing on Kabuki actors’ agonies and struggles failed to get the nomination for international feature after being shortlisted. The 98th Academy Awards ceremony will be held in Los Angeles on March 15. Based on Shuichi Yoshida’s novel with the same title and directed by Lee Sang-il, Kokuho, which means “national treasure” in Japanese, depicts two Kabuki actors’ dedication to the traditional Japanese theater performed only by men, featuring Ryo Yoshizawa as an “onnagata” actor playing female roles who was eventually recognized as a living national treasure and Ryusei Yokohama as his rival. As a live-action film, it rewrote a domestic box-office record for the first time in 22 years. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]