Japan is celebrating a big win for 2022, and a bounce back, as theater admissions reached 146.9 million across the year compared to 182 million in pre-pandemic 2019, leading to $1.6 billion at the box office, according to Comscore.
The Japanese box office saw some record breaking success, as Cosplay news website StickNZ pointed out as box office receipts were $1.6bn (¥205bn), down 15.3% on the $1.9bn (¥242bn) taken in 2019. For comparison, last year’s US box office was down 34% on 2019.
‘One Piece Film Red’ led the way.
Japan Total Box Office Numbers for 2022 (Jan 7, 2022 – Jan 5, 2023)
| Rank | Title | Country | Release Date | Gross ¥ (bn) | Admissions | Dist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | One Piece Film Red | Japan | 06/08/2022 | 19 | 13,754,863 | Toei |
| 2 | Top Gun Maverick | US | 27/05/2022 | 13.52 | 8,366,787 | Towa Pictures |
| 3 | Suzume | Japan | 11/11/2022 | 11.78 | 8,872,447 | Toho |
| 4 | Detective Conan: The Bride of Halloween | Japan | 15/04/2022 | 9.72 | 6,984,744 | Toho |
| 5 | Jujutsu Kaisen 0 | Japan | 24/12/2021 | 8.91 | 6,276,812 | Toho |
| 6 | First Slam Dunk, The | Japan | 03/12/2022 | 7,28 | 5,002,786 | Toei |
| 7 | Jurassic World Dominion | US | 29/07/2022 | 6.29 | 4,226,949 | Toho Towa |
| 8 | Kingdom II: To Distant Lands | Japan | 15/07/2022 | 5.12 | 3,629,377 | Toho |
| 9 | Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore | US | 08/04/2022 | 4.56 | 3,117,713 | Warner Bros Int’l |
| 10 | Minions: The Rise Of Gru | USA | 15/07/2022 | 4.41 | 3,648,568 | Toho Towa |
| 11 | Shin Ultraman | Japan | 13/05/2022 | 4.39 | 2,956,850 | Toho |
| 12 | Spider-Man: No Way Home | US | 07/01/2022 | 4.19 | 2,788,542 | Sony Int’l |
| 13 | Sing 2 | US | 18/03/2022 | 3.29 | 2,624,161 | Toho Towa |
| 14 | Silent Parade | Japan | 16/09/2022 | 2.96 | 2,154,091 | Toho |
| 15 | Last 10 Years, The | Japan | 04/03/2022 | 2.95 | 2,314,647 | Warner Bros Int’l |
| 16 | Avatar: The Way of Water | US | 16/12/2022 | 2.91 | 1,614,297 | Walt Disney Int’l |
| 17 | Confidence Man JP: Episode of the Hero, The | Japan | 14/01/2022 | 2.86 | 2,093,379 | Toho |
| 18 | Doraemon the Movie: Nobita’s Little Star Wars 2021 | Japan | 04/03/2022 | 2.64 | 2,223,741 | Toho |
| 19 | Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero | Japan | 11/06/2022 | 2.49 | 1,859,909 | Toei |
| 20 | 99.9 Criminal Lawyer: The Movie | Japan | 30/12/2021 | 2.45 | 1,881,163 | Shochiku |
