THE (JAPANESE) OSCARS!

The Japanese Oscars took place on March 3 and the results are a little bit shocking. ALWAYS - SUNSET ON THIRD STREET took 12 out of 13 categories.

• Best Picture: ALWAYS - SUNSET ON THIRD STREET
• Best Director:  Takashi Yamazaki ("ALWAYS")
• Best Screenplay:  Takashi Yamazaki, Ryota Furusawa ("ALWAYS")
• Best Actor:  Hidetaka Yoshioka ("ALWAYS")
• Best Actress:  Sayuri Yoshinaga (YEAR ONE IN THE NORTH)
• Best Supporting Actor:  Shinichi Tsutsumi ("ALWAYS")
• Best Supporting Actress:  Hiroko Yakushimaru ("ALWAYS")
• Best Music:  Naoki Sato ("ALWAYS")
• Best Cinematography:  Kozo Shibasaki ("ALWAYS")
• Best Lighting:  Kenichi Mizuno ("ALWAYS")
• Best Art Direction:  Anri Kamijo ("ALWAYS")
• Best Sound Recording:  Hitoshi Tsurumaki ("ALWAYS")
• Best Film Editing:  Ryuji Miyajima ("ALWAYS")

The only other movie to get an award (besides MILLION DOLLAR BABY for "Best Foreign Film") was the "Best Actress" win for Sayuri Yoshinaga for YEAR ONE IN THE NORTH.

Apparently total sweeps like this aren't too rare at the Japanese Oscars. The last sweep this big was a 13-category sweep for SHALL WE DANCE in 1997 and a 12 category sweep for TWILIGHT SAMURAI in 2003.

(Read more at Hoga Central, and thanks to Michi for letting us know about this)