Though the third largest movie market in the world was able to keep cinemas mostly open during the Covid pandemic, by 2021 a combination of health concerns and lack of content caused the country’s box office to fall off as much as 34% from 2019 levels. Last year however, Japan’s box office showed significant progress in recovering from the pandemic, bringing in JPY ¥205 billion (USD $1.6 billion) from 146 million admissions.

As a comparison, Japan earned JPY ¥243 billion (USD $1.9 billion) in 2019 on 182 million admissions. Meaning the country’s box office is still off 15.6% from pre-pandemic levels.

The biggest title in Japan during 2022 was the 15th animated feature in the One Piece franchise from Studio Toei. “One Piece Film: Red” sold 13.75 million tickets and brought in JPY ¥19 billion (USD $149 million). “Top Gun Maverick” soared to the number two spot in Japan with receipts totaling JPY ¥13.5 billion (USD $106 million).