The Japanese film industry now turns out about 400 titles annually, but in a given decade only a few Japanese filmmakers win major international awards — including the biggest of all: the Oscars.
One was anime auteur Hayao Miyazaki, whose 2001 megahit "Spirited Away" received an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Now there may be another — Yojiro Takita, whose 2008 drama "Okuribito" ("Departures") has been nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
"I'm happy and honored," Takita told The Japan Times — probably the 100th time he has said this to the media since the nominations for this weekend's Academy Awards were announced on Jan. 22.