PÖFF: Kabuki

Kokuho opens in Nagasaki in 1964 and unfolds over five tumultuous decades. It follows Kikuo — the son of a slain yakuza boss — who, at fourteen, is taken in by a celebrated kabuki master and raised alongside Shunsuke, the master’s son and designated heir. Their bond — part brotherhood, part rivalry — drives an epic saga of ambition, sacrifice, scandal, and devotion, culminating in the emergence of a singular kokuho: a living “national treasure.” Ryo Yoshizawa’s fully embodied turn as Kikuo (no doubles and no shortcuts — he trained for over a year) anchors the film, while Ryusei Yokohama’s Shunsuke provides the counterweight in a relationship charged with passion and tension.