The papers are reporting the results of the Kinema Junpo poll of critics of the best ten films of 2009.
1. Dear Doctor
4. Love Exposure (Ai no mukidashi)
5. The Unbroken (Shizumanu taiyo)
6. Air Doll (Kuki ningyo)
8. Summer Wars
9. Nobody to Watch Over Me (Dare mo mamotte kurenai)
10. Feel the Wind (Kazu ga tsuyoku fuite iru)
Here are the individual awards:
Best Director: Kimura Daisaku (Tsurugidake)
Best Screenplay: Nishikawa Miwa (Dear Doctor)
Best Actress: Matsu Takako (Villon's Wife)
Best Actor: Shofukutei Tsurubei (Dear Doctor)
Best Supporting Actress: Mitsushima Hikari (Ai no mukidashi, etc.)
Best Supporting Actor: Miura Tomokazu (Shizumanu taiyo)
Best New Actress: Kawakami Mieko (Pandora's Box [Pandora no hako})
Best New Actor: Nishijima Takahiro (Ai no mukidashi)
The KineJun Best Ten list is the oldest and in general the most respected film award in Japan. It tends to be rather middle-of-the-road, however, since it is chosen by established and in general older and more conservative film critics. The Eiga geijutsu Best Ten, which I used to help select, tends to be more radical, and the Japan Academy Prize very suspect, since it is structurally biased towards the major studios.