Movie titles: Kokuho / 10Dance
Country of origin: Japan
Released: June 2025/ October 2025
This double film review looks at and compares two recently released Japanese movies; Kokuhō +10Dance and the artful pairing of their two main characters. And they also share a similarity in being film adaptations from material from literary sources which are centred on the relationship between an artistic pair of proponents of two very different performing art forms; traditional Japanese Kabuki theatre and international ballroom dancing.
Apart from exploring the interpersonal relationship between their key protagonists, both movies inevitably examine the common themes of artistic competitiveness, theatrical power play and gender dynamics, all set against a broader social backdrop of each artform.
What is Kokuhō about?
The story is set in post-war Japan’s economic boom. The strange fate of young Kikuo Tachiban (Ryo Yoshizawa), who was born into a gangster family, takes an unexpected turn when he finds himself adopted by a famous Kabuki actor Hanjiro Hanai (Ken Watanabe).
Despite life’s challenges, Kikuo develops into a gifted performer under his generous mentor and guardian. Training alongside Hanjiro’s own son Shunsuke Ogaki (Ryusei Yokohama), the two boys form a strong and friendly competitive bond. Soon Kikuo outshines Shunsuke, challenging the tradition in which the Kabuki traditions are passed on from father to son. The drama begins when Hanjiro is unwell and must decide which of his two proteges should step in to fill his role. Can fate cope with an unexpected afront to society’s traditions?
At its heart, this is a film about contradiction: the feminine artistry of Onnagata performers clashing with a world of punishing, toxic masculinity. A secondary theme involves the strength of bloodlines and the nature vs. nurture dichotomy in a culture where succession and “protection” of status comes from family. Can and should talent plus hard work trump all in a context so steeped in one’s birth right? The relationship between the two theatre ‘siblings’ is entirely platonic, but it is also a terribly complex one, encumbered by false narratives and attitudes that are so stacked in favour of what traditional society dictates.
A love letter and tribute to Kabuki Theatre
The film Kokuhō, alternatively titled National Treasure, is a visually sumptuous and auditory immersive love letter to Kabuki, brought to life by incredible performances that convey the madness of intense and uncompromising artistic devotion.
The film is an adaptation of a two-part novel by Shuichi Yoshida, an accomplished writer with an array of literary awards. It was an epic tome elaborately researched through immersion into the world of Kabuki by the author. With such dense and voluminous source material an adaption to the screen may have been better represented in a multi-part film or even a limited television series. Condensation into a single film was going to be challenging, with some critics noting that sudden timeline jumps in the script were inevitable given the fundamental time constraints.
While its narrative ambition sometimes exceeds its execution—resulting in a crammed plot and thinly sketched supporting characters—the core story of passion, sacrifice, and cultural change is delivered with such grandeur and conviction that its flaws are almost swept away in the storm. The result, one could say, is an almost three-hour-long sweeping, dazzling, and unforgettable saga.
It is no small miracle that this film was made. Apart from the practical and artistic challenges of condensing the book into a single film. The three lead actors – Ryo Yoshizawa, Ryusei Yokohama, and Ken Watanabe – had no previous kabuki training, an art form which actors typically train since childhood. Yokohama and Watanabe were simultaneously working on a television series while the movie was in production. The reported time and budgetary constraints were astounding. And the scheduling conflicts between the film, TV, and stage actors would have forced most Hollywood producers to give up.
The movie is very much a tribute to Kabuki and the people who devote their lives to it. Yoshizawa and Yokohama not only convincingly portray kabuki performers on stage, but manage to project the weight of tradition, the madness behind the passion, and the allure of stardom. Watanabe blends masculine sternness with fatherly compassion into a grand performance. Min Tanaka, who is also not a kabuki actor, infuses palpable presence as the aging national treasure Mangiku Onogawa.
The distinctive sounds of Kabuki theatre—combining voice, percussion and traditional musical instrumentation—is given a lift and complementary overlay with Marihiko Hara’s lush orchestral score, adding a haunting, evocative and contemporary feel to the gorgeous timeless, traditional visuals that captivate us.
Comparing Kokuhō with other movies
There have been comparisons of Kokuhō with Chen Kaige’s 1993 epic movie Farewell My Concubine, which is unsurprising given both involve traditional opera, master-disciple bonds, and the entanglement of art and fate.
But Kokuhō walks a completely different path. It lacks the grand historical backdrop and complex love triangles of Farewell; instead, it focuses intensely on the purity of the art itself. Kikuo’s immense suffering doesn’t stem from political movements or social upheaval, but from his internalised pursuit of perfection. He was willing to trade everything to become Japan’s greatest Kabuki actor, and fate accepted this transaction, granting him fame and status while stripping away all his human connections.
Other comparisons with other movies involving proteges and artistic competitiveness include Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash which looks stale by comparison and Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan which suddenly looks domesticated.
What is 10Dance about?
In Japan’s contemporary dance world Shinya Sugiki (Keita Machida) is the dashing, statuesque “Lord of Standard Ballroom”, and Shinya Suzuki (Ryoma Takeuchi) is his rival, the passionate “King of Latin Dance”. The two share more than just a first name and a love of the sport. They each want to become champion of the 10-Dance Competition, which means they’ll need to learn and excel in the other’s specialty dances. Who better to learn from than the best? But old rivalries die hard, and things get complicated even further when they reluctantly agree to work together. Things come to a head eventually when they realize that there might be more between them than an uneasy partnership.
This ‘enemies-to-lovers’ Netflix romance is directed by Keishi Otomo and is based on the manga series of the same name by Satoh Inoue.
Like the other film, 10Dance too relies on its stunning cinematography, employing lots of close ups and sharp editing to portray raw human emotion. We see and sense feelings of tension, rigidity, submission, control and love expressed through body movement and facial gesture rather than through words.
During the coaching sessions the two competing leads share tips while dancing with each other, to point out, if not draw out missing degrees of passion and refine stylistic elements of each other’s speciality. The two male leads each, in turn, get to discover what it feels like to be led.
The world championship ballroom title has somehow eluded Shinya Sugiki. His English mentor Martha Milton (Susie Trayling) tells him that his dancing is exceptional, but it ultimately lacks enough “love” and passion. And having lost an earlier dance partner to a rival (because she thought he could never achieve the world champion title with her) and a current partner with whom he lacks a strong enough connection; he suddenly senses a flash of possibility while dancing with Shinya Suzuki.
Shinya Sugiki confides in Shinya Suzuki that his aim as lead is to draw out the best in his partner by treating him with utmost care. He admits, referring to an earlier experience with his current partner, where to overcome her distraction and lack of commitment to the moment, he decided to lead her by the other extreme of total domination and force, but while that got her to perform, it never quite achieved the best results.
Could the two men ever dance together in a competitive setting, complementing and coaxing the best coupling outcomes?
History of Kabuki Theatre
Kabuki is a classical form of Japanese theatre which mixes dramatic performance with traditional dance. It is known for its heavily stylised performances, glamorous and elaborately decorated costumes, and the distinctive Kumadori make-up worn by some of its performers.
Kabuki is thought to have originated in the early Edo period, when the art’s founder, Izumo no Okuni, formed a female dance troupe that performed dances and light sketches in Kyoto. The art form later developed into its present all-male theatrical form after women were banned from performing in kabuki theatre in 1629 by the Tokugawa shogunate. This ban was a government decree aimed at controlling public morals and social disorder, effectively banishing women from public stages. It led directly to the development of the Onnagata tradition where men played all the women roles in theatre.
Kabuki then developed throughout the late 17th century and reached its zenith in the mid-18th century. In modern Japan, there is no law explicitly prohibiting women from performing Kabuki; however, the classical Kabuki establishment has maintained an all‑male convention as a matter of tradition, not legislation. While there are contemporary or experimental theatre companies and all‑female troupes inspired by Kabuki, e.g. Takarazuka Revue, these are not considered part of orthodox Kabuki theatre and, as such, do not perform on the main Kabuki stages such as the Kabuki-za theatre in Tokyo.
Our own limited encounter with Kabuki
We were fortunate to have witnessed a small but impactful taste of Kabuki in its authentic form and context when, during an earlier visit to Tokyo in 2008, we had the opportunity to attend an excerpt of a longer show at the historic Kabuki-za theatre in Ginza. Although not quite the same as the Minami-za theatre in Kyoto, where the Kokuho film was set and shot, it was exciting for us to witness in-situ the physical environment, staging conventions as well see how the local audience behaved.
Most memorable was the way in which the audience would spontaneously and boisterously shout out their approval of a particular actor’s delivery, much like the way Italians would call out “Bravo!” after an aria was particularly well-sung by a singer during an opera. However, this was done mid-performance and somewhat disruptive and disconcerting to our differently cultivated theatre-going sensibilities.
Cross-gendered roles in art and culture
The practice of cross-gendered roles in Japanese Kabuki theatre was not unlike the similar practice in English theatre. From the late medieval period through the Renaissance, women were effectively barred from performing on the public English stage. By the time of Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre (c. 1558–1642)—i.e. the era of Shakespeare—all professional public performances were conducted exclusively by men and boys, with young male actors playing female roles.
Unlike the Japanese context, this exclusion of women in professional theatre was not based on a single explicit statute banning women from acting. Instead, it arose from a mix of prevailing moral attitudes that deemed public performance by women indecent, legal and economic frameworks (such as patronage and vagrancy laws) that excluded women from licensed acting companies, and the strong cultural associations between actresses and sexual impropriety. As a result, women simply did not appear on the professional public stage during Shakespeare’s lifetime.
The 2004 film Stage Beauty which put a spotlight on the practices of London’s theatres in the 1660s, where the rules dictated that only men could act on the public stage, resulting in men playing both male and female rules. The norm is challenged with presumably gay cross-dressing actor Ned Kynaston (Billy Crudup) who usually plays Desdemona in Othello at the Royal Court, finds himself replaced by an aspiring and talented female dresser Maria Hughes (Claire Danes) who shadow’s Ned’s every move, auditions and then proves herself worthy of the role. Maria becomes a star, causing King Charles II to make it law that all female roles should be played only by women.
Dance partnering and gendered roles
In the world of partnered dancesport, conventional roles of lead and follow have traditionally been men leading and women following. Thanks to the patriarchal societal model, traditions developed based on the perceived stronger sex expected to lead the weaker sex. Yet by no means does having to follow mean the easier task. The famous line in relation to famous Hollywood dance pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers says it all: “Sure he was great, but don’t forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did – backwards and in heels”.
We’ve come to the juncture where some dance competitions now allow same-gender couples on the open circuit, with the caveat that you choose your role and stick to it. That’s progress. But it’s still not full equality, because the rules are still different depending on who you’re dancing with.
My personal encounter with partnered dance goes back to the mid-90s when I learnt Lindy Hop, a partnered swing dance form that emerged from the Afro-American communities from Harlem in 1928. As part of that experience also attended basic ballroom dance classes where I learnt all about the art and fascination of lead and follow. It was indeed a personal revelation to me, when taking on multiple female partners in a social dance situation, that you could get a sense of a woman’s temperament and personality in the way she responded to your lead and touch.
When studying in London back in 1996-97, I attended Salsa and Lindy Hop classes run for the LGBTQ community which initially threw me off when the dance instructors would dispense with the conventional male and female roles, instead using generic “lead” and “follow” labels which any gender could adopt. It then occurred to me that it didn’t really matter what you wore or how you looked, if the relevant lead signals were clear by whoever was giving or responding to them.
It has been a revelation watching video clips of West Coast Swing on social media where the Jack and Jill competitions (involving random matching of lead and followers) where same sex couples can deliver rather interesting and spontaneous coupling moves, not necessarily of a sexual nature. One such proponent is Leo Lorenzo who seems to enjoy both leading and following. What is even more entertaining is to watch a same-sex couple who are both adept at lead and follow, switching roles mid dance. Why must anyone be restricted to one or the other? And why can’t a female lead a man, if their physical connection isn’t threatened or dictated by who must lead?
Film accolades
Kokuho was Japan’s entry for Best International Feature for this year’s Oscars. Although it failed to make the final 5 nominees for contention for the award, it has been a huge success in Japan. Within 5 months of being released in June 2025, it became the highest box-office grossing live-action film of all time in Japan. It also became the first Japanese film to receive a nominated for Best Make Up and Hairstyling at the 98th Academy Awards.
10Dance, on the other hand, and because of its LGBTIQ content, has received a nomination in the GLAAD Media Awards in 2026 in the Outstanding Film – Wide Release category.
Official film trailers
Kokuho
10Dance
Film reviews
Kokuhō
10Dance
Kokuhō source novels
10Dance: The source series Manga books
Other Kabuki books
Articles on same-sex dance partnering
- Anthropology at Home: Dancing in the Margins: roles, equality, and the meaning of a “safe space” in same-sex ballroom dancing
- The Politic: The gender politics of ballroom dancing
- Teach.Dance: Why Same-Sex Partnerships Belong in Your Ballroom and Classical Sequence Classes
- The Guardian: British Ice Skating to allow same-sex couples to compete in ice dance
- ABC: Australian ballroom dancers prepare for inaugural same-sex competition in UK
Video clips of same-sex dance partners
Attila Kobori & Léo Lorenzo “Make Me Feel” – Strictly Open Finals – Bavarian Open 2022
Mark Ballas and Derek Hough’s Finale Performance – Dancing with the Stars
First Ever Same-Sex Ice Skating Team Breaks Gender Barriers | DRM News | AM1B
Nikita Kuzmin and Vito Coppola perform a magical routine to Something Just Like This | BBC Strictly Come Dancing
The world of competitive ballroom dance
Part of the 10Dance film was shot in Blackpool, where the Blackpool Dance Festival is held. This is the world’s first and most famous annual ballroom dance competition of international significance, having been held at the Empress Ballroom at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, England, since 1920. It is the largest ballroom competition, with 2953 couples from 60 countries taking part in the festival in 2013.
In the Ballroom category, the five styles are:
- Waltz
- Tango
- Viennese Waltz
- Slow Foxtrot
- Quickstep
And the five styles in the Latin category are:
- Cha-Cha-Cha
- Samba
- Rumba
- Paso Doble
- Jive
The first World 10 Dance Championships took place in 1978 and has been held annually since they were organised by the International Council of Ballroom Dance (ICBD) in 1980. The ICBD was renamed WD&DSC and renamed again as the WDC. It represents all the major professional Dance Sport countries.