Departures is a 2008 Japanese drama directed by Yojiro Takita, following a cellist who returns to his hometown after his orchestra disbands and unexpectedly takes work as a nokanshi, a ritual mortician who prepares the dead for cremation before their families. Despite social prejudice surrounding his new profession, he finds meaning in it and repairs strained family relationships along the way. It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2009, the first Japanese production to do so, and was the highest-grossing Japanese film domestically that year.
Facts
Classification
Original Language AwardAcademy Award for Best International Feature Film 1 AwardJapan Academy Prize for Picture of the Year 1 AwardKinema Junpo Award for Best Film 1 Release Year FAQs
Did Departures win an Academy Award?
Yes. It won the Foreign Language Film award at the 2009 ceremony.
Yes. The Academy's ceremony page for 2009 lists Departures, representing Japan, as the winner of the Foreign Language Film award. The other nominees on that page were The Baader Meinhof Complex from Germany, The Class from France and Revanche from Austria, among others.
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Source Departures (2008 film) - Wikipedia
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Source Departures (2008 film) - WikipediaLead sentence 1Quote, Lead sentence 1
Departures (Japanese: おくりびと, Hepburn: Okuribito; "one who sends off") is a 2008 Japanese drama film directed by Yōjirō Takita and starring Masahiro Motoki, Ryōko Hirosue, and Tsutomu Yamazaki.
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1. Departures (2008 film) - Wikipedia
Lead paragraph, first sentence (release year clause)
Departures is a 2008 Japanese drama film directed by Yojiro Takita
Lead paragraph, first sentence (country adjective)
Departures is a 2008 Japanese drama film directed by Yojiro Takita
Departures (2008 film), Description, original language
Departures is a 2008 Japanese drama directed by Yojiro Takita, following a cellist who returns to his hometown after his orchestra disbands and unexpectedly takes work as a nokanshi, a ritual mortician who prepares the dead for cremation before their families.
Wikipedia category, checked 2026-09-27
Category:Best Film Kinema Junpo Award winners
Wikipedia category (japan-academy-prize-for-picture-of-the-year), checked 2026-09-27
Wikipedia category for japan-academy-prize-for-picture-of-the-year
Wikipedia category (academy-award-for-best-international-feature-film), checked 2026-09-27
Wikipedia category for academy-award-for-best-international-feature-film
In Medium: Film, Article lead sentence
Departures (Japanese: おくりびと, Hepburn: Okuribito; "one who sends off") is a 2008 Japanese drama film directed by Yōjirō Takita and starring Masahiro Motoki, Ryōko Hirosue, and Tsutomu Yamazaki.
Created By: Yōjirō Takita, Article lead sentence
Departures (Japanese: おくりびと, Hepburn: Okuribito; "one who sends off") is a 2008 Japanese drama film directed by Yōjirō Takita and starring Masahiro Motoki, Ryōko Hirosue, and Tsutomu Yamazaki.
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