Anime Director Makoto Shinkai’s movie, entitled, “Weathering with You”, has been nominated as Japan’s entry for the 92nd Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film category. This movie will be the country’s entry for the award-giving body in February 2020. The movie has already acquired over 10 billion yen since its release last July 2019 and is considered a blockbuster hit. It is one of the 10 top-grossing locally made films of Japan.

Shinkai’s fans have been waiting for higher recognition of the director’s excellence in animation films after the success of his previous blockbuster hit “Your Name”. The movie is the second anime to be submitted for “Best International Film” category, and the first in 20 years after Studio Ghibli’s “Princess Mononoke”. “Weathering with You” was chosen from a shortlist of 13 films by a committee of seven film directors, scriptwriters, and critics. According to Shinkai, nominating “Weathering with You” as one of Japan’s representatives for the Academy Awards is an honor.