Japan Synopsis
菊次郎の夏
Brash, loudmouthed and opportunistic, Kikujiro is the unlikely companion for Masao who is determined to see the mother he has never met. The two begin a series of adventures which soon turns out to be a whimsical journey of laughter and tears with a wide array of surprises and unique characters along the way.
Audience Engagement
436 audience reviews — more than 93% of Japan films in our index.
Popularity sits at the 86th percentile among Japan films.
Titles With Overlapping Themes
Films and series that share thematic tags with Kikujiro. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.
Other Titles From Nippon Herald Films
Comedy + Drama in Japan
462 Japan titles in our catalog blend the Comedy and Drama genres. Below: the top-rated of them (excluding Kikujiro itself).
The 1998–2000 Japan Window
Kikujiro holds position #38 of 187 Japan films in the 1998–2000 window, below highlighted by audience rating.
The 1990s Japan Landscape
Catalog density by release year across the 1990s in Japan, 447 titles in total. Highlighted year (yellow) is when Kikujiro premiered alongside 60 others.
Position in Catalog
Released alongside 60 other Japan films in 1999.
The 1209th Japan title from Japan we index (earliest catalogued entry: 1899).
Our Japan catalog contains 4,579 titles in total (2,908 films).
Thematic Fingerprint
Tags on Kikujiro, grouped by how common each theme is across the full Asian catalog. Rare tags are more distinctive signals.
- loser · 2
- hitchhike · 1
- road trip · 23
- travel · 21
- disappearance · 16
- summer · 13
- japan · 454
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #1,036 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (77th percentile by TMDB audience score).
Rating is +0.7 points above the Japan average of 6.9/10.
Among Japan Comedy productions specifically: #402 of 1,411 (top 28%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| Original Language | Japanese |
| Production Companies | Nippon Herald Films, Bandai Visual, Office Kitano, Tokyo FM |
| Runtime | 1h 57m |
| Release Date | June 5, 1999 |
| IMDb | tt0199683 |