The winners of the 18th Japan Movie Critics Awards have been announced, though the prizes will not be formally presented until the awards ceremony on April 23.

This year's winners were:

• Best Picture: "United Red Army"
• Best Director: Yojiro Takita ("Okuribito")
• Best Actor: Noriyuki Higashiyama ("Yamazakura")
• Best Actress: Eiko Koike ("Seppun")
• Best Supporting Actor: Ittoku Kishibe ("GS Wonderland")
• Best Supporting Actress: Maki Sakai ("United Red Army")
• Best New Actor: Lily Franky ("Gururi no Koto")
• Best New Actress: Yuriko Yoshitaka ("Hebi ni Piasu")
• Judges' Special Prize: Makoto Fujita ("Ashita e no Yuigon")
• Judges' Special Prize: Seiko Matsuda ("Hotaru no Haka")
• Best Music Artist: Joe Hisaishi ("Okuribito," "Gake no Ue no Ponyo")
• Bset Cinematography: Shigeru Komatsubara ("Koisuru Tomato")
• Special Achievement Award: Yutaka Okada (Argo Pictures)
• Special Achievement Award: Keiichi Uraoka
• Special Award: Minoru Kawasaki
• International Activity Award: Shun Shibata
• Golden Glory Award: Chiharu Kuri
• Golden Glory Award: Hiroko Sakurai
• Golden Glory Award: Chako van Leeuwen
• Diamond Award: Susumu Hani
• Diamond Award: Shoichi Ozawa