Japan's Yuji Oda, who stars in local hit thriller Whiteout, has been awarded the 18th annual Money-Making Star Award, from the Japan Association of Motion Picture Producers and the All-Japan Exhibitors Association.

Released on August 19, Whiteout grossed $37.3m (Y4.1bn) at the domestic box office and has since been sold to several Asian territories. Produced by a media consortium led by the Fuji TV network, Whiteout features Oda as a worker at Japan's largest dam, who must singlehandly save his colleagues from a gang of terrorists.

Sayuri Yoshinaga, a veteran star whose latest film is the romantic drama Nagasaki Bura Bura Bushi, was given a Special Award for her contribution to the Japanese film industry over a four-decade career.