Nihon Chimbotsu

SINKING OF JAPAN

日本沈没

Release Date: July, 15th, 2006

Running Time: 135 min

Genre: Feature

Color: Color

Screening Format: 35mm

Screen Size: -

Sound Processing: -

[ Directed by ]

HIGUCHI Shinji

[ Produced by ]

NAKAZAWA Toshiaki

[ Cast ]

KUSANAGI Tsuyoshi ── ONODERA Toshio
SHIBASAKI Ko ── ABE Reiko

[ Staff ]

KATO Masato ── Screenplay
KOMATSU Sakyo ── Original Story
KAWAZU Taro ── Director of Photography
OKUDA Hiroshi ── Editing
IWASHIRO Taro ── Music
HARADA Yasuaki ── Production Design

[ Production Company ]

TBS, TOHO, SEDIC INTERNATIONAL, DENTSU, J-dream, S･D･P, MBS, SHOGAKUKAN, Mainichi Newspapers

[ Story ]

A novel of the same title by Komatsu Sakyo was a huge hit in Japan in 1973. A film was released in the same year, recording box-office revenues of 4 billion yen. 33 years later, the film is remade set in the modern era, and once again was a blockbuster hit.
A submarine pilot, Onodera (Kusanagi Tsuyoshi), participates in the research of the abyssal ocean, and comes to learn an astonishing fact: the Japanese islands are going to disappear after a year due to the rapid subduction of the tectonic plates. A plan, initiated by the government, is made to relocate the Japanese nation overseas, but it proves difficult to prepare the other countries to receive the evacuees.
Disasters soon start occurring across Japan as a result of the tectonic plate movements. Onodera rescues a girl who has lost her family, together with rescue team member, Reiko (Shibasaki Kou), who lost her family in the Great Hanshin Earthquake. The two become attracted to each other.
The last resort to save Japan is to separate the plate where the Japanese islands are located from the rest of the plate. Onodera heads down towards the ocean depth in an aging submarine in order to set detonators, and once he dives, the submarine will not be able to bring him back to the surface. Onodera puts his life at stake, and his work saves Japan from sinking.