Nihon Chinbotsu (2006 film)

Nihon Chinbotsu
Directed by Shinji Higuchi
Produced by Kazuya Hamana
Toshiaki Nakazawa
Written by Sakyo Komatsu (Novel)
Masato Kato
Starring Tsuyoshi Kusanagi
Kou Shibasaki
Etsushi Toyokawa
Mao Daichi
Mitsuhiro Oikawa
Music by Tarō Iwashiro
Cinematography Taro Kawazu
Distributed by Toho
Release date(s) July 15, 2006
Running time 135 min.
Country  Japan
Language Japanese
Budget USD 25,000,000

Nihon Chinbotsu (日本沈没?, lit. "Japan Sinks") is a 2006 Tokusatsu film directed by Shinji Higuchi, and a remake of the 1973 screenplay based on the Komatsu novel. It stars Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Kou Shibasaki, Etsushi Toyokawa, and Mao Daichi, and was released on July 15, 2006.

The film is also known under the titles "The Sinking of Japan" and "Doomsday: The Sinking of Japan".

It was parodied in Nihon Igai Zenbu Chinbotsu ("Everyone but Japan Sinks").

Contents

Synopsis

Suruga Bay in Shizuoka Prefecture is struck by a devastating earthquake. Two hours later, in deserted downtown Numazu, Shizuoka, Toshio Onodera wakes up, only to find he is pinned inside his car. He finds a lost girl, Misaki, also a survivor. An aftershock uproots the electric lines and triggering an explosion. A rescue helicopter led by Reiko Abe (Kou Shibasaki) arrives and picks up the two.

In Tokyo, geologists around the world become concerned about Japan; one predicts that the country will sink within 40 years. Japanese geoscientist Yusuke Tadokoro doubts the prediction. His quest to dispel it brings him to analyze rocks in Kyushu, Hokkaido, and Mangaia in the Cook Islands, where he hypothesizes that the rock came from the ancient continent of Japan after it split from Pangaea thousands of years ago. Tadokoro realizes Japan will sink in 338.54 days instead of the original 40-year estimate. Tadokoro reports his theory to the Cabinet, recommending immediate action, but none of the ministers are convinced. He is ejected from the chamber, but not before he angrily explains to everyone how Japan will sink, with the destruction of the Fossa Magna and the eruption of Mt Fuji as the climax.

The next day, Prime Minister Yamamoto goes to China to try arranging a resettlement for Japanese refugees and appoints a close colleague, Saori Takamori, as disaster management minister. Tadokoro's predictions come to light: in Hokkaido, the Daisetsuzan volcano range bursts along with Mount Aso. The eruption destroys Yamamoto's plane while Kumamoto City's residents flee in terror.

Takamori panics when she finds out about the prime minister's death. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions rock southwest Japan, including Nagasaki, Kagoshima and Osaka. Refugees from Japan begin to evacuate. The economy collapses. The government declares a state of emergency but de facto Prime Minister Kyosuke Nozaki announces that Japan will take five years to sink. Because of Nozaki's indifference to the situation, Takamori runs to Tadokoro's laboratory, where he proposes using experimental N2 explosives drilled into the crust to separate the land from the megalith pulling it down. The minister, who is actually Tadokoro's ex-wife, goes off to call for help from all drillships around the world.

Misaki's mother, dying, orders her to survive. Misaki, Reiko's family and the rest of Tokyo's populace is evacuated. Onodera confesses his true feelings for Reiko. He tries to persuade her to go to England with him. Evacuations continue throughout the country as the destruction rages. Onodera visits his mother in Fukushima Prefecture. She tells him that she will not leave her ancestors. An aftershock finally destroys the Kinki region and the Tokyo evacuees are nearly killed by a massive landslide, with people falling into the valley below as Misaki is rescued by Reiko's family and they witness a crowded bridge collapse.

Meanwhile, Tadokoro hires Yuki Tatsuya, Onodera's fellow submersible pilot, to activate the warheads from a central module. Unfortunately, Tatsuya is killed in the attempt. Onodera, who wanted to take Reiko and Misaki to live with him in England, takes his place using an old submersible brought out of museum storage and spends a night with Reiko before the operation. Although he locates the detonation module, a sudden landslide damages his submersible to the point that it is running on emergency power. Onodera uses all the remaining power to move into position and install the detonator. Mount Fuji begins to erupt. Toshio succeeds in his task and calmly awaits his doom. The warheads explode, creating a chain of explosions along the seafloor, saving Japan.

The success of the mission reaches Takamori aboard the amphibious carrier Shimokita, which has been converted as the Japanese government's temporary headquarters. Although she recommends that Nozaki address the refugees, her colleagues want her to do it instead, given her leadership during the crisis. She announces that people can finally return and holds a moment of silence in honor of Tatsuya and Onodera's sacrifice. In Fukushima, Toshio's mother is overjoyed when she sees birds return- a sign of his success. Reiko rescues her family as they look towards a bright sunrise, before the credits start rolling, showing a new Japan.

DVDs

The film was released in 2007 (as Sinking of Japan) by Philippines-based Paragon Home Video, Rated PG and for all DVD regions.

Cast

External links