Battle of the Japan Sea (film)
Battle of the Japan Sea | |
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![]() Theatrical release poster | |
Japanese | 日本海大海戦 |
Hepburn | Nihonkai Daikaisen |
Directed by | Seiji Maruyama |
Written by | Toshio Yasumi |
Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Hiroshi Murai |
Edited by | Yoshitami Kuroiwa |
Music by | Masaru Sato |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Toho |
Release date | August 1, 1969 (Japan) |
Running time | 127 minutes |
Country | Japan |
Language | Japanese |
Box office | ¥360 million[1] |
Battle of the Japan Sea (Japanese: 日本海大海戦, Hepburn: Nihonkai Daikaisen, lit. 'The Great Battle in the Japan Sea') is a 1969 Japanese war film directed by Seiji Maruyama, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya.[2][3] The film stars Toshiro Mifune, Yūzō Kayama, Tatsuya Nakadai, Toshio Kurosawa, Makoto Satō, Ryutaro Tatsumi, Chishū Ryū, and Matsumoto Kōshirō VIII.[3]
It focuses on Japan during the Russo-Japanese War. In the course of the battle, both the Japanese navy and army fail in their attempts to seize Port Arthur, and a Russian fleet bears down on the Japanese sea.
Cast[]
- Toshiro Mifune as Tōgō Heihachirō
- Yūzō Kayama as Hirose Takeo
- Tatsuya Nakadai as Akashi Motojiro
- Makoto Satō as Kiyokazu Abo
- Akira Kubo as Kikuisami Matsui
- Susumu Fujita as Kamimura Hikonojō
- Eijiro Yanagi as Itō Hirobumi
- Akihiko Hirata as Koreshige Tsunoda
- Yoshifumi Tajima as Hikojirō Ijichi
- Kenji Sahara as Hikosaburo Maruhashi
- Jun Tazaki as Shimaji Hashiguchi
- Masao Shimizu as Totsuka Tamaki
- Ryuji Kita as Admiral Kataoka Shichirō
- Toru Abe as Lieutenant Colonel Genjiro Suji
- Kiyoshi Kodama as Captain Yamamoto Shinjiro
- Yoshio Inaba as Shimamura Hayao
- Yoshio Tsuchiya as Saneyuki Akiyama
- Chishū Ryū as Nogi Maresuke
- Matsumoto Kōshirō VIII as Emperor Meiji
- Ken Mitsuda as Yamagata Aritomo
- Shin Tatsuoka as Inoue Kaoru
- Takamaru Sasaki as Kuki Ryūichi
- Tatsumi Ryutaro as Yamamoto Gonnohyōe
- Toshio Kurosawa as Pfc. Maeyama
- Takeshi Katō as Chief of Staff Officer Kato
- Andrew Hughes as Zinovy Rozhestvensky
- Harold Conway as John Campbell
- Hans Horneff as Nikolai Kolomeitsev
- Peter Williams as Admiral Nebagotov
- Jacob Shapiro as Informant
- Ted Gunther as Shuriakusu
- Osman Yusuf as Russian officer
- Mitsuko Kusabue as Mrs. Togo
- Haruo Nakajima as Staff of the First Fleet (uncredited)
- Robert Dunham as Aide to Admiral Alekseyev (uncredited)
- Ralph Jesser as Staff Officer of the Baltic Fleet (uncredited)
- Arthur Stark as Captain Swarov (uncredited)
- Akio Kusama
- Jun Funato
Production[]
Special effects[]
Battle of the Japan Sea was the last film for special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya before his death.[2][4][a] A dedicated team of 60 artists worked on the 107 miniature ships created for the film.[6] In addition, the miniature of the battleship Mikasa was made up to 13 meters long.[6] Due to the weaker shell power during the Russo-Japanese War in the Pacific War, Freon gas was used to represent water column in the naval battle scene.[6]
Release[]
Battle of the Japan Sea was distributed theatrically in Japan by Toho on August 1, 1969.[3][7][8] During its theatrical release it earned a distribution rental of ¥360 million.[1] It was released on DVD in Japan on June 21, 2001 by Toho Home Video.[9]
Notes[]
- ^ Tsuburaya's credit on All Monsters Attack was honorary; he was not involved in that film's production.[5]
References[]
- ^ a b Kinema Junpo Best Ten 85th Complete History 1924-2011. Kinema Junpo. May 2012. p. 260. ISBN 978-4873767550.
- ^ a b Ryfle 1998, p. 47.
- ^ a b c d "日本海大海戦 : 作品情報". 映画.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-10-02.
- ^ "VFXのルーツを知る! 須賀川特撮アーカイブセンター訪問記と「特撮の街」須賀川市の取り組み(1) | 特集 | CGWORLD.jp". CG・映像の専門情報サイト | CGWORLD.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-10-02.
- ^ Ryfle 1998, p. 157.
- ^ a b c Nihon tokusatsu gensō eiga zenshū (Shohan ed.). Tōkyō: Keibunsha. 1997. p. 205. ISBN 978-4-7669-2706-1.
- ^ "日本海大海戦". www.jmdb.ne.jp. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
- ^ allcinema, 映画 日本海大海戦 (1969)について 映画データベース - allcinema (in Japanese), retrieved 2021-10-02
- ^ 「綴込特別付録 宇宙船 YEAR BOOK 2002」『宇宙船』Vol.100(2002年5月号)、朝日ソノラマ、2002年5月1日、 170頁、 雑誌コード:01843-05。
- Bibliography
- Ryfle, Steve (1998). Japan's Favorite Mon-Star: The Unauthorized Biography of the Big G. ECW Press. ISBN 1-55022-348-8.
External links[]
- Battle of the Japan Sea at IMDb
- Battle of the Japan Sea at the Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese)
- Japanese-language films
- 1960s Japanese film stubs
- Japanese films
- 1969 films
- Japanese war drama films
- Japanese war films
- Toho films
- War films
- Films produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka
- Films set in 1904
- Toho tokusatsu films