| Submersion of Japan | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Shiro Moritani |
| Screenplay by | Shinobu Hashimoto[1] |
| Based on | Japan Sinks bySakyo Komatsu |
| Produced by | |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | |
| Edited by | Michiko Ikeda[1] |
| Music by | Masaru Sato[1] |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Toho |
Release date |
|
Running time | 143 minutes[2] |
| Country | Japan |
| Budget | $3 million[2] |
| Box office | $17.5 million |
Submersion of Japan[1] (日本沈没,Nihon Chinbotsu;lit. "Japan Sinks") is a Japanese disaster film directed byShiro Moritani in 1973.[1] It is based on the 1973 novelJapan Sinks bySakyo Komatsu.[3][1] The film starsKeiju Kobayashi,Hiroshi Fujioka andAyumi Ishida.[4]
Geophysicist Dr. Tadokoro and Onodera Toshio take the submarineWadatsumi-1 to theOgasawara Islands, in order to investigate tremors in the seafloor. They discover that the land mass of the Japanese islands is collapsing into theJapan Trench.
Afterward, Onodera is introduced to Abe Reiko, and the two become lovers. Relaxing on the beach, they witness an eruption ofMount Amagi. A meeting of government officials, including Prime Minister Yamamoto, focuses on assessing the disaster. Tadokoro warns that more eruptions and earthquakes are imminent, but his claims are rejected as alarmist. He later meets with a mysterious wealthy man named Mr. Watari, who agrees to fund the doctor's research expeditions. With this funding, he develops a course of action to address a nationwide earthquake disaster. During a meeting to secure a research submarine from France,Mount Kirishima erupts.
Onodera leaves his job as a submarine pilot to help Tadokoro full-time. Further research verifies that the Japanese archipelago will be pulled into the ocean. This is immediately followed by a massive earthquake inTokyo causing immense damage and 3,000,000 deaths.
Three months later, Tokyo is slowly recovering. Yamamoto, who lost his wife in the earthquake, works closely with Watari and Tadokoro's team. Their assessment is that another even larger earthquake is on the horizon.
Tadokoro and his team meet with Watari at his secluded mountainside home. Tadokoro reveals his two-phase plan: D1-investigating seismic activity in the Japan Trench, and D2-an evacuation of the Japanese islands. Yamamoto negotiates with countries to accept refugees. Watari describes three options for Plan D2. One is the formation of a new country, a second is immigration and integration into other countries, and a third is a non-response that means passive acceptance of Japan's fate. Onodera, drunk and agonizing over the public's ignorance of the impending disaster, meets Reiko for the first time since the Tokyo earthquake.
TheJapan Meteorological Agency reveals devastating news; the original two-year timeline for Japan's sinking is inaccurate, shrinking to just 10 months. Immigration negotiations are sped up, though countries such asSouth Korea,China andTaiwan are refusing to participate. Shipping and air transport production are increased, and a full announcement of Japan’s fate is released to the public nationwide. Onodera plans to marry Reiko and meet her in Geneva, but they are separated when a new earthquake triggers an eruption ofMount Fuji.
AUnited Nations summit discusses possible locations for Japan's population. In two months, 2.8 million Japanese have successfully evacuated; the low number frustrates Yamamoto. Japan's sinking accelerates, with theKii Peninsula andShikoku submerged. The United States, China and theSoviet Union agree to accept large numbers of refugees, but evacuation estimates only increase to eight million per month. TheSanriku coast,Tōhoku region,Kyushu,Hokkaido andOkinawa are submerged. Sixty-three million Japanese remain on the archipelago, 57% of the original population.
Eleven days before Japan is expected to completely sink, Onodera is shown engaged in rescue efforts, while hoping to reunite with Reiko. Yamamoto later announces a cessation of allJSDF rescue operations.
Watari, on his deathbed, has a final meeting with Tadokoro and Yamamoto. Tadokoro states that he will remain in Japan until the end, and expresses his confidence in Yamamoto's leadership with the Japanese people's uncertain future. Just as a helicopter takes Yamamoto to safety, almost all of Japan has sunk into the ocean. Months later, Reiko is riding in a passenger train inSwitzerland, while Onodera is riding in a crowded boxcar in the SouthwesternUnited States to an uncertain future.
Submersion of Japan was released in Japan on 29 December 1973 where it was distributed byToho.[2]
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Roger Corman bought the U.S. rights to the film for hisNew World Pictures. He cut out a great deal of footage, added new sequences directed by Andrew Meyer and starringLorne Greene as an ambassador at theUnited Nations, and released it asTidal Wave in May 1975.[2]
The American version of the film's new cast members also included Rhonda Leigh Hopkins, John Fujioka,Marvin Miller,Susan Sennett,Ralph James,Phil Roth, Cliff Pellow, andJoe Dante.[2] New World additionally released an uncut subtitled format asSubmersion of Japan.[2]
The film was thehighest-grossing film in Japan in 1973 and 1974.[2] The film grossed more than twice of the second-highest-grossing film of the year,The Human Revolution.[2] The film earned¥4,468,680,000[6] ($14 million) in Japan.[7] It surpassedThe Godfather as thehighest-grossing film in Japan until overtaken in December 1974 byThe Exorcist.[8]
The film performed weakly at the United States box office,[9] earning$3.5 million,[9][10] for a combined total of$17,500,000 (equivalent to $123,956,147 in 2024) in Japan and the United States.