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 epic war film directed by Seiji Maruyama, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya.[3][4] The film stars Toshiro Mifune, Yūzō Kayama, Tatsuya Nakadai, Toshio Kurosawa, Makoto Satō, Ryutaro Tatsumi, Chishū Ryū, and Matsumoto Kōshirō VIII.[4] In the film, the Imperial Japanese Navy and army fail in their attempts to seize Port Arthur, and the Russian Pacific Fleet bears down on the Japan Sea during the Russo-Japanese War.

The film was theatrically released in Japan by Toho on August 1, 1969 and earned ¥360 million, against a production budget of ¥350 million, during its theatrical run, making it the second-highest-grossing Japanese film of 1969.

Cast

[4][5]

Production

Special effects

Battle of the Japan Sea was the last film for special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya before his death.[3][6][a] A dedicated team of 60 artists worked on the 107 miniature ships created for the film.[8] In addition, the miniature of the battleship Mikasa was made up to 13 meters long.[8] 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.[8]

Release

Battle of the Japan Sea was distributed theatrically in Japan by Toho on August 1, 1969.[4][9][10] During its theatrical release, the film earned ¥360 million.[2] It was released on DVD in Japan on June 21, 2001, by Toho Home Video.[11]

Notes

  1. ^ Tsuburaya's credit on All Monsters Attack was honorary; he was not involved in that film's production.[7]

References

  1. ^ Large Special Effects: Japanese Tokusatsu Film History (in Japanese). Asahi Sonorama. 1985. p. 267. ISBN 9784257031888.
  2. ^ a b Kinema Junpo Best Ten 85th Complete History 1924-2011. Kinema Junpo. May 2012. p. 260. ISBN 978-4873767550.
  3. ^ a b Ryfle 1998, p. 47.
  4. ^ a b c d "日本海大海戦 : 作品情報". 映画.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-10-02.
  5. ^ Galbraith IV 2008, p. 259.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ Ryfle 1998, p. 157.
  8. ^ a b c Nihon tokusatsu gensō eiga zenshū (Shohan ed.). Tōkyō: Keibunsha. 1997. p. 205. ISBN 978-4-7669-2706-1.
  9. ^ "日本海大海戦". www.jmdb.ne.jp. Retrieved 2021-10-02.
  10. ^ 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
  11. ^ 「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

External links