Battle of the Japan Sea (film)

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.

Battle of the Japan Sea
Theatrical release poster
Japanese name
Kanji日本海大海戦
Transcriptions
Revised HepburnNihonkai Daikaisen
Directed bySeiji Maruyama
Written byToshio Yasumi
Produced byTomoyuki Tanaka
Starring
CinematographyHiroshi Murai
Edited byYoshitami Kuroiwa
Music byMasaru Sato
Production
company
Distributed byToho
Release date
  • August 1, 1969 (1969-08-01) (Japan)
Running time
127 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Budget¥350 million[1]
Box office¥360 million[2]

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

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[4][5]

Production

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Special effects

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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

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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

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

References

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  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
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