Japan's Longest Day
Japan's Longest Day | |
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Directed by | Kihachi Okamoto |
Screenplay by | Shinobu Hashimoto |
Based on | Japan's Longest Day by Soichi Oya |
Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka Sanezumi Fujimoto |
Starring |
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Narrated by | Tatsuya Nakadai |
Music by | Masaru Sato |
Production company | |
Release date |
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Running time | 165 minutes |
Country | Japan |
Language | Japanese |
Japan's Longest Day (日本のいちばん長い日)[a] is a 1967 Japanese War film directed by Kihachi Okamoto. The subject of the majority of the movie is the period between noon on August 14, 1945, when Emperor Hirohito made the decision to surrender to the Allies in World War II and noon on August 15, 1945, when the emperor's recorded message announcing the surrender was broadcast to the Japanese people. Joseph L. Anderson describes the film as "a meticulous reconstruction of the day Japan surrendered and thus ended the Pacific War.[1]
Cast
- Toshiro Mifune as Minister of War Korechika Anami
- Chishū Ryū as Prime Minister Kantarō Suzuki
- Takashi Shimura as Head of the Cabinet Intelligence Bureau Hiroshi Shimomura
- So Yamamura as Minister of the Navy Mitsumasa Yonai
- Seiji Miyaguchi as Minister of Greater East Asia Shigenori Tōgō
- Yoshio Kosugi as Minister of Health and Welfare Tadahiko Okada
- Kakuzo Iida as Minister for Foreign Affairs Teijirō Toyoda
- Etsushi Takahashi as Masataka Ida
- Toshio Kurosawa as Kenji Hatanaka
- Rokko Toura as Matsumoto Shunichi
- Tatsuya Nakadai as Narrator
- Matsumoto Kōshirō VIII (special appearance) as Emperor Hirohito
Several of Japan's best known actors of the day participated in the film. These included Chishū Ryū as Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki, Toshirō Mifune as War Minister Korechika Anami, Takashi Shimura as Information Bureau Director Hiroshi Shimomura and Sō Yamamura as Navy Minister Mitsumasa Yonai.[2] Tatsuya Nakadai serves as the narrator.[2]
Production
According to Okamoto, Masaki Kobayashi was originally supposed to direct Japan's Longest Day but didn't want to, so co-producer Sanezumi Fujimoto suggested that Okamoto direct it.[3] Okamoto believes that this film and his subsequent film The Human Bullet are expressions of his anti-war feelings.[3] Japan's Longest Day portrays the actual people who were able to remain above the fighting, but did fight with each other, while The Human Bullet is a satire of those who did have to fight in the war.[3]
Release
Japan's Longest Day was released in Japan on August 12, 1967, close to the anniversary of the surrender. This started a trend of film releases known as the 8.15 series of World War II films released at the anniversary, which included Okamoto's 1971 film The Battle of Okinawa.[4] It became the second highest grossing film in Japan in 1967.[5] Shinobu Hashimoto won the Kinema Junpo Award for best screenplay for this movie.[6][7] The film was re-released theatrically in Japan on November 21, 1982 as part of Toho's 50th anniversary.[8] A remake of Japan's Longest Day, identically titled in Japanese but released in English under the title The Emperor in August, was issued in 2015 by Shochiku, directed by Masato Harada.[9]
Notes
- ^ Also known as The Emperor and the General
References
- ^ Anderson, J.L. (1982). The Japanese Film: Art and Industry. Princeton University Press. p. 471. ISBN 9780691007922.
- ^ a b "Japan's Longest Day". IMDb. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
- ^ a b c Desjardins, C. (2005). Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film. I.B.Tauris. pp. 90, 95–96. ISBN 9781845110901.
- ^ Shimazu, N. (2003). "Popular Representations of the Past: The Case of Postwar Japan". Journal of Contemporary History. 38 (1): 113. JSTOR 3180699. – via JSTOR (subscription required)
- ^ Galbraith, S. (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. p. 241. ISBN 9781461673743.
- ^ "Japan's Longest Day Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
- ^ "Kinema Junpo Awards 1968". mubi.com. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- ^ Galbraith IV 2008, p. 375.
- ^ "Epic War Movie 'Japan's Longest Day' To Be Reworked". Variety. December 9, 2014. Retrieved 2015-01-16.
- 1967 films
- Films directed by Kihachi Okamoto
- Films with screenplays by Shinobu Hashimoto
- Japanese films
- Japanese-language films
- World War II films based on actual events
- Pacific War films
- Toho films
- Films produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka
- Films produced by Sanezumi Fujimoto
- Films scored by Masaru Sato
- Cultural depictions of Hirohito