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]
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 |
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Cinematography | Hiroshi Murai |
Edited by | Yoshitami Kuroiwa |
Music by | Masaru Sato |
Production company | Toho |
Distributed by | Toho |
Release date | August 1, 1969 (Japan) |
Running time | 127 minutes |
Country | Japan |
Language | Japanese |
Box office | ¥360 million[1] |
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.
Battle of the Japan Sea was the last film for special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya before his death.[2][5][lower-alpha 1] A dedicated team of 60 artists worked on the 107 miniature ships created for the film.[7] In addition, the miniature of the battleship Mikasa was made up to 13 meters long.[7] 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.[7]
Battle of the Japan Sea was distributed theatrically in Japan by Toho on August 1, 1969.[3][8][9] 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.[10]
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