AFM: Shinji Higuchi's SINKING OF JAPAN (NIHON CHINBOTSU)

FOR 5 TRAILERS, 4 TV SPOTS, AND 3 CLIPS, SEE THE BOTTOM OF THIS ARTICLE

Distribution rights for Shinji Higuchi's Japanese disaster movie Sinking of Japan (Nihon chinbotsu) are to be offered for sale by Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. (K.K. Tôkyô Hôsô) - "TBS" for short - at this year's American Film Market (AFM) in Santa Monica, California. The movie is scheduled to be screened at the Broadway Cineplex #4 on Saturday November 4th at 8:30 a.m. and Monday November 6th at 8:30 a.m.. Toho Co. Ltd. (Tôhô K.K.) released it theatrically in Japan on July 15th; Cinema Service released it theatrically in Korea on August 31st.

The screenplay for Sinking of Japan was written by Masato Katô, based on the science-fiction books Nippon chinbotsu (ue) and Nippon chinbotsu (shita) by Sakyô Komatsu. (Shirô Moritani's 1973 classic Submersion of Japan (Nippon chinbotsu) was likewise based on those books.) The movie's principal cast is as follows (listed order corresponds to website order): Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Kou Shibasaki (a.k.a. Kô Shibasaki), Mitsuhiro Oikawa, Mayuko Fukuda, Hideko Yoshida, Akira Emoto, Jun Kunimura, Kôji Ishizaka, Etsushi Toyokawa, and Mao Daichi.

Here's a synopsis for Sinking of Japan from TBS' website: "The global scientific community has discovered that in less than 40 years the archipelago of Japan will sink, due to a collision of tectonic plates. A massive plan for the exodus of a nation's population gets underway as Prime Minister Yamamoto (Kenji Ishizaka) prepares for a diplomatic mission to plead with foreign governments to accept waves of Japanese over the next few decades. He appoints a woman in his cabinet, Saori Takamori (Mao Daichi), to serve as his Minister of Crisis Management and Disaster Prevention. ¶ In the underwater trenches off near the Cook Islands, Tetsuo Onodera (Tsuyoshi Kusanagi) pilots a submersible vessel under leading geoscientist, Yusuke Tadokoro (Etsushi Toyokawa). Only days before, Tetsuo had saved the life of a young girl, Misaki (Mayuko Fukuda), in a massive earthquake thanks to a heroic female rescue worker, Reiko (Ko Shibasaki). A bond begins to form between them. But now Tetsuo's boss, Tadokoro, has stumbled upon evidence that Japan's disintegration will occur much more rapidly - in 338.54 days! The government is alerted, but Tadokoro's theory is dismissed as alarmist. ¶ The earthquakes, tidal waves and volcanic eruptions come in rapid succession, plunging the nation into panic. When the Prime Minister perishes in an airplane accident, it throws the cabinet into disarray. Amid the leadership vacuum, Saori Takamori finds herself center-stage in the crisis but helpless in the face of mounting losses of life and insufficient evacuation efforts. She turns to Tadokoro, her ex-husband, for advice: 'Just tell me how we can save even 1,000 lives, 100 lives, even one extra life… and I will do it.' ¶ Tadokoro offers a last ditch plan to save what's left of the country: to manually perforate the plate that is dragging Japan down by detonating several strategically placed 'N2' explosives, and hopefully causing the plate to separate. A multinational fleet arrives to help with the operation, but the loss of a critical detonator deep beneath the sea foils the effort. ¶ Meanwhile, a spiritual bond develops between Onodera and Reiko, both of whom feel compelled to look after Misaki. When Onodera is offered safe haven in England as an ocean researcher, he asks Reiko to join him. But Reiko's dedication to her job compels her to refuse. 'I couldn't live with myself.' Struck by Reiko's dedication to human life, Onodera decides to pilot the only vessel that can recover the last critical detonator, though it means he may not come back alive. 'There are lives I have to protect,' he tells Tadokoro, 'whatever the cost.' Much of the archipelago is already under water. It's up to one man to salvage what's left of a nation."

For more information on Sinking of Japan, see ScreenAnarchy's seventh, sixth, fifth, fourth, third, second, and first articles on it.

Sinking of Japan Japanese trailer #4 (0:33; downloadable 6.2 MB MOV file)
Sinking of Japan Japanese trailer #3 - ED (1:31; downloadable 20.9 MB MOV file)
Sinking of Japan Japanese trailer #3 (1:32; downloadable 16.8 MB MOV file)
Sinking of Japan Japanese trailer #2 (1:15; downloadable 13.6 MB MOV file)

Sinking of Japan Japanese trailer #1 (1:11; downloadable 8.4 MB MOV file)
Sinking of Japan 15 sec. Japanese TV spot (0:15; downloadable 1.7 MB MOV file)
Sinking of Japan 05 sec. Japanese TV spot (0:05; downloadable 590 KB MOV file)
Sinking of Japan Korean trailer (1:35; downloadable 7.6 MB WMV file)

Sinking of Japan 30 sec. Korean TV spot (0:30; downloadable 4.9 MB WMV file)
Sinking of Japan 20 sec. Korean TV spot (0:20; downloadable 3.3 MB WMV file)
Sinking of Japan clip #1 (0:16; downloadable 1.3 MB WMV file)
Sinking of Japan clip #2 (0:19; downloadable 1.6 MB WMV file)

Sinking of Japan clip #3 (0:19; downloadable 1.6 MB WMV file)
Sinking of Japan Japanese official website
Sinking of Japan Korean official website
TBS: Sinking of Japan