Nihon no ichiban nagai hi (1967)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Kihachi Okamoto

Writers:

Shinobu Hashimoto (writer)
Soichi Oya (novel)

Release Date:

26 March 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Plot:

Following the detonation of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese military and the...

Plot Keywords:

Emperor | Japanese | Japan | Officer | Atomic Bomb

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Toshirô Mifune	...	War Minister Korechika Anami
Sô Yamamura	...	Navy Minister Mitsumasa Yonai
Chishu Ryu	...	Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki
Seiji Miyaguchi	...	Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo
Takashi Shimura	...	Information Chief Hiroshi Shimomura
Toshio Kurosawa	...	Maj. Kenji Hatanaka
Shogo Shimada	...	Imperial Cmdr. Takeshi Mori
Susumu Fujita	...	Col. Toyojiro Haga
Rokko Toura	...	Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Shunichi Matsumoto (as Matsuhiro Toura)
Yûnosuke Itô	...	Maj. Gen. Nonaka
Daisuke Katô	...	Yabe of NHK
Etsushi Takahashi	...	Cmdr. Masutaka Ida
Jun Tazaki	...	Col. Yasuna Kozono
Takao Inoue	...	Cmdr. Masahiko Takeshita
Nobuo Nakamura	...	Lord Keeper Koichi Kido

Also Known As:

Japan's Longest Day (USA) (reissue title)
Nippon no ichiban nagai hi (Japan) (alternative transliteration)
The Emperor and a General
The Emperor and the General
The Longest Day of Japan (literal English title)

Runtime:

157 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Toho Company

Trivia:

Although it is now over 40 years old, this film is reportedly shown on Japanese television every August 15th.

Gripping depiction of obscure WWII history

I had thought the title of this one was an American invention to capitalize off of the American film The Longest Day, but I do believe "Japan's Longest Day" is the actual title. It has nothing to do with the other film. It, in fact, depicts perhaps the most tense day in modern Japanese history, the 24 hours between August 14th and 15th, 1945. The simplified version of WWII history has the Japanese quickly surrendering with their tales between their legs after the Allies dropped the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but a nation so wound up in nationalistic and militaristic pride wasn't ready to give up that easily. The film doesn't depict the citizenry – one could imagine they would be mostly sick of war. But the military certainly was ready to go all the way, to have every person in Japan martyred. Emperor Hirohito, who is supposed to be looked upon as divine by his people, decided that his empire must surrender. Many of the heads of military only agree grudgingly. Many of their underlings rebel. Hirohito makes a recording of his surrender message, to be played at noon on the 15th. A group of soldiers tries to rally others not to listen, and they attempt a coup and try to steal the record. The film is long – 2 hours and 37 minutes. We are given the names of every single character in the film – I would venture to guess that over 100 names are thrown at us over the film, right up until the end. It's difficult to follow, but I don't believe it's necessary to understand every nuance of what was happening. The previous year, Kihachi Okamoto made what is probably his best (and best-known) film, Sword of Doom. Why choose him for this project? Well, there is at least one scene where that is pretty much answered (just remember that the Japanese soldiers still had samurai swords). Really, though, I don't think the direction is that impressive. As a film, it's nothing fantastic. But for the depiction of the minutiae of history, it's well worth watching. Toshiro Mifune, Takashi Shimura and Chishu Ryu all have large roles, but I honestly didn't even recognize them. They fade into these historical characters perfectly.