Tidal Wave (1973)
"Nippon chinbotsu" (original title)

Racked by earthquakes and volcanos, Japan is slowly sinking into the sea. A race against time and tide begins as Americans and Japanese work together to salvage some fraction of the ... See full summary »

Director:

Shirô Moritani

Writers:

Shinobu Hashimoto, Sakyo Komatsu (novel)

Stars:

Lorne Greene, Keiju Kobayashi, Rhonda Leigh Hopkins

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lorne Greene	...	Ambassador Warren Richards
Keiju Kobayashi	...	Dr. Tadokoro (D-1 Project Leader)
Rhonda Leigh Hopkins	...	Fran
Hiroshi Fujioka	...	Onodera Toshio (Submarine Wadatsumi Pilot)
Tetsurô Tanba	...	Prime Minister Yamamoto
Ayumi Ishida	...	Abe Reiko
Shôgo Shimada	...	Watari (Political Fixer)
John Fujioka	...	Narita
Andrew Hughes	...	Australian Prime Minister
Nobuo Nakamura	...	Japanese Ambassador to Australia
Haruo Nakajima	...	Prime Minister's Chauffeur
Takeshi Yamamoto
Joe Dante	...	(US version)
Susan Sennett	...	(US version)
Hideaki Nitani	...	Dr.Nakata (Cognitive Science D-2 Project Leader)

Storyline

Racked by earthquakes and volcanos, Japan is slowly sinking into the sea. A race against time and tide begins as Americans and Japanese work together to salvage some fraction of the disappearing Japan.

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Plot Keywords:

japan | volcano | japanese | earthquake | disaster | 

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Taglines:

Earthquakes shattered the nation. Cities become raging firestorms. But the worst is yet to come

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Genres:

Thriller | Sci-Fi | Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

May 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tidal Wave

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

143 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Remade as Japan Sinks (2006)

User Reviews

Submergence of Japan

In the wake of the recent tsunami and series of earthquakes in Japan, this movie I had seen as a child came to mind. I remember the disaster scenes being pretty horrific (although this was the pre-CGI era). I also remembered the United Nations or some body akin to it deciding on the distribution of the Japanese population to various nations who agree to receive a number of refugees. With the earthquakes continuing and the possibility of another if not several tidal waves occurring, one hopes this movie doesn't become a reality for Japan. I've learned from reading the other reviews that there is a shorter hacked version of this movie. I'm trying to get a copy of the full length original movie. I think the one I saw was the original although couldn't swear to it. If anyone knows where it's available, whether DVD or VHS please let me know. [e-mail]