Battle of the Japan Sea | |||||
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Japanese name | |||||
Kanji | 日本海大海戦 | ||||
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Directed by | Seiji Maruyama | ||||
Written by | Toshio Yasumi | ||||
Produced by | Tomoyuki Tanaka | ||||
Starring | |||||
Cinematography | Hiroshi Murai | ||||
Edited by | Yoshitami Kuroiwa | ||||
Music by | Masaru Sato | ||||
Production company | |||||
Distributed by | Toho | ||||
Release date |
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Running time | 127 minutes | ||||
Country | Japan | ||||
Language | Japanese | ||||
Budget | ¥350 million[1] | ||||
Box office | ¥360 million[2] |
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 epic war film directed by Seiji Maruyama, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya.[3][4] The film stars Toshiro Mifune, Yūzō Kayama, Tatsuya Nakadai, Toshio Kurosawa, Makoto Satō, Ryutaro Tatsumi, Chishū Ryū, and Matsumoto Kōshirō VIII.[4] In the film, the Imperial Japanese Navy and army fail in their attempts to seize Port Arthur, and the Russian Pacific Fleet bears down on the Japan Sea during the Russo-Japanese War.
The film was theatrically released in Japan by Toho on August 1, 1969 and earned ¥360 million, against a production budget of ¥350 million, during its theatrical run, making it the second-highest-grossing Japanese film of 1969.
Battle of the Japan Sea was the last film for special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya before his death.[3][6][a] A dedicated team of 60 artists worked on the 107 miniature ships created for the film.[8] In addition, the miniature of the battleship Mikasa was made up to 13 meters long.[8] 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.[8]
Battle of the Japan Sea was distributed theatrically in Japan by Toho on August 1, 1969.[4][9][10] During its theatrical release, the film earned ¥360 million.[2] It was released on DVD in Japan on June 21, 2001, by Toho Home Video.[11]