Sinking of Japan

Submersible pilot Toshio Onodera wakes up pinned inside his car in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture, after an earthquake wreaked havoc in the city and nearby Suruga Bay. As an aftershock triggers an explosion, a rescue helicopter led by Reiko Abe saves him and a young girl named Misaki while a nearby volcano erupts.

Geologists and volcanologists around the world become concerned about Japan; one predicts to the Japanese government that the nation will sink within 40 years. Geoscientist Yusuke Tadokoro doubts the prediction and analyzes rocks in Kyushu, Hokkaido and Mangaia in the Cook Islands, where he hypothesizes that the rock came from the ancient continent of Japan after it split from Pangaea. Tadokoro realizes Japan will sink in 338.54 days instead of the original 40-year estimate. Tadokoro reports his theory to the Cabinet, recommending immediate action, but none of the ministers are convinced. He is ejected from the chamber, but not before he angrily explains to everyone how Japan will sink, with the destruction of the Fossa Magna and the eruption of Mount Fuji as the climax.

The next day, Prime Minister Yamamoto flies to China to make arrangements for the impending resettlement of Japanese refugees and appoints a close colleague, Saori Takamori, as disaster management minister. Tadokoro's predictions come to light as the Daisetsuzan Volcanic Group in Hokkaido bursts, followed by Mount Aso in Kyushu. The eruption of Mt Aso destroys Kumamoto, while Yamamoto is killed when his plane is shot out of the sky by flying rocks ejected from the volcano.

As Takamori panics when she finds out about the prime minister's death, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis rock Japan, starting from southwest to northeast. When the economy collapses, the government declares a state of emergency but acting Prime Minister Kyosuke Nozaki announces that the nation will take five years to sink. Because of Nozaki's indifference to the situation, Takamori runs to Tadokoro's laboratory, where he proposes using experimental N2 explosives drilled into the crust to separate the land from the megalith pulling it down. The minister, who is actually Tadokoro's ex-wife, calls for help from drillships around the world. Meanwhile, Hakodate is inundated by a massive tsunami.

Misaki, Reiko's family, and the rest of Tokyo's residents are evacuated. Onodera confesses his true feelings for Reiko and wants her to go to England with him. A powerful aftershock strikes the Kansai region, killing thousands of people.

The next day, another massive earthquake hits Tokyo. The earthquake triggers a tsunami that destroys Shibuya, Minato, Chiyoda and Odaiba. Aftershocks from the earthquake and its associated effects hit Osaka, Kyoto, Nagano, Nagoya, and Sendai. Another tsunami strikes Uozu in Toyama Prefecture, killing many survivors who had made their way to the city's port to await evacuation. Fukuoka is ablaze, shrouded in ash from volcanic eruptions. In the Chūbu region, many Tokyo evacuees are killed by a massive landslide while heading through a mountain pass in the Japanese Alps towards a refugee center, with people falling into the valley below. Reiko's family rescues Misaki, but they witness a crowded bridge collapse, killing more people who escaped the initial landslide.

Yuki Tatsuya, Onodera's fellow submersible pilot, dies in an attempt to activate the warheads from a central module. Onodera takes his place using an old submersible brought out of museum storage and spends a night with Reiko before the operation. Although he locates the detonation module, a sudden landslide damages his submersible to the point that it is running on emergency power. Onodera uses all the remaining power to move into position and install the detonator. Mount Fuji's imminent eruption is being witnessed by volcanologists. Onodera succeeds in his task and calmly awaits his death. The warheads explode, creating a chain of explosions along the seafloor which fractures the tectonic plate pulling Japan towards the subduction zone, freeing the nation from total destruction.

The success of the mission reaches Takamori aboard the amphibious carrier Shimokita, which has been converted as the Japanese government's temporary headquarters. Although she recommends that Nozaki address the refugees, her colleagues want her to do it instead, given her leadership during the crisis. She announces that people can finally return and holds a moment of silence in honor of Tatsuya and Onodera's sacrifice. In Fukushima Prefecture, Toshio's mother, who wanted to remain at her house until the end, is overjoyed when she sees birds return, a sign of his success. Reiko rescues her family as they look towards a bright sunrise before the credits start rolling, showing a drastically altered Japan.

• Tsuyoshi Kusanagi – Toshio Onodera, a submersible pilot working for Tadokoro
• Kou Shibasaki – Reiko Abe, a member of the Tokyo Hyper–Rescue team
• Etsushi Toyokawa – Yusuke Tadokoro, geologist
• Mao Daichi – Saori Takamori, science and disaster management minister
• Mitsuhiro Oikawa – Yuki Tatsuya, submersible pilot
• Mayuko Fukuda – Misaki Kuraki, young child found in Numazu
• Jun Kunimura – acting Prime Minister Kyosuke Nozaki
• Kazuo Kitamura - Minister of Justice
• Koji Ishizaka – Prime Minister Yamamoto
• Aiko Nagayama – Toshio Onodera's Mother

Tetsuro Tamba, who played Prime Minister Yamamoto in the 1973 movie, made a cameo appearance as Reiko's grandfather. It would be his final film role before dying on September 24, 2006.[1] Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino appeared as one of the refugees boarding a transport plane and as a Buddhist monk in Kyoto praying over a shipment of national treasures being sent abroad.

The film garnered mixed reviews. Derek Elley of Variety lauded the visual effects, but regarded the drama elements as thin.[2] Nix of Beyond Hollywood.com noted the ending as akin to Bruce Willis' character's sacrifice in Armageddon and the lines of some characters are practically the same as in Western disaster movies.[3] Mark Schilling, a film reviewer for the Japan Times, stated the movie was all business in terms of the Hollywood-style effects graphically showing the devastation. He also took notice of Shibasaki's casting as Reiko Abe and the short conversation scenes as different from the 1973 movie, plus the "soft nationalism" of some characters opting to die in the chaos rather than leave the country.[4]

• Nihon Igai Zenbu Chinbotsu, a parody of this film, released the same year

• Review of the film at Dreamlogic.net
• Nihon Chinbotsu at IMDb
• Nihon Chinbotsu at Rotten Tomatoes