''Fukushima 50'' is a 2020

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

disaster A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Setsurō Wakamatsu is a Japanese film director. His film ''Shizumanu Taiyō'' won the Japan Academy Prize for Picture of the Year at the 33rd Japan Academy Prize. Filmography *''Whiteout (2000 film), Whiteout'' (2000) *''Shizumanu Taiyō'' (2009) *''Yoake no Machi ...

and written by Yōichi Maekawa. Starring Koichi Sato and

Ken Watanabe is a Japanese actor. To English-speaking audiences, he is known for playing tragic hero characters, such as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in '' Letters from Iwo Jima'' and Lord Katsumoto Moritsugu in ''The Last Samurai'', for which he was nomi ...

, it is about the titular group of employees tasked with handling the meltdown of the

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant The is a disabled nuclear power plant located on a site in the towns of Ōkuma and Futaba in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The plant suffered major damage from the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011. The ...

after the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

. The film is based on the book by Ryusho Kadota, titled ''On the Brink: The Inside Story of Fukushima Daiichi'', and it is the first Japanese film to depict the disaster.

Synopsis

At 2:46 p.m. on March 11, 2011, the largest earthquake in Japan's recorded history with a magnitude of 9.1 and a maximum seismic intensity of 7 occurred. A huge tsunami struck the

. It was clear that a nuclear reactor lost all power due to flooding by the tsunami. A ''

station blackout Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

'' (SBO) caused the reactor to fall into an uncoolable situation and suffer unimaginable damage due to

nuclear meltdown A nuclear meltdown (core meltdown, core melt accident, meltdown or partial core melt) is a severe nuclear reactor accident that results in core damage from overheating. The term ''nuclear meltdown'' is not officially defined by the Internation ...

. On-site workers, including Izaki Haruka, who is on duty at Units 1 and 2, remain in the nuclear power plant and work hard to control the reactor. Director Masao Yoshida, who oversees the overall command, inspires his subordinates, but also expresses anger at the head office and the

Kantei The Prime Minister's Official Residence is the official workplace and residence of the Prime Minister of Japan. It is commonly referred to as , , or simply . Located at 2-3-1 Nagata-chō, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100–8968, it is diagonally adjacen ...

(Prime Minister's Office), which are not fully aware of the situation. However, the efforts at the site were in vain and the situation continued to worsen, forcing the surrounding people to evacuate. In the worst scenario of this accident estimated by the Kantei, the damage range would have a 250 km radius with the evacuation target population of circa 50 million people, which meant the destruction of eastern

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separ ...

(largest main island). The only option left on the scene is "venting", which has never been done before in the world and requires manual labor by a worker to rush into the reactor with their body. The operation finally began while it was cut off from the outside world and no information entered.

Cast

* Koichi Sato as Toshio Isaki, the shift supervisor of the power plant *

as Masao Yoshida, the site superintendent of the

during the disaster *

Riho Yoshioka is a Japanese actress. She first attracted attention after landing a role in a television series, '' Here Comes Asa'' on NHK in 2016. She received the Elan d'or Award for Newcomer of the Year in 2018. She won the Newcomer of the Year Award at ...

as Izaki Haruka *

Hidetaka Yoshioka is a Japanese actor known for his performance in several movies as a child and lately the award-winning TV drama Dr. Coto's Clinic. He notably played the part of Tora-san's little nephew in the "Otoko wa Tsurai yo" film series, and he appeared ...

as Maeda Takumi *

Narumi Yasuda is a Japanese actress. She won the award for best actress at the 8th Yokohama Film Festival for '' Inujini seshi mono'', '' Minami e Hashire, Umi no Michi o!'' and ''Sorobanzuku''. She also won the award for best actress at the 13th Hochi Film A ...

as Asano Mari *

Shirō Sano is a Japanese actor. Career Born in Yamanashi Prefecture, Sano lived in Tokyo and Matsue, Shimane as a child, before returning to Tokyo to enter art school. He joined several theatrical troupes, including Jurō Kara's Jōkyō Gekijō. He had h ...

as the Prime Minister of Japan Naoto Kan *

Mitsuru Hirata is a Japanese actor. He won the award for best actor at the 7th Hochi Film Award and the award for best supporting actor at the 4th Yokohama Film Festival for ''Fall Guy''. Filmography Films *''Fall Guy'' (1982), Yasu *''Theater of Life'' (198 ...

as Hirayama Shigeru * Yuri Nakamura as Maeda Kana *

Shigeru Izumiya Shigeru Izumiya (泉谷しげる ''Izumiya Shigeru'', born May 11, 1948 in Aomori, raised in Meguro, Tokyo) is a Japanese poet, folk singer, actor, tarento. He established the record company For Life Records with Takuro Yoshida, Yosui Inoue, and ...

as Matsunaga *

Shōhei Hino is a Japanese actor and singer. Hino was born in Tokyo and raised in Osaka. Hino appeared in many jidaigeki television dramas. He is best known for his roles in the Hissatsu series. He began his acting career at the age of 13. In 1966, he made ...

as Omori Hisao *

Naoto Ogata is a Japanese actor. Biography Naoto was born as the second son of Ken Ogata , better known by his stage name , was a Japanese actor. Life Ogata was born in Tokyo, Japan. Ogata is well known for his roles in Peter Greenaway's '' The Pillo ...

as Nojiri Shōichi

Production

Filming began in November 2018. Post-production began in May 2019.

Reception

Mark Schilling of ''

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

'' gave the film a positive review, stating it "strives, boldly for a mainstream film, to tell certain home truths, from the profits-first mindset of the plant's operators."

References

External links

*
地上波初放送　映画『Fukushima50』の事実歪曲とミスリード門田隆将の原作よりひどい事故責任スリカエ、東電批判の甘さの理由
��Japanese） {{DEFAULTSORT:Fukushima 50 2020 films Films about nuclear accidents and incidents Films about the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami Films directed by Setsurō Wakamatsu Films scored by Taro Iwashiro Films set in 2011 Films set in Fukushima Prefecture Films about the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster Japanese disaster films 2020s Japanese-language films Kadokawa Daiei Studio films