is a 2015

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Mitsutoshi Tanaka starring Seiyo Uchino, Kenan Ece and

Shioli Kutsuna is a Japanese actress, known for her role as Ran Mori in ''Shinichi Kudo's Written Challenge!'', Minami Maho in ''Beck'' (2010), Haru/Harumi in '' 125 Years Memory'' (2015), and Yukio in '' Deadpool 2'' (2018) and '' Deadpool & Wolverine'' ( ...

. Two historical incidents that deepened the friendship between Japan and Turkey are connected in this story of friendship and compassion: The sinking of the Turkish frigate

Ertuğrul Ertuğrul or Ertuğrul Ghazi (; died ) was a 13th-century uch bey (marcher-lord), who was the father of Osman I. Little is known about Ertuğrul's life. According to Ottoman Empire, Ottoman tradition, he was the son of Suleyman Shah, the leader ...

off the Japanese coast in 1890 and the evacuation of Japanese nationals from Iran in 1985.Nishihiro, Shinji
"西廣理事よりNPOの活動状況について"
''NPO Ertuğrul Saves the World'', Wakayama. Retrieved 22 November 2018. It received the

Japan Academy Film Prize The , often called the Japan Academy Prize, the Japan Academy Awards, and the Japanese Academy Awards, is a series of awards given annually since 1978 by the Japan Academy Film Prize Association (日本アカデミー賞協会, ''Nippon Akademii- ...

in ten categories, including Best Art Direction, Best Sound Recording, Excellent Film and Excellent Director."第39回日本アカデミー賞優秀作品"
''Japan Academy Film Prize Association''. Retrieved 3 July 2020."プロフィール"
" Film director Mitsutoshi Tanaka". Retrieved 3 July 2020. A Japanese-Turkish co-production, the film was produced by Japan's Creators' Union and Toei together with Turkey's Böcek Yapım. It was released in Japan by Toei on 5 December 2015 and in Turkey by CGV Mars on 25 December 2015.

Plot

Ertuğrul episode

In the night of 16 September 1890, while returning from a goodwill visit to Japan, the Turkish frigate

is caught up in a typhoon and sinks in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of

Kushimoto, Wakayama 270px, Shionomisaki Southernmost Point Park is a coastal town located in Higashimuro District, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 15,192 in 8354 households and a population density of 110 persons per km2. The t ...

. Hearing the alarm bell the villagers of Kashino, a poor fishing village on Kushimoto's island of Kii Oshima, rush to the shore. They are confronted with the grisly spectacle of vast numbers of dead and dying. With more than 500 crew members dead, it is one of the largest sea accidents in history at that time. Risking their own lives, the villagers are able to rescue 69 Turkish sailors. Tamura ('' Seiyo Uchino''), a doctor living in Kashino village, and his assistant Haru (''

'') treat the injured. In the wake of her life rescuing efforts Haru builds a special bond with Mustafa ('' Kenan Ece''), an officer on the Ertuğrul. Although being very poor and having hardly to eat, the villagers share what little they have with strangers from a country 9,000 kilometers away and give them shelter in their small village of only 60 households.

Tehran episode

In the year 1985, during the

Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...

, Iraq announces an indiscriminate attack and to shoot down any aircraft over Iranian air space. Japanese Ambassador Yutaka Nomura ('' Toshiyuki Nagashima'') requests rescue flights from Japan, but is told that a quick response is not possible. While evacuation flights from other nations are arriving, more than 300 Japanese are stranded in Tehran. Harumi (''

''), a teacher at the Tehran Japanese School, prevails upon Nomura to ask the Turkish ambassador for help. Turkish Prime Minister

Turgut Özal Halil Turgut Özal (13 October 192717 April 1993) was a Turkish politician, bureaucrat, engineer and statesman who served as the eighth president of Turkey from 1989 to 1993. He previously served as the 26th prime minister of Turkey from 1983 ...

(''Deniz Oral'') decides to evacuate the Japanese. In the morning of 19 March, only a few hours before Iraq's ultimatum expires, a Turkish Airlines aircraft takes off for Tehran. Not only is Tehran already under heavy rocket fire, but the remaining Turks at Tehran Mehrabad Airport still need to be convinced that they won't be able to board their own country's evacuation flight. That's when Turkish embassy staff Murat ('' Kenan Ece'') starts speaking out to his fellow citizens about the compassion and sacrifice Japanese villagers had shown to Turkish sailors shipwrecked far away a long time ago.

Background

The film was initiated by the residents of Kushimoto, a coastal town in

Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 876,030 () and a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture to ...

where the first episode of the film takes place. For a very long time they wanted to make a film about the

story and thus send a message of friendship and peace to the rest of the world. To pursue their goal, Kushimoto Mayor Katsumasa Tashima contacted film director Mitsutoshi Tanaka and the NPO Ertuğrul Saves the World was established in the city of

Wakayama Wakayama may refer to: * Wakayama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan * Wakayama (city), the capital city of Wakayama Prefecture, Japan * Wakayama Station, a train station in Wakayama, Wakayama * Wakayama University, a national university in Wakayama, ...

. After more than ten years of work the film was completed in 2015, commemorating the 125th anniversary of Japanese-Turkish friendship."「海難1890」特別先行上映舞台挨拶"
''PIA Kansai'', 27 November 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2018.

Cast

Leading artists

* Seiyo Uchino: Motosada Tamura * Kenan Ece: Mustafa/Murat *

: Haru/Harumi * Alican Yücesoy: Bekir

Supporting artists

Yui Natsukawa is a Japanese actress. She co-starred with Hiroshi Abe in the 2006 Japanese drama '' Kekkon Dekinai Otoko'' and in Hirokazu Kore-eda's 2008 film '' Still Walking''. Filmography Film * ''Sora ga Konnani Aoi Wake ga Nai'' (1993) - Kaoru Aoki * ' ...

: Yuki * Toshiyuki Nagashima: Yutaka Nomura *

Naoto Takenaka is a Japanese actor, comedian, singer, and director from Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, affiliated with From First Production. He is married to idol singer and actress Midori Kinouchi. He is also known as the voice of Samuel L. ...

: Kudo * Takashi Sasano: Mayor Sato * Shunsuke Daitoh: Shintaro *: Tome * Yukiyoshi Ozawa: Gentaro Fujimoto *: Kimura *: Shinichi * Yuu Tokui: Heiji * Yukijiro Hotaru: Takeshita * Rino Katase: Sato * Mehmet Özgür: Âli Bey * Uğur Polat: Osman Pasha ( tr) * Melis Babadağ: Hatice *: Michi Kimura *:

* Hakkı Haluk Cömert: Mahmut *: Naci * Mert Aygün: Ali Efendi * Tamer Levent: Süleyman Bey * Duygu Sarışın: Turkish Airlines ground staff * Ali Açıkbaş: Ertuğrul crew member * Can Akalın: Hüseyin * Eray Ayaz: Can * Yeliz Çelebi: Müge Sayar * Bertan Dirikolu: Turkish naval officer * Alper Düzen: İhsan Pekel * Yağız Elmastaşoğlu: Salih *: Biwa artist *: Kiyo * Ayhan Işık: Veysel Atasoy *: Tae * Noboru Kaneko: Yamamoto * Momoko Kato ( ja): Japanese national in Tehran *: Kushimoto resident * Naoki Kawano: Mankichi * Marie Kobayashi: Kushimoto resident * Masataka Kobayashi: Japanese embassy staff * Shingo Koike: Naoki Agata *: Mehmet Ali *: Takeo *: Katsu * Emiko Miyazaki: Kushimoto resident * Halit Mızraklı: Selim * Ayami Nakamura: Courtesan in Kushimoto *: Japanese national in Tehran * Akane Owaki: Courtesan in Kushimoto * Oğuz Öztekin: Hayri * Erkan Pekbay: Sarkis *: Nobu * Savaş Satış: Ertuğrul crew member *: Turkish Airlines official *: Miyamoto * Chiyo Takahashi: Courtesan in Kushimoto * Yuusaku Tanaka: Yoshimoto *: Yano *: Fukushima *: Hiroyuki Kimura *: Orhan Suyolcu

Release

Prior to the film's official launch, special screenings took place in Wakayama City on 20 October 2015 and in

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

on 2 November 2015. A novelization by author Mika Toyoda was published on 6 November 2015. During a visit of Japanese Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. ...

to Turkey, Abe and Turkish President

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

watched a 30-minute promotional version of the film at

Yıldız Palace Yıldız Palace (, ) is a vast complex of former imperial Ottoman Empire, Ottoman pavilions and villas in Beşiktaş, Istanbul, Turkey, built in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was used as a residence by the List of sultans of the Ottoman ...

in Istanbul on 13 November 2015. They were joined by director Mitsutoshi Tanaka, actor Kenan Ece and actress Melis Babadağ. Pre-release screenings took place in Kushimoto from 23 to 25 November 2015 and in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

on 28 November 2015. After the world premiere on 1 December 2015 in Tokyo, the film was released in Japan on 5 December 2015, screening in 309 movie theaters. At the Marunouchi Toei Theater in Tokyo audiences were greeted by director Mitsutoshi Tanaka and actors Seiyo Uchino, Kenan Ece,

and

on the opening day. Following opening galas in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

on 22 December 2015 and in Istanbul on 24 December 2015, the film was released in Turkey on 25 December 2015. In Turkey the film screened in 300 movie theaters. The theme song ''Ertuğrul Türküsü'', sung by Turkish folk singer Kubat, was released on 29 December 2015. In the film, the song is performed by actor Savaş Satış. Since its theatrical release the film has screened around the world, most notably at the 2016 Toronto Japanese Film Festival. A DVD and Blu-ray disc were released by

Toei Video , simply known as Toei Company or Toei, is a Japanese entertainment company. Headquartered in Ginza, Chūō, Tokyo, it is involved in film and television production, distribution, video game development, publishing, and ownership of 34 movie ...

on 8 June 2016. Starting in 2021, online screenings took place in various countries, e.g. in the UK in June 2021 and in Canada and the USA in March 2022. The film is available online on demand on most common Japanese streaming platforms, among others on the Japanese site of

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

Reception

Box office

On its opening weekend in Japan, the film was fourth in both admissions, with 88,295, and gross, with . On its second weekend, it dropped to seventh, again both in admissions and in gross, with . On its third weekend, it was tenth placed in both admissions and gross, with . In

, where the first part of the film takes place, the film screened in 5 theaters. With 6,247 admissions and ¥6.9 million in ticket sales on its first day it became the highest grossing film on opening day in Wakayama for 2015. Total theatrical revenue was ¥780 million in Japan and ₺4.7 million in Turkey.

Accolades

References

External links

Official website
*
A Tale of Two Countries Bound by Tragedy and Heroism (Can Akalın, Nikkei Voice)Ertuğrul Filminde Torunlar Oynuyor (Gökhan Karakaş, Milliyet)

NPO Ertuğrul Saves the World

125 Years Memory novel by Mika Toyoda
{{in lang, ja 2015 films Japanese historical drama films Japanese films based on actual events Japanese multilingual films Turkish historical drama films Turkish multilingual films Films set in Wakayama Prefecture Films set in Tehran Films set in Istanbul Films set on ships Films set in the Meiji era Iran–Iraq War films Disaster films based on actual events Toei Company films Films shot in Kyoto Films shot in Tokyo Films shot in Hyōgo Prefecture Films shot in Istanbul 2010s Japanese films 2015 drama films 2015 multilingual films