(lit. ''The Never-setting Sun'') is a 2009

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese film directed by Setsurō Wakamatsu. It is also known as ''The Unbroken'' in the United States. ''Shizumanu Taiyō'' is based on a novel by Toyoko Yamasaki which centers on Hajime Onchi, an employee of "NAL," a large national airline. The first part of the novel focuses on Onchi's activity as the chairman of the employees' union in the 1960s; his reward for fighting for better working conditions for the staff is a series of postings abroad, to

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, and finally

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, a destination to which the company does not even fly. The second and third parts of the novel take place in 1985 and chronicle the crash of a jumbo jet and its aftermath within the company. The events portrayed in the story are based upon actual events that took place at

Japan Airlines Japan Airlines (JAL) is the flag carrier airline of Japan. JAL is headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport, Narita and Haneda Airport, Haneda airports, as well as secondary hubs in Osaka's Kansai ...

. The character of Onchi is based upon JAL labor organizer and author Hirotaro Ogura, and the pivotal crash portrayed in the novel is based closely upon the crash of

Japan Air Lines Flight 123 Japan Air Lines Flight 123 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Tokyo to Osaka, Japan. On August12, 1985, the Boeing 747 flying the route suffered a severe structural failure and explosive decompression 12 minutes after takeoff. After f ...

(up to having the same flight number and taking place at the same location, date and time). Several politicians and JAL executives portrayed in the story are also based on real-world counterparts. JAL objected strongly to both the novel and the film, stating that they were defamatory to the airline and disrespected the victims of the actual Flight 123. The novel claims to be a work based upon real-life events, while the film claims to be entirely a work of fiction. The cast of the film includes

Ken Watanabe is a Japanese actor. He is best 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 nominated for the Academy Awa ...

as Onchi, with Kōji Ishizaka, Kyōko Suzuki, Yasuko Matsuyuki and Tomokazu Miura in supporting roles. The violininst

Diana Yukawa is a Japanese and British violinist and composer. She has released four solo albums and one digital EP. Personal life Yukawa was born in Tokyo, Japan, to Japanese banker Akihisa Yukawa and English ballet dancer Susanne Bayly. Her father died o ...

, whose father died in the real-world crash of JAL Flight 123, was involved in the music for the film. The premiere was on 24 October 2009 in

Ginza Ginza ( ; ) is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, located south of Yaesu and Kyōbashi, Tokyo, Kyōbashi, west of Tsukiji, east of Yūrakuchō and Uchisaiwaichō, and north of Shinbashi. It is a popular upscale shopping area of Tokyo ...

. Yukawa performed "Little Prayer", the track she recorded for the film.

Awards and nominations

34th

Hochi Film Award The are film-specific prizes awarded by the '' Hochi Shimbun''. Categories *Best Picture *Best International Picture *Best Animated Picture (since 2017) *Best Actor *Best Actress *Best Supporting Actor *Best Supporting Actress *Best New Artist ...

* Won: Best Film * Won: Best Actor -

33rd Japan Academy Prize * Won: Best Film * Won: Best Actor - Ken Watanabe

Cast

as Hajime Onchi *

Tomokazu Miura is a Japanese actor. Life and career Miura attended Hino high school in Tokyo. He was originally a member of rock group RC Succession, but was asked to leave the group by their management when they signed a record contract. However, impressed b ...

as Shiro Gyoten *

Teruyuki Kagawa is a Japanese actor, kabuki actor (as ), and boxing commentator. Unlike most other Kabuki actors in his family (such as his father Ichikawa En'ō II and his cousin Ichikawa Ennosuke IV) who play both male and female roles, he is a ''tachiyaku' ...

as Kazuo Yagi * Kyōka Suzuki as Ritsuko Onchi *

Erika Toda is a Japanese actress. Career Toda has starred in many Japanese television dramas, including '' Liar Game'', '' Code Blue'', '' Ryusei no Kizuna'', and ''Keizoku 2: SPEC''. She has also had supporting roles in many other popular TV dramas, suc ...

as Junko Onchi * Go Kato as the prime minister Yasushi Tonegawa (based on

Yasuhiro Nakasone was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1982 to 1987. His political term was best known for pushing through the privatization of state-owned companies and pursuing a hawkish and pro-U.S. fo ...

) *

Nenji Kobayashi is a Japanese actor. He won the award for best supporting actor at the 23rd Japan Academy Prize for ''Poppoya''. Kobayashi signed with Toei in 1961 and started his acting career with small roles. Filmography Film * '' Soshiki Bōryoku'' (19 ...

as the deputy prime minister Takemaru (based on Shin Kanemaru) * Tōru Shinagawa as Issei Ryuzaki (based on Ryūzō Sejima) *

Kōji Ishizaka is a Japanese actor. Ishizaka graduated from Keio University with a Bachelor of Laws, B.L. degree. He serves as a special advisor for the Japan Plamodel Industry Association, and on 23 February 2009, he founded Rowguanes, a plastic model enthus ...

as Masayuki Kunimi *

Tae Kimura is a Japanese actress. She won the Best Actress award at the 32nd Japan Academy Prize for '' All Around Us''. Biography Kimura starred in Ryosuke Hashiguchi's '' All Around Us''. Her performance in the film was described by Jason Gray as "one ...

as Natsuko Suzuki *

Yasuko Matsuyuki is a Japanese actress and singer signed to Stardust Promotion. History Yasuko Matsuyuki was born in 1972 in Tosu, Saga. She has two younger brothers. One is , who is also an actor, and the other is Yo Matsuyuki who is a rock singer. In 1989, ...

as Miki Mitsui

References

External links

* 2009 films 2000s Japanese-language films Films directed by Setsurō Wakamatsu Japanese aviation films Picture of the Year Japan Academy Prize winners Japanese films based on actual events Toho films 2000s Japanese films Films set in 1985 {{2000s-Japan-film-stub