Classic Japanese Cinema Discussion Thread

The Daigo Fukuryū Maru incident was one of the inspirations for the producers and writers developing the famous science fiction classic, Gojira, Godzilla (1954).
An excellent, insightful film taking us onboard the fishing vessel was made in 1959.

Daigo Fukuryū Maru , Lucky Dragon No. 5 (1959) Directed and written by Kaneto Shindo  
A devastating environmental tale from the director which he based on a real life incident, highlighting the fact that, between 1946 and 1958, 23 American nuclear devices were detonated at Bikini Atoll at seven test sites located on the reef, inside the atoll, in the air, and underwater.
Shindo's compelling film tells the story of radioactive exposure and the subsequent sickness encountered by a Japanese fishing crew of 23 men aboard their tuna boat the Daigo Fukuryū Maru .
The crew were contaminated, irradiated by nuclear fallout from the United States Castle Bravo thermonuclear weapon test at Bikini Atoll on March 1, 1954.

When the navigator and crew spot a flash they all come up on deck to watch. They soon realize and are now obviously spooked, having witnessed a nearby atomic explosion. The men begin to wind up their fishing gear, shortly grey ash starts to fall, blanketing them and their boat. By the time the vessel returns to port, the Daigo Fukuryū Maru crew have been burned brown. The film follows the crews plight and explores the fallout back on dry land. The highly radioactive men are separated from families and eventually hospitalized whilst their catch and vessel causes much panic...  


The Daigo Fukuryū Maru had been catching fish outside the US Government declared danger zone.
However, this powerful test was more than twice the strength predicted , weather patterns that day blew nuclear fallout, in the form of a fine ash, well outside the "declared danger zone" !...