“Kurobe no Taiyo” returns from forced obscurity for TV and stage adaptations

by Chris MaGee

This is why I love writing this blog, while you learn about Japanese cinema and history so do I and this story is a great example. Tokyograph has run the story about an upcoming Fuji TV series based on the 1968 film “Kurobe no Taiyou” directed by Kei Kumai and starring Toshiro Mifune and Yujiro Ishihara. Now, do I hear you saying, “Kurobe no Taiyou? I’ve never heard of that one.” Well there would be a good reason for that.

The film which chronicled the seven deadly years it took to build the Kurobe Dam in Toyama Prefecture (nearly 200 people lost their lives during its construction) was a huge box office hit in Japan, but after its initial theatrical run it was never rereleased, broadcast on television or had a run on video or DVD due to prohibitions by Yujiro Ishihara who co-produced the film with Mifune.

Regardless of this forced obscurity the story of two men dedicated to the one of the most ambitious projects of the post-war reconstruction of Japan has stayed with the general public. In a report published in February on Tokyograph it was announced that a stage play of “Kurobe no Taiyou” would be mounted at the Umeda Arts Theatre in Osaka this October. Shido Nakamura (Neighbor No. 13, Letters from Iwo Jima) will star in the elaborate production that will include a tank onstage that holds 20,000 litres of water for the climactic flood scene that ended the original film.

There hasn’t been word yet on who will star or direct the TV adaptation of the film, but it is expected to air sometime next year.