The Barren Zone (Japanese: 不毛地帯, Hepburn: Fumō chitai) is a novel by Toyoko Yamasaki. It was serialized in the weekly magazine Sunday Manichi from 1973 to 1978.

The Barren Zone
First tankōbon volume cover
AuthorToyoko Yamasaki
Original title不毛地帯
TranslatorJames T. Araki
LanguageJapanese
Publication date
1973–78
Publication placeJapan
Published in English
1985

The novel was partially adapted into a film starring Tatsuya Nakadai and directed by Satsuo Yamamoto in 1976. It was later adapted into two television miniseries in 1979 and 2009.

Synopsis

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Tadashi Iki is captured during the invasion of Manchuria and returns to Japan after being interned for over a decade in Soviet labor camps. Owing to his former position in the Imperial General Staff, he is offered a position at the expansive Kinki Corporation.

1976 film

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Fumō Chitai
Directed bySatsuo Yamamoto
Screenplay byNobuo Yamada
StarringTatsuya Nakadai
Isao Yamagata
Kin'ya Kitaōji
Tetsurō Tamba
Music bySato Masaru
Production
company
Geiensha
Distributed byToho
Release date
  • August 28, 1976 (1976-08-28)
Running time
181 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Fumō Chitai (不毛地帯) is a 1976 Japanese film directed by Satsuo Yamamoto.[1]

Cast

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Awards

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1st Hochi Film Award[2]

31st Mainichi Film Award[3]

1979 TV series

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The Barren Zone
StarringMikijirō Hira
Country of originJapan
Original languageJapanese
No. of episodes31
Original release
NetworkTBS
ReleaseApril 4 (1979-04-04) –
October 31, 1979 (1979-10-31)

Cast

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2009 TV series

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The Barren Zone
StarringToshiaki Karasawa
Koyuki
Kenichi Endō
Yutaka Takenouchi
Yūki Amami
Sadao Abe
Kuranosuke Sasaki
Toshirō Yanagiba
Emi Wakui
Isao Hashizume
Ittoku Kishibe
Yoshio Harada
Narrated byIssei Futamata
ComposerYugo Kanno
Country of originJapan
Original languageJapanese
No. of episodes19
Original release
NetworkFuji Television
ReleaseMarch 11 (2009-03-11) –
October 15, 2009 (2009-10-15)

Cast

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References

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  1. ^ a b "デジタル大辞泉プラス「不毛地帯」の解説". kotobank. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  2. ^ 報知映画賞ヒストリー (in Japanese). Cinema Hochi. Archived from the original on 2009-11-24. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
  3. ^ "Japan-movie" 31 1976年 (in Japanese). japan-movie.net. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
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