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 Mainichi from 1973 to 1978.
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.
Contents
Synopsis
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
Fumō Chitai (不毛地帯) is a 1976 Japanese film directed by Satsuo Yamamoto.
Cast
Tatsuya Nakadai - Tadashi Iki
Tetsurō Tamba - Isao Kawamata
Isao Yamagata - Ichizo Daimon
Jūkei Fujioka - Army Chief General of Kwantung Army
Kin'ya Kitaōji
Takashi Yamaguchi
Kaoru Yachigusa
Shiho Fujimura
Ichirō Nakatani
Hisashi Igawa
Eitaro Ozawa
Etsushi Takahashi - Detective
Jirō Tamiya - Tatsuzo Samejima
Hideji Ōtaki - Seizo Hisamatsu
Noboru Nakaya
Awards
1st Hochi Film Award
Won: Best Supporting Actor - Hideji Ōtaki
31st Mainichi Film Award
Won: Best Film
Won: Best Screenplay: Noboru Yamada
1979 TV series
Cast
Mikijirō Hira - Tadashi Iki
Tomisaburo Wakayama - Ichizo Daimon
Atsuo Nakamura - Tatsuzo Samejima
Hideo Takamatsu - Tatsuya Satoi
Kimiko Ikegami - Naoko Iki
Takashi Shimura - Masaharu Tanigawa
Kō Nishimura - Seizo Hisamatsu
Tamao Nakamura
Ayumi Ishida
Ichirō Murakoshi - Narrator
2009 TV series
Cast
Toshiaki Karasawa - Tadashi Iki
Yoshio Harada - Ichizo Daimon
Kenichi Endō - Tatsuzo Samejima
Ittoku Kishibe - Tatsuya Satoi
Toshirō Yanagiba - Isao Kawamata
Emi Wakui - Yoshiko Iki
Koyuki - Chisato Akitsu
Nicholas Pettas - Pratt
Mikako Tabe - Naoko Iki
Sheryar Khan - Oil Company Manager
Yasunori Danta as Michio Kaizuka
Issei Futamata - Narrator