Japan Sinks 2020’s Nationalist Themes - A Squeaky Clean Love Letter to the Land of the Rising Sun

Director Masaaki Yuasa is well known for his offbeat and heavily character-driven anime such as Tatami Galaxy, Ping Pong the Animation, and Devilman Crybaby. His most recent work, Japan Sinks 2020, is a bold reimagining of a classic 1973 novel about a series of earthquakes that causes the entirety of Japan to sink into the ocean. Yuasa’s version follows a biracial family as they try to escape the country, meeting strange new companions along the way and working together to keep each other alive. It’s gained notoriety online for its heavy themes of nationalism, so let’s take a closer look to see what exactly it’s trying to say about the land of the rising sun.

This article was written for Honey’s Anime, so please read it on their site.