While Oppenheimer has been a hit everywhere it has released in the world, the film had been noticeably absent from theaters in Japan. It has taken eight months, but Oppenheimer has hit theaters in Japan and is proving to be a hit there, as well, but not without mixed feelings from audiences.
The film released in Japan on Friday, March 29, in the wake of its success at the Academy Awards to audiences that came out of Oppenheimer with conflicting feelings, according to Reuters. Many of the viewers came out praising the filmmaking and understanding why it won Best Picture and Best Director at the Oscars, but some admitted that the film was hard to watch at times given its focus on the atom bomb's development and Japan being the victim of said bombs.
Screenings of the film were also preceded by trigger warnings about how the film's imagery could evoke feelings about the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
“Of course this is an amazing film which deserves to win the Academy Awards,” Hiroshima resident identified as Kawai told Reuters. “But the film also depicts the atomic bomb in a way that seems to praise it, and, as a person with roots in Hiroshima, I found it difficult to watch.”
Some were sympathetic to Oppenheimer, though, and saw that despite being one of the “perpetrators” behind the atom bomb's development and use, he was also a “victim caught up in the war.”
“The film was very worth watching,” Hiroshima resident Agemi Kanegae said. “But I felt very uncomfortable with a few scenes, such as the trial of Oppenheimer in the United States at the end.”
Despite these conflicting feelings, the film is proving to be a financial hit in Japan as it reportedly grossed $800,000 on its opening day, roughly twice as much as Dune Part 2 made in Japan on its opening day two weeks prior.
A country scarred by war
At the time of its original July 2023 release, Japan had been left off by Universal Pictures despite it being a major market for Hollywood to release most of its annual tentpole and blockbuster films. No reason for the omission was given at the time, but the belief on social media was the studio's concerns over how the film would be received by Japanese audiences.
It is an understandable stance to take, though, as Japan is the only country in the world to have atomic weapons used on it by an opposing nation.
The first bomb was dropped by an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, and detonated over Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The second bomb was dropped by the B-29 bomber Bockscar and detonated over the city of Nagasaki days later on August 9.
While a full death count has never been confirmed, it is believed that roughly 226,000 people were killed in the bombings, most of whom were civilians.
Oppenheimer is available to stream on Peacock.
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