Hayabusa: The Long Voyage Home (はやぶさ 遥かなる帰還) 12 years old
In May 2003, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (or JAXA) launched an unmanned spacecraft of their own development to retrieve samples from an asteroid. Seven long years later, Hayabusa achieved its goal and was the first of any kind of craft launched from Earth to safely return samples of this kind to home base. The story was one of such great national pride for Japan, and in the wake of the tsunami and resulting tragedies in Japan it’s strong nationalistic message became the subject of no less than three rival films. Yukihiko Tsutsumi’s high-profile effort, simply titled Hayabusa (2011) starred the incomparable Toshiyuki Nishida. Most recently, Welcome Home, Hayabusa (2012) was released to Japanese audiences. Slipping in between those two was Hayabusa: The Long Voyage Home, concentrating on the people on the ground who helped return the probe safely.
Credits
Hayabusa: The Long Voyage Home Cast
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| Ken Watanabe He was 52, now 65 years old | as Junichiro Kawaguchi |
| Tatsuya Fuji He was 70, now 83 years old | as Yasunobu Marukawa |
| Tsutomu Yamazaki He was 75, now 88 years old | as Hiroshi Higashide |
| Renji Ishibashi He was 70, now 83 years old | as Haruo Kinoshita |
| Yōsuke Eguchi He was 44, now 56 years old | as Hitoshi Fujinaka |
| Hidetaka Yoshioka He was 41, now 54 years old | as Yasuo Moriuchi |
| Yuri Nakamura She was 34, now 47 years old | as Natsuko Matsumoto |
| Yui Natsukawa She was 43, now 56 years old | as Mari Inoue |
| Yukiyoshi Ozawa He was 37, now 50 years old | as Etsuya Kamata |
Hayabusa: The Long Voyage Home Crew
| Name | Department |
|---|---|
| Takuya Nishioka as Writer. He was 55 (now 68) years old | Writing |
| Tomoyuki Takimoto as Director. He was 45 (now 58) years old | Directing |
| Kazuma Yamane as Book. He was 64 (now 77) years old | Writing |
Hayabusa: The Long Voyage Home (12 years)
- Release day: Saturday, February 11, 2012
- Runtime: 136 minutes