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Makoto Shinkai’sSuzumewas released in November 2022 and immediately became the fourth-highest-grossing anime film of all time, earning around $318 million worldwide. Its theme was inspired by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, which claimed thousands of lives.
Due to being inspired by such a tragedy,Suzumewas an extremely controversial release in Japan. But it was Makoto Shinkai’s way of making amends with what had happened.
Makoto Shinkai Recounts His Experience of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami
The 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, also known as the Great East Japan Earthquake, occurred on August 12, 2025, and was the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan. It triggered 40ft tsunami waves, which traveled at 700kmph speed, along with snowfall and freezing temperatures. The outcome was terrible as it claimed the lives of almost 20,000 people, with thousands of others injured or missing.
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When the disaster struck,Makoto Shinkaiwas hundreds of miles away in Tokyo, creating movies. The directoropened up in an interviewthat the nature of his work and inability to help plagued the director for years.
I felt bad that I couldn’t do anything for the people in the affected region in the northeast, and I’ve had that feeling for 12 years.
It was this feeling of guilt thatled Makoto Shinkai to createSuzume.Just like the titular protagonist, uncountable people lost their homes and loved ones to the earthquake and tsunami. Shinkai further explained that the movie is extremely controversial in Japan. Several people have told the director that he should have never createdSuzume, while others have thanked him for making it.
Makoto Shinkai Felt Ashamed About One Aspect After CreatingSuzume
Suzume follows a 17-year old highschooler whose mother was killed in the Great East Japan Earthquake. She was raised by her aunt, who sacrificed her youth to take care of the orphaned girl. Later, Suzume goes on a mission to preventa similar disaster from striking Japan again.In her journey, she comes to terms with her grief and finds her purpose in the larger event of things.
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According to Shinkai, he madeSuzumein the hopes that perhaps he could experience the things that the protagonist and other teenagers of her age went through at the time. In one of the scenes, Suzume claimed that she was not afraid of death, because survival is about luck.
I think many people in Japan think like that and can relate to it because they experienced the same thing. As I was not directly affected by it, I feel a little ashamed. I can’t completely understand her. I was not in that position.
Thus, Shinkai hopes thatSuzumeenables a larger portion of Japanese society to take a step forward to help the victims of the 2011 tragedy. This might result in a little more empathy towards those who were directly or indirectly affected by the earthquake and tsunami.
Suzumeis currently available to stream on Crunchyroll.
Aaheli Pradhan
Anime Content Writer
Articles Published :1558
Aaheli is an Anime Content Writer at FandomWire with 1300+ published articles. With five years of experience under her belt, she is a living, breathing encyclopedia for anime and manga. From Shonen and Shojo to the most niche anime, nothing escapes her radar. Her poisons of choice are Assassination Classroom, Gintama, Ouran High School Host Club and every Ghibli movie ever. She believes in living a slow life, surrounded by incomplete art projects and her beloved cats.
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