
Sumptuous filming of the journey of a shipwrecked Japanese expedition from the Pacific Ocean across Siberia to the court of Catherine the Great of Russia. A Russo-Japanese co-production of a unique event in history which was the hit of Cannes and other film festivals but did not receive wide distribution despite its huge scope, high production values, and very human story of culture clash.

as Koudayu Daikokuya - captain

as Atsuzou - navigator

as Koichi

as Kudzaemon

as Shinzou

as Isokichi

as Sadanobu Matsudaira

as Yekaterina II - empress

as Kirill Gustavovich Laksman - academician

as Bush - gardener

as Sofya Ivanovna Bush

as Bezborodko - count

as Shelekhov - Irkutsk nobleman

as Yakov Nevidimov

as Tatyana



as Vorontsov - count

as Boris - Nevidimov's servant

as Iosif


as Russian naval officer

as Russian naval officer


as city dweller




as seafarer

as reads voiceover (voice)

as reads voiceover (voice)