Lucky Dragon No. 5 (1959): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1959, Lucky Dragon No. 5 is a drama film directed by Kaneto Shindō, running about 115 minutes.

What it’s about. An ageing fishing boat, Dai-go Fukuryu Maru ("Lucky Dragon No. 5") sets out from the port of Yaizu in Shizuoka Prefecture. It travels around the Pacific line fishing. While the ship is near Bikini Atoll, the ship's navigator sees a flash. All the crew come up to watch. They realize it is an atomic explosion, but take time to clear their fishing gear. A short time later, grey ash starts to fall on the ship. When the ship returns to port the sailors have been burned brown. They unload the fish, which are then transported away. They visit the local doctor and then go to Tokyo for an examination. It turns out they are all highly radioactive. Their symptoms become worse, and the contaminated fish causes a panic.

Who’s in it. Lucky Dragon No. 5 stars Jūkichi Uno as Manakichi Kuboyama, Nobuko Otowa as Shizu Kuboyama, Eitarō Ozawa as Governor and Koreya Senda as Dr. Kinoshita, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 8.0/10, Lucky Dragon No. 5 sits among the best-reviewed titles in the catalogue.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Lucky Dragon No. 5 page.

If you liked it. Fans of Lucky Dragon No. 5 tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.