Review | Netflix drama review: The Days – Japanese series on Fukushima nuclear disaster is an enthralling account of the 2011 event, with strong hints of HBO’s Chernobyl
- Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster, caused by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, is the focus of this series produced by Warner Bros Japan
- Koji Yakusho stars as Yoshida, who leads the response efforts on the ground, while Fumiyo Kohinata plays the Japanese prime minister
4/5 stars
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster of 2011 is the subject of The Days, an enthralling new drama series starring Koji Yakusho, Fumiyo Kohinata and Yutaka Takenouchi.
The eight-episode series, produced by Warner Bros Japan, re-enacts the catastrophic impact of the Tohoku earthquake, the largest such event recorded in Japan’s history, which caused a giant tsunami to hit the country’s eastern seaboard on the afternoon of March 11, 2011.
The combination of these events, which struck the power plant with great force and in quick succession, triggered the most serious nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster of 1986.
Creator Jun Masumoto cites three specific publications as primary sources: The Yoshida Testimony, station manager Masao Yoshida’s first-hand account of events; the official Fukushima Nuclear Accident Analysis Report; and journalist Ryusho Kadota’s bestselling book On the Brink: The Inside Story of Fukushima Daiichi, for which he interviewed more than 90 people who responded to the accident.