In the 1980s, Japan became affluent enough for ordinary people to travel overseas. At the time, apart from foreign airlines, only Japan Airlines (JAL) covered international routes. I suppose that many people, especially those who went abroad for the first time, somehow felt relieved when seeing JAL’s “red crane" logo at the airport in other countries. Many Japanese believed that JAL was the most reliable and safest. Until about 15years ago, many educated women aspired to work for JAL as flight attendants. Partly because of this fierce competition, JAL’s flight attendants were beautiful.
In the evening in August 1985, JAL betrayed the public’s trust. A JAL’s airplane crashed into Osutaka Mountain on the way from Tokyo to Osaka. This evening flight between major two cities was very popular for businessmen/women. A president and board members of major companies died. 坂本九/Kyu Sakamoto, who was well known for the singer of Sukiyaki songs in Western countries, lost his life. Additionally, it was during summer school holidays. The flight was full and many children were on board. Although only four people miraculously survived, the death toll rose to over 500. Some passengers wrote letters to their families on the plane snaking between mountains when realizing that they were going to die.These remains moved people to tears.Both JAL and the government announced the findings of their investigations on the crash, but there were so many inconsistencies in their reports. Their explanations never satisfied people, especially the families of the victims. About ten years after the crash occurred, the novel” 沈まぬ太陽/shizumanu-taiyou” written by a famous author 山崎豊子/Toyoko Yamasaki was published. This novel drew public attention back to the crash. Right after its publication, the novel became controversial. JAL insisted that the novel would lead to misunderstandings. Although some TV and film companies announced that they would attempt to adapt the novel for the screen, they weren’t able to make it happen. It's been said that they were forced to give up producing it because of great pressure and harassment by JAL and the big names involved.
With the times changing, today, the movie “沈まぬ太陽/shizumanu-taiyou” was finally released. It’s been about ten years since the novel was published. In my opinion, if JAL had seriously examined their problems at that time, it wouldn't be standing on the edge of precipice now.
