How is the Movie “Oppenheimer” Being Received in Japan?

State of the World from NPR

How is the Movie “Oppenheimer” Being Received in Japan?

How is the Movie “Oppenheimer” Being Received in Japan?

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People walk by a poster to promote the movie “Oppenheimer” Friday, March 29, 2024, in Tokyo. “Oppenheimer” finally premiered in the nation where two cities were obliterated 79 years ago by the nuclear weapons invented by the American scientist who was the subject of the Oscar-winning film. Japanese filmgoers’ reactions understandably were mixed and highly emotional.

Eugene Hoshiko/AP


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Eugene Hoshiko/AP

People walk by a poster to promote the movie “Oppenheimer” Friday, March 29, 2024, in Tokyo. “Oppenheimer” finally premiered in the nation where two cities were obliterated 79 years ago by the nuclear weapons invented by the American scientist who was the subject of the Oscar-winning film. Japanese filmgoers’ reactions understandably were mixed and highly emotional.

Eugene Hoshiko/AP

Understandably, a movie about the man who steered the development of atomic bombs is seen differently in a country where some 200,000 people were killed by those bombs. “Oppenheimer” opened in Japan 8 months after premiering in the U.S. Our reporter talks to movie goers in Nagasaki, Japan.