The film begins with a narration over shots of a modern-day
Tokyo, noting that 16 years have passed since the end of
World War II, and Japan has
achieved rapid recovery. Mokichi Tamura works as a driver for a press center, hoping for happiness for his family. His daughter, Saeko, is in love with a merchant, Takano, who has been at sea for a long time. When he returns, the young couple agrees to get married with the consent of Saeko's father. Meanwhile, tensions between the Federation and the Alliance (fictional stand-ins for the
United States/
NATO and the
USSR/
Warsaw Pact, respectively) build, especially after an
intelligence-gathering vessel is captured. A new
Korean War breaks out across the
38th parallel, with the Federation and Alliance drawn into the war. Tensions reach a critical level; dogfights between Federation and Alliance fighters over the Arctic Ocean (with both sides using
nuclear-tipped air-to-air missiles) are just the beginning of a renewed conflict. Two Federation and Alliance
ICBMs are nearly launched, though both are halted. Although Japan calls on both sides to seek peace, government officials think that the country could be ripe for Alliance retaliation in light of its open support for the Federation. Soon after an armistice agreement is concluded between North Korea and South Korea, tensions erupt again because of the fighting between the two nations. The efforts of the military to overcome the new war are fruitless. Five ICBMs are eventually launched from both sides, with targets being major cities around the world;
Tokyo,
London,
Paris,
New York and
Moscow. The Tamura family stays behind amid the city's panic and holds a final dinner, where an anguished Tamura sobs that he will never see Sakeo marry Takano, or his younger children grow to adulthood. That night, Tokyo is struck by the first of the five ICBMs, which detonates miles above the
National Diet Building. Due to the force of the detonation, the city is blown to pieces, producing a
mushroom cloud visible from as far away as
Mount Fuji. The ground itself is torn open by the blast and magma erupts out of the resultant fissure, incinerating much of what little wreckage is left. Tamura and his family are killed by the detonation over Tokyo as their house is blown away by the detonation's fireball and
shockwave. Shortly after Tokyo is destroyed, the remaining four missiles impact
Moscow,
New York,
London and
Paris in turn, obliterating each of them. Additional launches (from submarines at sea and/or under the Arctic) are shown, suggesting that either that the destruction of the five cities escalated into a global nuclear war. The following morning, Takano and his crew change the course of their ship to travel towards Tokyo's ruins, prepared to die en route from their own exposure to the intense radioactive fallout. The vessel's maitre de wonders whether they are the only survivors of humanity. The maitre de and Takano break down as Takano realises that Sakeo is dead and that there is no hope of their own survival. The last shot shows Tokyo, now an immense crater, with the remains of the
Diet Building situated near the centre, surrounded by cooled
lava flows. Just before the credits, a warning is overlaid on-screen, asking that the events shown never occur in reality. == Cast ==