History Literature / RisingSun

* InterrogationFlashback: The story unfolds via the interrogation of Lieutenant Smith (Web in the film), concerning his handling of the murder at the Nakamoto Corporation and his involvement with Connor. It is shown through a series of flashbacks from Web's POV.

* InterrogationFlashback: The story unfolds via the interrogation of detective Web, concerning his handling of the murder at the Nakamoto Corporation and his involvement with Connor. It is shown through a series of flashbacks from Web's POV.

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: The major theme of the story is how the unscrupulous Japanese are buying out America and dominating the world economy. But both the book and the movie became immediately dated after the Japanese economy entered a serious decline in the early '90s and entered the "Lost Decade," from which Japan had only just started to rebound from in 2015. Crichton's stern warnings about [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld Japan taking over the world]] now seem moot, if not downright alarmist.

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: The major theme of the story is how the unscrupulous Japanese are buying out America and dominating the world economy. But both the book and the movie became immediately dated after the Japanese economy entered a serious decline in the early '90s and entered the "Lost Decade," from which Japan has only just started to rebound from in 2015. Crichton's stern warnings about [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld Japan taking over the world]] now seem moot, if not downright alarmist.

* FullFrontalAssault: Not played for laughs. When Connery and Snipes rush in to arrest Eddie, one of his two completely nude molls leaps on Snipes punching and kicking him; not very effectively, but Eddie escapes because of it.

* TwoferTokenMinority: Theresa is not only half-black and half-Japanese, but she's also of Burakumin [[note]]a caste of Japanese considered sinful and impure due to their work dealing with death and going against Buddhist/Shinto purity, similar to Dalits in Hindu society[[/note]] descent ''and'' is physically crippled, missing a hand from a birth defect - both of which are ''very'' impure by Japanese standards.
* YellowPeril: A more modern example. The story treats the idea that as scary, portraying Japanese culture as more practical, effective, and elegant than American culture as well as very bigoted and ruthless. The story argues that we should be afraid of Japan taking over, so we should learn from them.

* TourGuideDetective: The murder investigation of the story was used to examine Japanese-US relations in the late 80s, and provide an opportunity for several AuthorTracts about JapanTakesOverTheWorld throughout the story.

* TokenMinority[=/=]TwoferTokenMinority: Theresa is not only half-black and half-Japanese, but she's also of Burakumin [[note]]a caste of Japanese considered sinful and impure due to their work dealing with death and going against Buddhist/Shinto purity, similar to Dalits in Hindu society[[/note]] descent ''and'' is physically crippled, missing a hand from a birth defect - both of which are ''very'' impure by Japanese standards.

NeedsWikiMagicLove.

* AThreesomeIsHot: Blatantly done for {{Fanservice}}, Graham and Web rush in to arrest Eddie while he's with two women.

* AbandonTheDisabled: Teresa Asakuma was born with a deformed hand, and was shunned by her neighbors and relatives in Japan; she came to America to escape this discrimination.
* AuthorFilibuster: A staple Crichton trope. In this case, Captain John Connor is more than happy to educate Lieutenant Peter J. Smith on the vast cultural differences between Japan and America, as well as the various underhanded business tactics Japan uses to maintain their technological edge over America. This takes up a portion of the book, because the author is trying to get his stance on Japanese-American relations across.

* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler:At the end of the book, Ishiguro throws himself off a 46th floor balcony after it is exposed that he was the murderer all along.]]
* DirtyCop: [[spoiler:Smith split a bribe with Graham from a rich domestic abuser, justifying it as trying to support his pregnant wife. It bites him in the ass during the story, as it turns out to be the reason the Japanese government offered him the high-paying and prestigious Special Services Liaison status despite not speaking a word of Japanese - it meant that he could be blackmailed into silence in cases such as this. Connor insist that Smith's case is ''not'' unique - that not only does every other [=SSL=] in the [=LAPD=] have similar events in their pasts, but that Japanese corporations make a point of gathering dirt on police officers, justifying it by seeing corrupt individuals as indicative of a corrupt nation.]]

* EnhanceButton: A realistic example. An audio-video wizard is able to expose a doctored video-tape by examining in detail, pointing out the airbrushing and extra shadows. She is unable to magically restore lost information, but she is able to reconstruct the face of a witness who happens to have an un-doctored copy of the tape.

* TheGreatPoliticsMessUp: The major theme of the story is how the unscrupulous Japanese are buying out America and dominating the world economy. But both the book and the movie became immediately dated after the Japanese economy entered serious decline in the early '90s and entered the "Lost Decade," from which Japan has only just started to rebound from in 2015. Crichton's stern warnings about [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld Japan taking over the world]] now seem moot, if not downright alarmist.

* OhCrap: [[spoiler:Once Connor, Smith, and Jingo prove Ishiguro's involvement in the murder in front of the Nakamoto conference room, the Nakamoto executives reflexively back away from Ishiguro and a [[TranquilFury calm]] Yoshida-san.]]

* TokenMinority[=/=]TwoferTokenMinority: Theresa is not only half-black and half-Japanese, she's also of Burakumin [[note]]a caste of Japanese considered sinful and impure due to their work dealing with death and going against Buddhist/Shinto purity, similar to dalits in Hindu society[[/note]] descent ''and'' is physically crippled, missing a hand from a birth defect - both of which are ''very'' impure by Japanese standards.

* YellowPeril: A more modern example. The story treats the idea that as scary, portraying Japanese culture as more practical, effective and elegant than American culture as well as very bigoted and ruthless. The story argues that we should be afraid of Japan taking over, so we should learn from them.

* AdaptationDistillation: [[spoiler:To make the film more politically correct, writer/director Phillip Kaufman made the main villain an American -- Bob Richmond, who was only a minor character in the book. Unlike Ishiguro in the book, he doesn't commit suicide and runs off, only to get drowned in wet concrete by Eddie Sakamura's friends in retaliation.]]
* AdaptationalVillainy: [[spoiler:Bob Richmond, who was just a minor character in the novel, is revealed to be the murderer in this movie.]]

* BigBad: Different than who it was in the book -- [[spoiler:Bob Richmond]].
* BodySushi: One rather blatant {{Fanservice}} scene in the movie has a Eddie doing this to one of two girls in a threesome.

* LesCollaborateurs: The film treats Bob Richmond, the lone white employee of a Japanese company, as a traitor. [[spoiler:He's ultimately revealed to be the killer]].
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: [[spoiler:Richmond gets drowned and buried in wet concrete.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: [[SparedByTheAdaptation Averted]] for [[spoiler:Ishiguro (renamed Ishihara)]] in the film, in which the Nakamoto Corporation demotes him and permanently puts him in a cubicle back in Japan. Connor explains how this is effectively a FateWorseThanDeath for [[spoiler:Ishiguro]]. Played straight for [[spoiler: the company's head of security, who the police mistake for Eddie as he was driving his car during the escape.]]
* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler:In the original novel, Richmond is a minor character who survives the events of the plot. Here, he's changed to be the BigBad and gets [[KarmicDeath karmically]] drowned in wet concrete at the end of the film.]]

* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:After his involvement in the murder is exposed, Ishihara is disgraced and demoted to a lowly desk job back in Japan, which Connor explains amounts to this. In the book, his character just killed himself to avoid this]].

** [[spoiler:Eddie Sakamura had a volatile relationship with Cheryl, but he did not kill her.]]
** [[spoiler:Senator Morton had sex with Cheryl and indulged her erotic asphyxiation, but he did not kill her either.]]
** [[spoiler:Neither did Ishihara, who covered for the real killer to protect the company.]]
* AThreesomeIsHot: Blatantly done for {{Fanservice}}, Connery and Snipes rush in to arrest Eddie while he's with two women.

* TourGuideDetective: The murder investigation of the story was used to explore Japanese-US relations in the late 80s, and provide an opportunity for several AuthorTracts about JapanTakesOverTheWorld throughout the story.

* DirtyCop: [[spoiler:Smith split a bribe with Graham from a rich DomesticAbuser, justifying it as trying to support his pregnant wife. It bites him in the ass during the story, as it turns out to be the reason the Japanese government offered him the high-paying and prestigious Special Services Liaison status despite not speaking a word of Japanese - it meant that he could be blackmailed into silence in cases such as this. Connor insist that Smith's case is ''not'' unique - that not only does every other [=SSL=] in the [=LAPD=] have similar events in their pasts, but that Japanese corporations make a point of gathering dirt on police officers, justifying it by seeing corrupt individuals as indicative of a corrupt nation.]]
* DomesticAbuser: Eddie Sakamura initially comes across as this.

''Rising Sun'' is a 1992 internationally best-selling novel by Creator/MichaelCrichton about a murder in the Los Angeles headquarters of Nakamoto, a fictional Japanese corporation. The book was published by Alfred A. Knopf. It was adapted into a not-so-warmly received film in 1993 which starred Creator/SeanConnery, Creator/WesleySnipes, and Creator/{{Mako}}.

* DrivenToSuicide: [[SparedByTheAdaptation Averted]] for [[spoiler:Ishiguro (renamed Ishihara)]] in the film, in which the Nakamoto Corporation demotes him and permanently puts him in a cubicle back in Japan. Connor explains how this is effectively a FateWorseThanDeath for [[spoiler:Ishiguro]].

* ZigZaggingTrope: A key plot element both the novel and the film is that no-one can seem to decide whether to treat the Japanese positively or not. Crichton gives {{Author Filibuster}} galore about how they have more rational ways of handling problems than Americans - as well as how they are taking over America and turning it into a third-world economic war zone.
** ''Every'' Japanese is all but depicted as a HigherTechSpecies with a more refined culture than boorish Americans... while at the same time being decadent {{Straw Character}}s engaging in [[YellowPeril conspiracy and crime]] who treat Americans as subhuman.
* TakeThatMe: Connor admits he is torn by his experiences; he often looks like the smartest person in the room next to xenophobic cops like Graham, loves Japan and deeply admires its culture, but admits that even his best Japanese friends never really forgive him for ''[[OfThePeople not being Japanese]].''

* LesCollaborateurs: The film treats the lone white employee of a Japanese company as a traitor. [[spoiler:He's ultimately revealed to be the killer]].

** ConspiracyThriller: A new variant - the conspiracy ''technothriller''.

* EnhanceButton: One of the best uses of the trope '''ever.''' Connor brings a security tape to an audio-video wizard(an expatriate Japanese/black woman who immigrated to the US so she would not be ostracized for her mixed race and deformed hand) who systematically proves the tape has been doctored. As she dismantles the image step-by-step, she criticizes the arrogance of the Japanese editors who made the tape; obvious-once-revealed errors such as sloppy airbrushing and extra shadows - "They think we will not be careful. That we will not be ''Japanese''." A brief part where the murderer's face was visible was modified, and that the camera had originally taped someone else committing the crime. Ultimately, she is unable to restore the lost information and identify the killer, but she is able to reconstruct the face of a witness who happens to have an un-doctored copy of the tape.
* GoingNative: Connor ended up doing this after spending time in Japan, which helps him and Smith navigate the murder investigation. As did Theresa (Jingo in the film), who was tormented by children in the small, conservative town she grew up in and has nothing but contempt for the Japanese.
* [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp The Great Economics Mess Up]]: The major theme of the story is how the unscrupulous Japanese are buying out America and dominating the world economy. But both the book and the movie became immediately dated after the Japanese economy entered serious decline in the early '90s and entered the "Lost Decade," from which Japan has only just started to rebound from in 2015. Crichton's stern warnings about [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld Japan taking over the world]] now seem moot, if not downright alarmist.

* JapanTakesOverTheWorld: Discussed. [[AuthorFilibuster At length]].

* MightyWhitey: Connor comes off a little bit like a late 20th century manifestation.

** Connor ''[[TakeThatMe himself]]'' admits he is torn by his experiences; he often looks like the smartest person in the room next to xenophobic cops like Graham, loves Japan and deeply admires its culture, but admits that even his best Japanese friends never really forgive him for ''[[OfThePeople not being Japanese]].''

* ButNotTooForeign:
** In the film, Ishihara recounts how the U.S. government blocked the sale of a major corporation to the Japanese out of concern over "foreign ownership," then turned around and sold that same major corporation to the French.

* [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp The Great Economics Mess Up]]: The major theme of the story is how the unscrupulous Japanese are buying out America and dominating the world economy. But both the book and the movie became immediately dated after the Japanese economy entered serious decline in the early 90s and entered the "Lost Decade," from which Japan has yet to fully recover. Crichton's stern warnings about [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld Japan taking over the world]] now seem moot, if not downright alarmist. Although, as of 2015, Japan's economy is starting to rebound, but not like the Tiger Economy they had when this book was written. Yet.

* TranslationCorrection: The Japanese dub changes the name of Jingo Asakuma to the more correct ''Junko Asakuma''.

* [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp The Great Economics Mess Up]]: The major theme of the story is how the unscrupulous Japanese are buying out America and dominating the world economy. But both the book and the movie became immediately dated after the Japanese economy entered serious decline in the early 90's and entered the "Lost Decade," from which Japan has yet to fully recover. Crichton's stern warnings about [[JapanTakesOverTheWorld Japan taking over the world]] now seem moot, if not downright alarmist. Although, as of 2015, Japan's economy is starting to rebound, but not like the Tiger Economy they had when this book was written. Yet.

* ZigZaggingTrope: A key plot element both the novel and the film is that no-one can seem to decide whether to treat the Japanese positively or not. Crichton gives {{Author Filibuster}} galore about how they have more rational ways of handling problems than Americans - as well as how they are taking over America and turning it into a third-world economic war zone.
** ''Every'' Japanese is all but depicted as a HigherTechSpecies with a more refined culture than boorish Americans... while at the same time being decadent {{Straw Character}}s engaging in [[YellowPeril conspiracy and crime]] who treat Americans as subhuman.
** Connor ''[[TakeThatMe himself]]'' admits he is torn by his experiences; he often looks like the smartest person in the room next to xenophobic cops like Graham, loves Japan and deeply admires its culture, but admits that even his best Japanese friends never really forgive him for ''[[OfThePeople not being Japanese]].''