A-bomb saga 'Oppenheimer' finally opens in Japan

TOKYO - Oscars best picture winner "Oppenheimer" was finally released on Friday in Japan, where its subject -- the man who masterminded the creation of the atomic bomb -- is a highly sensitive and emotional topic.

The US blockbuster hit screens in the United States and many other countries in July at the same time as "Barbie", inspiring a viral phenomenon dubbed "Barbenheimer" by moviegoers.

But while "Barbie" was released in Japan in August, "Oppenheimer" was conspicuously absent from cinemas for months.

No official explanation was offered at the time, fuelling speculation the film was too controversial to be shown in Japan -- the only country to have ever suffered a wartime nuclear attack.

Around 140,000 people died in Hiroshima and 74,000 in Nagasaki when the United States dropped atomic bombs on the cities in 1945, days before the end of World War II.

At a large cinema in central Tokyo where "Oppenheimer" was showing on Friday, there was none of the prominent promotional material that might be expected for a global megahit.

Instead, only one small poster advertised the film, which was shot on a $100-million budget and collected nearly $1-billion at box offices worldwide.