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OUR NATION'S MILITARY HAS ALWAYS SERVED ATTHE DISCRETION OF THE EMPEROR
- IMPERIAL EDICTTO OURSOLDIERS
UNDERTHE FLAG OF THE RISING SUN
Produced by SEISHI MATSUMARU and SHOHEl TOKIZANE
Based on the book by SHOJI YUKI
Screenplay by KANETO SHINDO, NORIO OSADA and KINJI FUKASAKU
Cinematography by HIROSHI SEGAWA
Production design by TATSUYA IRINO
Music by HIKARU HAYASHI
CAST
TETSURO TAMBA
SACHIKO HIDARI
SHINJIRO EBARA ISAO NATSUYAGI
SANAE NAKAHARA, YUMIKO FUJITA NOBORU MITANI, TAKETOSHI NAITO
KANEMON NAKAMURA
Directed by KINJI FUKASAKU
NATIONAL MONUMENTTO FALLEN SOLDIERS Twenty-six years after the war,
it still pains our hearts
to recall the many who fell in battle, those who lost their lives
to the ravages of war,
and the families they left behind
EMPERORAND CONSORT
I stand here before the citizens of our nation,
praying for world peace and our national progress,
in solemn tribute to those who perished
AND YET, AMONG THE THREE MILLION JAPANESE MILITARYCASUALTIES
SOME ARE DENIED A PLACE AMONG OUR HONORED HEROES
SERGEANT KATSUO TOGASHI JAPANESE ARMY
DESERTED IN THE FACE OF THE ENEMY IN AUGUST, 1945, ON NEWGUINEA
EXECUTED
1971
MINISTRYOF WELFARE
REJECTED CLAIM OF SAKIE TOGASHI
RESEARCH SECTION CHIEF
I've kept you waiting
You've been filing claims since 1952,
when the Survivor Benefits law first passed
I was transferred here in April, so your case is new to me
You file your claims on the anniversary of defeat
That's right
Is there a reason?
It's unclear exactly when my husband died
So I chose August 15th for the anniversary of his death
Please look at this
DEATH NOTIFICATION NEXT OF KIN: SAKIE TOGASHI
DATE OF, AUGUST
DIED IN COMBAT (TEXT REVISED) DECEASED
Honey, there's another new Section Chief
How many times do I have to tell this same story over and over again?
How can I forget the moment
when I first got that notice...
1946
Didn't my husband die in combat?
Well, it's just
Why was it changed from "died in combat" to plain "deceased"?
Well, for instance, if he died of illness
If he'd been ill, they'd write something like "Combat-related"
Besides, this notice isn't dated
I won't accept this crazy postcard
The truth is
Togashi san was executed
Executed?
We'd only been married for6 months
TEMPORARY DRAFT NOTICE
1942
Don't you worry
I'll be fine
Look after yourself
Here I'm leaving you to fend for yourself when you're pregnant
Honey
I wept in the toilet
I couldn't bear to let you see me cry
Five months later, Tomoko was born
Did you ever get the picture I sent?
WAR ENDS
AUGUST 15, 1945
Finally, the war had ended
and I was sure you'd come home...
I couldn't even die,
because of Tomoko
Why's she working her ass off like that?
She has to wear herself out to get any sleep
A widow with youthful passion
APRIL, 1952
MILITARY FAMILY SURVIVOR BENEFITS LAW ENACTED
My husband died in the war, too
How come I don't deserve what the others get?
Well, that's because in your case,
Togashi san died following a court-martial
And just who saw my husband's court-martial?
Nobody saw it, but the government, the Welfare Ministry, sent a notice
Please don't say that
Please let me see the Village Chief! Please!
Thank you
And your family now?
My daughter has married
- And grandchildren? - Yes
That must be a comfort
Until my husband can rest in peace, I'll have no comfort
I can understand your feelings
However, under current law,
survivors of court-martialed soldiers receive no benefits at all
And your particular case falls into that category
I don't come back year after year because I want military benefits
I'm here because I want to know the truth - was he really executed for desertion?
That's why I come
But it's all here in the military records Of war casualties You saw it
But I hear that the military patched Together those records of the dead
in the confusion, right after the war
I've heard they're unreliable
Who says so?
The captain said so in the letter he wrote me
Oh, this man I've received a petition from him, too
This petition is based on pure speculation
Also, according to the colonel,
there's no record of the court-martial's verdict
See?
Apparently, all classified documents were burned at the end of the war
If that's true, there's no proof that he was sentenced to death
Which is why we have to trust this military record of casualties
Unless you've got some other persuasive evidence
That's exactly right
I really understand how you feel, but until you prove your husband's innocence,
I'm in no place to overturn my predecessor's decision
As I left the house this morning,
this is what my daughter said
Mom, why don't you give it a rest?
They'll never listen to you anyway
Besides, do you know what people say?
She's got some nerve begging for her husband's pension
In the old days,
the whole village would have shunned a deserter's family forever
But this is what I said to her
"You can't stop other people from talking"
It's not like it's anything new
Back when my daughter married
Watch your step
Don't go peeping at those newlyweds
If it's too much for you, come to me
I'll be happy to give you some advice!
They may just have been joking,
but it hit me hard
People congratulated me over my son-in-law,
but it all only made me realize how horribly I miss him
My love
My love!
I'll never give up
Because if I give up, my husband will never rest in peace
It's been 26 years since he died
All the other survivors,
attend the War Memorial Service with the Emperor
and offer chrysanthemums
Why is it only my husband,
without a shred of evidence
I, too
would like to join the Emperor
and offer a chrysanthemum for my husband
I was remiss
The truth is,
we also take this matter very seriously
and sent inquiries to everyone from your husband's unit
But unfortunately, we haven't received any meaningful responses
However, there are 4 men here, who never answered our inquiries
I'm sure each has his own reasons,
but if you contact them directly, as his widow,
perhaps they'd be willing to share new information with you
Why don't you try to meet them?
TSUGUO TERAJIMA FORMER PRIVATE FIRST CLASS, ARMY
Excuse me
I never got any letter from the Ministry of Welfare
What are those bureaucrats thinking when they say that?
If I had gotten anything, I would've written right back
Because I owe my very life to Togashi san
To my husband?
Yes, that's right
What an awful front that was
1943
On New Guinea, then,
the Americans and Australians had begun fighting back
Our unit shipped out from La Paul as reinforcements...
But as we were crossing the Dampier Straits...
DESTROYERS-3 SUNK
TRANSPORT SHIPS-7 SUNK
WEAPONS AND ORDNANCE -2,500 TONS SUNK
PERSONNEL -3,600 DROWNED
Our strategy was impossible from the start
Less than 800 of our men made it ashore
We attempted to locate
the established defensive units
In this situation, we could all depend on Sgt. Togashi
Don't shoot
Don't move
Sgt Togashi!
Our scouts are in danger, rescue them
- No point - What?
Yank's surrounded us, wants to flush us out
- Move now, we're in their hands - How do you know?
Experience
You mean to abandon our troops!
Your carelessness made us easy targets
Listen up!
Our platoon will attack the enemy on their flank, attacking at
The River Styx Stay put or you're dead
Damn you!
Insubordination I'll have you court-martialed
The rest of you, follow me
The plateau ahead is your objective Attack!
There's no winning in dying
Thanks to him, not a single man in our unit died
But it was the beginning of hell on earth...
SEPTEMBER, 1943 USARMY LANDS ON EASTERN LAE
AUSTRALIAN AIR UNITS ATTACKWESTERN LAE
JAPANESE ARMYABANDONS LAE
2,200 DIE OF STARVATION IN MOUNTAINS
OCTOBER, 1943 USARMYATTACKS FINSCHHAFEN
AUSTRALIANS LAND ON CAPE ANT
JANUARY, 1944 USARMY LANDS ON CAPE GUNBI
JAPANESE ARMY RETREATS TO MADANG
3,500 STARVE IN MOUNTAINS
APRIL, 1944-JAPANESE DEFEATED AT HANSA, WEWAK, AITAPE
At that time,
our unit was stranded in the jungle
The minute we walked out of there, the enemy would've picked us off
We were out of ammunition and food,
and a third of our men, suffering from malnutrition or malaria,
could neither move forward nor retreat
Those of us who were sick, whispered among ourselves...
Piss your pants, you've only got 3 days left
Can't speak, it's 2 days
Can't blink means you're dead,
tomorrow
How's it going?
Don't you need to piss?
Up we go, here we go
You OK?
We finally got orders for an offensive
Tonight
Any man who can't walk You understand
Suicide, isn't it?
Yeah, right
Will it be grenades or cyanide?
- Air - Air?
They take an empty syringe
and force air into your heart
Is that how you want to die?
If not, just beat it
I hear there are still Japanese troops 30 kilos west of us
- You'll manage - But
Just listen to me You've got a chance, take it
If you decide you're better off dead, use this
It sure beats an empty syringe
See you
Sergeant
That was the last I ever saw of Sgt Togashi
Which means,
my husband didn't desert, did he?
Right
I'm the one who deserted
Togashi san died nobly in battle
I'm sure with his instincts, he charged the enemy brilliantly
Charge!
Would you mind telling the Ministry of Welfare the story you just told me?
You mean, me?
Yes, I'd be grateful
But
it's not like I saw him die in combat
I doubt they'd take it as proof
But you're a living witness
Nobody's going to accuse you of lying
Please, Terajima san
It's been 10 years
since I moved to this place,
a virtual garbage heap
On the map, it's part of Tokyo,
but I have no citizen's rights Legally, I don't exist
I've never been to town, not once since I came here
I have no need to go
I hate seeing people, talking to them, in the city that's so cleaned up
No, I don't have the confidence
But
But Terajima san, you can't
I would like to help you and repay the debt I owe Togashi san,
but I must ask you to spare me this
I'm sure you'll meet with the other men
But no matter what anyone says, Togashi san died nobly in combat
That's what I believe
TOMOTAKAAKIBA FORMERCORPORAL, ARMY
Wanna fight!
You really shouldn't
Say there
I know how you feel
- Bully - I'm not a bully
I really do know how you feel
But you see, Japan lost the war, 26 years ago
What? What'd you say!
I said, Japan lost, 26 years ago
Lost? You idiot!
When did Japan ever lose a war?
The Sino and Russian wars, Manchurian Incident, all victories
After that, we got creamed
- Creamed? - It's true Ask anyone here
- Did we really lose? - No, we didn't!
Listen to what he says
- What country are you from? - He says we didn't lose
He's just lying, go ask the guy behind him
- Did we really lose? - We sure did
- He must be an enemy man - Are you nuts!
How dare you insult our paying customers!
Then, what have I been doing all this time?
You've been pointing the tip of your rifle,
charging at airplanes on South Pacific Islands
What an idiot
I said, I understand
What's this draft notice, then?
I definitely remember the name, Togashi
Can't place the face
Don't you think you met him?
We were in the same unit, so no doubt I did meet him
Back in those days, everybody looked alike
Skinny necks, bulging eyes,
hollowed out cheeks
Besides,
no one had enough humanity left to recognize anyone's face
But Terajima san told me,
he charged nobly and died in combat
Well, that's fine, then
But he didn't actually see him die
I want to know the truth
Well, he's not going to badmouth his Sergeant
But that doesn't help you much, right?
Does that mean you know the truth?
No, not necessarily
But from what I remember,
back then, nobody was nobly charging anything, even when they wanted to
So there was no offensive, no charging the enemy?
Not even close
We were in no condition
In our unit, there were 12 cannons
worthless, every last one of them,
1 working machine gun out of 48
Only two thirds of us even had standard-issue rifles
The rest had bamboo spears They ordered us to fight with spears
So back then, you did exactly what you do on the stage now
Weapons and ammo weren't the worst,
we didn't even have any chow
They say tea will stave off hunger, but there was no water in the jungle
What a ridiculous war
The big shots in charge of tactics didn't have a clue
There was no way we could win
As defeats mounted, some were captured,
others abandoned the front lines
But the division big-shots...
No matter! Kill any man who tries to escape
Who needs a court-martial!
But the thing is
it wasn't just the enlisted men that ran
Officers were right there with them
Scum!
You scum! You're an officer! Have you no shame!
Deserters get the firing squad!
Butterflies! Butterflies!
Mommy!
Acting like you've lost your mind
Asshole!
Fool!
Get back to the front!
The soldiers who couldn't fight or run away,
had no choice but to wander into the jungle
And that's where we caught and ate them
Snakes and lizards, go without saying
Worms, spiders, every last insect
As long as it was alive, it was OK
When it came to food, it was every man for himself
A mouse!
The strong ones
went high into the mountains to raid local farmers
Impossible!
It's impossible my husband could have
I'm not saying everyone did that stuff
I know, I remember
It was a little before the end of the war
I was on my way to Regimental HQ to collect orders
- What! - Potato thieves!
How dare you!
You accuse my husband of stealing potatoes!
Where's your proof! Proof!
I have no proof
But I'm positive it was a Sergeant
That's the only case I can remember
of anyone being executed,
right before the end of the war
Awful
Sir, it's about time
Ma'am, please don't hold it against me
There's no definite proof
That's a nightmare I reeled in,
by forcing myself to relive those memories
It's just possible that everything I've said,
is just bits of my comedy routine
Here I am alive and well
but this is just the dregs of my life
My real life ended over there
Mom, why won't you give it a rest?
You may have your heart set on this, but what's the point?
Honey
Which of them is telling the truth?
One says you charged nobly,
the other called you a potato thief
You should've called it quits after you got the noble story
But you had to wander all over
What if you get sick? Dad will never rest in peace
What are you doing?
I'm going back to Tokyo first thing in the morning
- I may have to stay the night - Mom!
Let her do what she likes
I know best how-to give Dad his peace
He won't rest in peace until the truth is told
NOBUYUKI OCHI FORMER MILITARY POLICE SERGEANT
Excuse me, are you Ochi san?
Yes
I'm
Is that so?
But I can hardly tell you,
which story is true
At least I want to know,
whether he was executed
- You said he was Togashi san? - Yes, Sgt Togashi
I don't remember any Sgt Togashi
As far as Sergeants go
Oh, my, a guest
- My wife - I'm imposing
Oh, please, don't get up
Oh, I'm worn out
I was up all last night working a party
Watering this way is hard labor
I snuck in a nap at the restaurant
Excuse me, but I have to lie down Enjoy your visit
She's lying
My wife is seeing the chef at a fancy restaurant
I'm sure she was with him again last night
Hey! How dare you, in front of a guest!
Tell me, isn't it written all over her face?
How can you joke about it? Last night, I
I'm starting to wonder if there's any point in living
Maybe I would've been better off if I'd faced a firing squad back then
Firing squad?
The Australians captured me, charged me as a war criminal
I talked my way out of it and made it home
Back here, the Americans harassed me for being ex-military police
Got so I couldn't get to sleep without a drink
Remember "bomb"?
That postwar black market booze
The stuff finally got to my eyes
But getting back to our conversation
The truth is, when I got that letter from the Ministry,
I hesitated whether or not to tell them
Do you know something?
Towards the end of the war,
there was one incident I've never been able to forget
But
I'm sorry, this is all I have
So
what kind of incident was it?
I must warn you
It's not a very pleasant tale
And there's no certainty that your husband was involved
All I'm sure of is that the man was definitely a Sergeant
Won't you have one?
Please, please tell me
He killed his buddy and ate him
AUGUST, 1945
I don't remember the name of the place or the unit,
but about 10 starving soldiers
were stationed at a look-out on the beach
And one day...
You say it's meat? What meat?
Wild boar
Where'd you catch it? Around here?
In this heat, it'll rot in no time
If you've got any salt, I'll trade this for it
The trade took no time at all
and they stewed it with rice and ate it
But this Sergeant
refused to tell
where he'd caught the wild boar, or where his unit was stationed
One private got suspicious and followed him
He probably figured on stumbling on a good catch
But that private was never seen again
Then, 3 or4 days later,
the same Sergeant came back to trade meat for salt
Hey, it's rotten
Cook it up and it'll be fine
Trade it for some salt and next time I'll pickle it for you
Where are all these wild boars?
The Sergeant confessed relatively quickly
He had deserted with a buddy,
but he'd killed him in a rage over a stolen potato
He got so hungry,
he ate his friend's buttocks...
Stop it!
So
that private that never returned
Turned him into the second tin of meat
Was that Sergeant executed?
Yes
- Did you kill him? - No,
I just attended
Did he
mention his family before he died?
Nothing
But he did have one photograph
A photograph of what?
I think it was a young woman holding a baby
Did that Sergeant look like him?
I'm
I'm sorry, how thoughtless of me
That's all right
Every soldier who fought on that front,
learned just how terrible human beings can be
In those days, when a soldier died,
his buddies would burn his little finger, for ashes to bring home
Whenever I smelled burning flesh,
before I'd had a chance to cover my nose,
I couldn't stop my own hunger pangs
I was hardly any different from that Sergeant
My husband, eating a man
Just stupid
It can't be true, my love
Everybody's lying
Nobody knows the real truth
Say something?
How dare you! Cut it out!
That hurts
Stop it
You disgust me
I said, no! No!
Nobody knows what happened, shit! Nobody!
Stop!
TADAHIKO OHASHI FORMER 2ND LIEUTENANT, ARMY
"On a journey, with grass for my pillow,
for my beloved I yearn, disturbed as scythed rushes"
This poem,
describes the turbulent emotions of a traveler,
remembering his wife at home,
pining for her everyday
That's the subject of this poem
I had
completely forgotten about it
In my exhaustion, I suppose I lost the will to recall it
I stand in awe of your persistent obsession
What was the meaning of our youth?
When I began teaching, after my repatriation,
it was all I could think about
The meaning of my life and my friends' lives, lost to the war
A precious sacrifice, that was essential,
for a new and peaceful Japan
That was the only answer I could find
Young people know nothing of war
Nothing of its horrors
If I have a right to teach anyone anything,
it is only to convey the misery of war to new generations...
BLOODY MAY DAY
REARMAMENT
MASSACRE
PATRIOTISM
Is this what we fought for?
I kept asking myself
However,
ultimately, I could do nothing
US BASES OUT OFJAPAN
SUPPORTTHE FIGHT AGAINST NARITAAIRPORT
ANTl-WAR
Comrades, the actions we are about to take,
in the face off...
Everything overwhelms me
I can't keep up
In my exhaustion, I was only falling behind
I did answer the Ministry's letter of inquiry
But I doubt anyone actually paid any attention to my response
When it's time to take responsibility, they have no integrity
if the truth is not clear,
they should interpret in favor of the deceased
26 years later, they're still wondering whether someone deserted or not
In the meantime, a Class-A war criminal has become Prime Minister
During the war or today,
people from the bottom of the heap, never rest in peace
The people who died on that island,
were all the same
No one can discriminate against them or judge them
Those who fell under enemy fire, those who took their own lives,
those who were executed, those who starved to death,
they all died in combat
My husband wasn't like everyone else
Why was he executed? That's what I want to know
I want to know the truth
After the war, a certain incident came to light
It wasn't desertion in the face of enemy fire
Some soldiers conspired
to murder their superior officer
In my unit,
there was a 2nd Lieutenant, Goto
2nd Lt. Goto had graduated from the same Home Guard training unit as I
He always swaggered around, Eager to be taken seriously
by non-commissioned officers and military academy graduates
One day,
an American pilot crash landed near Goto's command post
Go ahead!! Kill him!
Major Senda, the Division Staff Officer gave the order
He should have known better, but Goto volunteered to decapitate him
No, perhaps,
Senda singled Goto out,
as a way of toughening up someone from the Home Guard
You! MP
Finish it!
Move!
After that, Goto seemed to become increasingly hysterical
Scum!
Get up!
Forcing his men to unnecessary hard labor,
striking and kicking them for no reason
He took personal control of the food supply, hoarding it for himself
He dragged a terminal malarial patient out to work,
killing him
When the Sergeant protested, unable to tolerate it,
You dare to oppose your superior officer!
The way it's going,
that 2nd Lieutenant's going to kill us
That Sergeant
Are you saying he was my husband?
Why? You weren't there when it happened!
But the details of this incident
were disclosed after the war
AUGUST 15, 1945
When word of the war's end spread,
men who'd abandoned the front, began to creep out of the jungle
"It's finally over"
We were all so relieved,
as we gathered at the former Division HQ
Among the men,
there were 5 who had survived 2nd Lieutenant Goto's command
Where's 2nd Lieutenant Goto?
What happened to your 2nd Lt!
- He took his own life - Crap!
You think you can fool me with that rap!
Major Senda was terrified
that his botched execution of the prisoner would come to light
When one of the men confessed to 2nd Lt. Goto's murder...
Executed for murdering a superior officer
There was no court-martial
Without even a trial
The war was already over
Unbelievable
I can't believe it
Before he executed the 5 men,
Senda apparently told them,
"I swear, 30 years from now
Japan will rise from her ashes, to take revenge,
against the bestial Americans and English
But our motherland has no need of traitors like you,
who murdered their own superior officer!"
My love
How furious you must have been
I've needed you, my love
For 26 years,
I've needed you each and every day
Hurry, Grandpa
Coming, coming
TAKEO SENDA FORMER MAJOR, ARMY Senda evaded prosecution as a war criminal...
and returned home safely
Until recently,
he was a Board member of the Southeast Asian Development Corp.
Now, he's retired to a life of leisure
I've heard that he's even writing a memoir about the New Guinea front
I met him once by accident
My stomach churned with rage
I wanted to kill him,
with all my heart
I got close enough to look at him
He barely even noticed me
He had no recollection
I could do nothing
That's right
I was powerless
Let's go
That's a misunderstanding
Either that, or malicious slander against my record
It's true, the men were executed
But they were sentenced to death by court-martial under military law
Then, where's the court-martial verdict?
I have no idea where it would be after all these years
Either it was lost in the chaos at the end of the war, or
it was destroyed with other classified military documents
In any event, it's noted in the military records of war deaths
You know that record's useless
If that's the way you think, we have nothing to discuss
For what crime was he executed?
Murder of a superior officer, of course, as well as collective desertion
"Collective" implies a group
But all it says in the military records is "desertion"
Some kind of error, perhaps a clerical error or some such
Were the operations of the former Imperial Army really that sloppy!
I understand how you must feel and I do feel sorry for you
But there's nothing to be done He violated the law
I had no direct role in that court-martial
However, I believe that the sentence of execution was merited
I still believe that, today
At the time, our soldiers were in a state of shock
Understandable, given their faith in the Imperial Army's invincibility
But we officers
could not afford to abandon ourselves to grief over our defeat
We had lost, but we had to uphold order
for the sake of patriotism and honor
For those reasons, the trial and executions were inevitable
We swallowed our tears and carried them out
In fact, after that, discipline was restored
and Japanese soldiers were able to return home with honor
You're saying you made my husband an example to others, a sacrifice
Not at all
We have to maintain order under any circumstances
Don't we owe the postwar recovery and prosperity,
our newfound stature among the world powers in the line of battle,
entirely to the firm imposition of national order?
Unfortunately, your husband
murdered his superior officer
He may have had good reason, but when you kill, you are judged
This is true even in our present democracy
You
You're telling me you didn't kill anyone!
Not with your own hands, but you ordered others to, in the Emperor's name!
Japan fought the war as an entire nation
Don't confuse the two
- Grandpa, what's wrong? - Nothing at all
Here
It may be impossible to ask that you forget
However, if we are to move on, we must also learn to forget
if we're obsessed with the past, we are powerless
Not for me
For the record and my own honor, let me add the following:
2nd Lt Goto murdered that American prisoner himself
I had nothing to do with it
To claim I executed witnesses to cover it up
is outrageous slander
Also, we did not execute all 5
Only the 3 actively involved in the murder
The other 2 went to prison
One of them died of an illness there
I hear the other made it home safely
I believe his name was Private First Class Terajima
Private First Class Terajima?
But no matter what anyone says, Togashi san died nobly in combat
That's right It's coming back now
It was Terajima who confessed that Togashi and others were murderers
That's right
I'm the one who revealed the crime
All I cared about was getting out alive so I betrayed my buddies
So you made up that whole story?
To escape responsibility for what you did,
you lied to me?
You have every right to accuse me
But
there's more to the story than that
Will you hear me out?
When we heard that the war was over,
Togashi's squad was posted at a look-out 10 kms from HQ
We had eaten everything we possibly could,
and were one step away from starvation
So, when we got the order to assemble at Division HQ
no one had the will to get up and start
For a while, we just lay around blankly
in my case, particularly, malaria and malnutrition
had reduced me to such a state, I couldn't even walk
Then, suddenly, 2nd Lieutenant Goto turned up
Salute
Listen up, our platoon is launching an offensive
Take up your weapons
We've been ordered to assemble at Division HQ
No need for that! Defeat is just a rumor!
"God's land is immortal, the Imperial Army invincible!"
We will fight to the bitter end!
We'll cutoff every last enemy head!
Why are you looking at me like that!
Why don't you pick up your guns?
You bastards would rather lose the war?
Don't you care what happens to Japan?
How about it, Sgt Togashi!
Say something!
You scum! Challenging my authority because I'm from the Home Guard!
I love my country!
I love it more than any of you scum!
Why are you lying around!
Get up!
I said, get up!
Get up!
You bastard! A soldier like you
Scum!
I'm your superior officer!
Cut it out
Then, what happened?
Sergeant, sir, you've The 2nd Lieutenant
The 2nd Lt killed himself Went mad when he heard of our defeat
Got that? The 2nd Lt killed himself
And then,
Togashi san and the other3 left for Division Headquarters
They left you to die
Each of them could barely walk
Of course they left me behind, I couldn't take a step on my own
They said they'd send someone to get me when they got to HQ
I had no choice but to trust them, and wait
It's salty
There was something so delicious left in my own body
This was a new discovery
And with that, I felt such hunger
I wonder
if I can eat this
I ate a man
A man
But the world didn't change
So you ate a man, so what?
I'm going to live I'm going to get out of here
I'd gone and eaten it
The meat of the man your husband had killed
Thanks to that, I found the strength to get up and walk
By the time I straggled into Division Headquarters the next day,
Senda was already interrogating Togashi and the others
Of course they accused me, too
They threatened me with a firing squad unless I told the truth
I was desperate to live
Besides, if I told them that the 2nd Lt. Had gone mad,
Togashi and the others' sentences would be lighter
That's what I told myself as I confessed everything
Leaving out, of course that I'd eaten human flesh
But, Togashi and the others were executed
Corporal Nakamura, who wasn't involved directly,
died of disease before he got home
I'm the only one who made it back to Japan
Tokyo was a vast, burned out wasteland
People were living among the ruins without shame or inhibition,
their naked and raw humanity exposed
I found that so comforting
"Everyone's just like me"
I forgot all about eating human flesh, and betraying my comrades,
and I felt utterly at peace
But that didn't last for long
Order was soon restored
MILITARY PROCUREMENT BOOM
As the streets, the houses and how people dressed,
rapidly improved,
I found myself...
all alone, left behind like an idiot
And the terrible memories of eating flesh
and betraying my comrades,
began to weigh on my heart, day and night
I ran away
The world was after me and I ran away
And I settled into this Korean shanty-town
But this place, too,
won't last another month
The kind of place where I feel at home,
the carefree world of burned out ruins
no longer even exists in Japan
Terajima san
Please tell me how my husband spent his final hours
Didn't Ochi san tell you?
Ochi san?
Ochi san was the military policeman who executed him
My
You
I remember
Your husband
That night, after you came, he was run over by a truck
That night, oddly, he got drunk before going to work
They say he crossed on a red light
He was such a cautious man I wonder what happened
Of course he was blind, so he couldn't see the light
Madam, the photograph
Oh, dear, I forgot
It happened so quickly, this was the only photo
Togashi san,
before he died, apparently he told Ochi,
he wanted some rice
Rice?
That's right, I'm Japanese I want to eat white rice
I can't rest in peace on this!
- Any rice left? - Not sure
You can't execute me until I've had rice!
This is all we've got
You'll have to make do with it
Which way is Japan?
Sakai, Kobari, hold out your hands!
Your hands! Listen!
They drafted us together and we'll stick together in death
Emperor!
He called out to the Emperor?
You think he meant to say "Banzai," to honor him?
No, it didn't sound that way to me
It was almost an accusation
Like a protest
That's how he cried out
What happened to the families of the men who died with my husband?
Private First Class Sakai's widow
married Sakai's younger brother
They're farmers, deep in the mountains up north
They don't want to remember anything about the past, at all
Private Kobari came from Hiroshima
They say he lost his parents, his whole family,
to the atomic bomb
The government didn't ask anybody's permission to start the war,
but we're the ones stuck paying for all of it
REJECTED CLAIM OF SAKIE TOGASHI
My love, it turns out,
we can't have the Emperor dedicating any flowers to you
Besides, no matter what anyone does,
your spirit will never rest in peace
JAPANESE SOLDIERS DEATHS IN THE PACIFICWAR
COMBAT-22 MILLION NON COMBAT-9 MILLION
TOTAL 31 MILLION
THE END
English subtitles by LINDA HOAGLUND
Downloaded From www.AllSubs.org