World War II... From Japan's Perspective

The Japan at War Collection features four award-winning and outstanding films told from Japan's perspective, each one focusing on a different aspect of the Pacific War. Included in the set are Japan's Longest Day, Battle of Okinawa, Father of the Kamikaze and Black Rain. More information below...

For the first time, the Japanese Nation faced defeat.

On August 15th, 1945, the Japanese people faced utter destruction. Millions of soldiers and civilians were dead, the rest were starving, and their cities had been reduced to piles rubble -- two of them vaporized by atomic bombs. The government was deadlocked; some ministers called for surrender, and others argued that honor demanded a final battle on home soil. To break the impasse, the cabinet took the unprecedented step of asking the Emperor to decide the fate of the nation.

Unable to bear the suffering of his people any longer, and finally given the power to do something about it, the Emperor decreed that Japan would surrender.

Much work remained to be done: the Imperial Rescript had to be composed, the Emperor had to record it, and it had to be broadcast to the nation. And there were many soldiers and civilians who could not accept surrender, and would do anything -- even commit treason -- to avoid it.

In a single 24 hour period, the fate of 100 million people would be decided.

This is the true story of August 15th, 1945... Japan's Longest Day.

They were ordered to fight to the last man, woman, and child.

It is spring, 1945. The war is going badly for the Empire of Japan. Outnumbered and outgunned, the soldiers of the Empire are being forced back, island by island, towards the homeland.

All that stands between the heavy boots of the Allies and the sacred soil of Japan is Japan's oldest colony, the Islands of Okinawa. And the defenders of those islands, despite being stripped of men and supplies by an increasingly desperate Imperial Army Headquarters, are determined (and have been ordered) to fight to the death, and sell their lives for a very high price.

Thus begins the story of the largest amphibious assault of the Pacific War, pitting 200,000 battle-hardened American troops against 77,000 Japanese defenders, with almost a half-million native Okinawan's caught between them. The fighting was so intense that it is reported that almost half of the American forces needed treatment for shell-shock. They were the lucky ones; when the echoes of the last shots had faded, 12,500 Americans, 60,000 Japanese soldiers, and 140,000 Okinawan civilians lay dead.

Director Kihachi Okamoto brings to life this tragic story in his unique way, full of moments of joy and sorrow, fear and heroism, and his special brand of bleak, black comedy.

His strategy was brilliant -- and it would cost him everything!

Vice Admiral Onishi, a brilliant strategist, can glimpse the future. He knows that Japan cannot win the Pacific War. As the military situation becomes more desperate, he hatches an audacious plan to force the enemy to negotiate a resolution and avoid the shame of surrender -- a “Divine Wind” of suicide attacks to convince the Allies that invading Japan will be too costly in lives to contemplate.

This is the true story of the honorable man who unleashed the devastating Kamikaze attacks, and of the tragic consequences of his fateful decision.



Mr. and Mrs. Shizuma, and their niece Yasuko make their way through the ruins of Hiroshima, just after the atomic bomb has dropped. Years later, the effects of the bomb start to manifest, and time is running out to find a husband for Yasuko before she succumbs to radiation sickness.