I am not your real grandfather.
What's that, all of a sudden ? In that case, ...
where is our real grandfather ?
"Miyabe Kyuuzou.
killed in action in the sea of the Ryukyu Islands as a member of a kamikaze special attack unit."
Kamikaze special attack unit ?
What ! Our real grandfather ...
has been an extremely brave soldier.
This guy has been a coward.
At that time, when an enemy crew member tried to escape by parachute ...
That's what your grandfather was.
I think that I am myself a murderer.
I don't want to die.
I want to return alive.
What did you just say ! Flight sergeant Miyabe !!
Hey !
This guy has been the navy's flying corps' greatest coward !
You only have one life !
However difficult it may be, ....
let's do our best to survive.
If that's the case, it's really strange.
Such a man would not volunteer for the suicide unit.
Welcome back home.
I will come back to your side for sure.
The Eternal Zero - Part 2/3
English subtitles by OncTom (for private use only)
A man they called a coward, but who lived for his family.
Why did such a man volunteer for the suicide unit ?
Yes. The suicide unit has been a volunteer group ...
so why ... Hm, no, that's interesting.
It has become more and more interesting.
It will certainly become a centerpiece for the 60 anniversary project.
By the way, there is a good news.
I have found a surviving member of the suicide unit, who knew Miyabe Kyuuzou.
Former navy first lieutenant Tanigawa Masao. Okayama prefecture.
He seems to live in a retirement home in the town of Bizen. I am very sorry ...
but I would like that you two do the interview again, Keiko-chan.
Interview ... That's good, no ?
Okay.
By the way ...
When this job is over ...
Wait a second, Sis.
Why does Takayama-san always disappear before I arrive ?
Because he is a busy person.
Did something happen with Takayama-san ?
Nothing special. You're lying.
Did he say something ?
He said something. When this job is over ...
let's marry, he said.
Ah, concerning Tanigawa-san, the next person we'll meet ...
Don't try to ignore me. He made a marriage proposal ?
It looks so.
He finally made a decision. And what will you do ?
What do you mean with "What will I do" ?
What will you do ... Marry him ... Takayama-san ?
Tell me, Sis, do you really love Takayama-san ?
Takayama-san is a good man. He has a good job ...
and he understands my work.
I asked you if you love him or not.
I think that there is nothing to object against Takayama-san as a marriage partner.
What's that way of talking ?
You asked me and I answered.
Recently I met Fujiki-san.
It's been at Grandpa's home.
Fujiki-san's steel factory doesn't run well.
That's why he is still unmarried.
Is he ?
Now that we are talking about it, I saw you ...
That time in Grandpa's house ...
You crying because you wanted to stay with Fujiki-san.
"Keiko-chan"
It has been the day before Fujiki-san returned to his hometown.
You loved him, Fujiki-san, didn't you ?
I wonder.
But he didn't propose to me.
What ? And then ...
we haven't been going out together.
To sum it up, that's all about it.
What is that supposed to mean ?
It's as if we lived in the times of Grandpa.
I have been investigating a bit ...
Certainly, in many books it is written ...
that the special attack unit was on a voluntary basis ...
but there are also some that say, that among them, there have been people who have been forced to volunteer.
Forced to volunteer ... what does that mean ?
I wonder.
Ususally I don't talk about the war.
I like neither talk of meritorious deeds ...
nor pathetic compassion.
And still more ...
it's unbearable for me to be questioned out of pure curiosity.
No, today we ...
I understand.
To tell the truth ...
this story should be handed down to future generations.
Especially, because you are ...
Miyabe's grandchildren.
Our grandfather died after having volunteered for the special attack unit.
Didn't you know that ?
I have been together with Miyabe ...
in the 12th flying corps in Shanghai.
Shanghai ... in China ?
That's right.
Miyabe has been an extremely brave ...
fighter pilot, who didn't know fear.
In the Philippines ...
I have been assigned to the aircraft carrier Zuikaku ...
that's where I met Miyabe again.
Depending on the altitude, there is a strange sound.
Some oil pressure problem ...
Would you please check the oil pressure gauge. Yes.
Tanigawa-san, Tanigawa-san !
Miyabe ? Isn't that Miyabe ?
You are alive !
Yes, you are safe and sound as well, Tanigawa-san.
For heaven's sake, what's this way of talking, we are of the same year.
I am not good at talking, so don't be formal with me.
Got it, Tanigawa.
The next day, Miyabe told me this.
I want an aircraft with defensive capacities.
You want bullet proof plates ... that's what you want ?
It's not only that ...
how many crew members have died.
I have been thinking about that ...
Don't talk so loud.
With this aircraft ...
just one stray bullet and you lose your life.
Miyabe !
Sure, you can fire a hundred 7.7mm rounds ...
into a Grumman F6F and it's as if nothing happened.
On one occasion, I have seen a shot down F6F.
I have been surprised by the thickness of the armour plates.
I see.
For the American army, the life of the crew members is precious.
When the American army is doing an air raid, without fail, they deploy a submarine.
In order to rescue the pilots who have done an emergency landing.
In other words, the American crew members ...
are able to return to the battlefield after a crash.
By doing so, they bring up skilled crew members ...
who have learned from their mistakes.
As for us, one mistake and it's over.
That's why the number of Japan's skilled pilots decreases.
By the way, on this aircraft carrier ...
there are lots of young pilots.
Nothing but guys with less than 2 years of flight experience.
Occasionally, we lose planes during the take off and landing trainings ...
and from time to time the pilot dies as well.
What ?
They don't know how to land on a carrier ?
I heard from a young pilot, ...
that he didn't even have 100 flight hours.
100 flight hours ?
In that case ...
even with your best effort, you can't fly.
How can we fight a war with comrades, ...
who don't even know how to land on a carrier ?
In fact, it seems that deck landing practice has been suspended.
Suspended ?
The decision of a staff officer, who doesn't care about aircrafts.
If they don't practice, they will never know how to land on a carrier.
It looks like it's enough, if they know how to take off.
In other words, these young pilots ...
are supposed to do just one attack.
Just one attack ?
And what will they become after that ?
The Japanese Army had from the beginning ...
had an ideology that made light of human lives.
That's why something like that has been possible.
Something like that ?
Suicide attacks.
Year 19 of the Showa era (1944), during the battle of the Philippine Sea ...
the combined fleet, with only 2 aircraft carriers left, ...
and most of it's war potential lost,
wasn't able to prevent the landing of the enemy in Saipan.
The American Army's next target ...
was the Philippines' Leyte Island.
In order to prevent this, the combined fleet ...
carried out the operation 'Sho-Go 1'.
This strategy consisted in ...
using a naval group as a decoy ...
to lure away the American Navy forces ...
and to break into this gap with the Yamato, the Musashi and other naval units ...
in order to destroy the enemy's transport ship group before Leyte Island.
However at that time, Japan did no longer have the necessary aircrafts ...
to cover the naval forces.
Therefore, in order to prevent the enemy aircrafts to take off from the aircraft carriers ...
the special attack unit was used ...
to destroy the enemy carriers' flight decks.
Was this the beginning of the suicide units ?
It wasn't the beginning ! The special attack unit had always been ...
something that should have been limited to this operation 'Sho-Go 1'.
However, after the end of this operation ...
it was not finished.
The suicide attacks started to run on their own.
At that time, I had been assigned ...
without Miyabe to the base of Mabalacat.
Mabalacat.
What an unpleasant sound.
Right after arriving at Mabalacat base ...
Salute !
All of us, under the rank of non-commissioned officer, were assembled.
At ease !
Today, Japan is in an unprecedented crisis.
Therefore, from now on we carry out special attacks with a deadly blow against the American Army,
As this special attack is a '10 dead 0 alive' tactic ...
only volunteers will participate.
The meaning of that ...
everybody understood immediately.
Those who volunteer, one step forward.
At first nobody moved.
Are you going or are you not going !?
When I realized, I had done like everybody.
You mean, you volunteered ?
From what I just told you, you think we volunteered ?
I don't really know.
In the heat of the moment.
I don't know if some of us did.
We didn't have the time to think about it.
By reflex we followed the orders of the superior officer.
Are you going or are you not going !?
You will certainly not understand ...
the behaviour of soldiers.
After the war, I read a book about ...
these circumstances at the base of Mabalacat.
It was written, that on the officer's command, ...
everyone of the crew members was striving ...
to be the first to step forward.
What a joke ... this lie !
Tanigawa-san, is something wrong ?
No, it's nothing.
I am sorry for having raised my voice.
Don't be.
And order that wasn't an order ... That's what it means to be forced to volunteer.
It has all the time been a mystery.
At the front in China, Miyabe Kyuuzou had been ...
a brave fighter pilot, who didn't know fear.
He was a skilled pilot. That's right.
In that case, I understand the reason why he wanted to become a pilot.
Nevertheless, why he volunteered for the special attack unit, ...
it's only now that I feel I understand.
You feel that you understand ?
Because it was the order from a superior officer.
That's how it is, you can't go against the orders of a superior officer.
Thinking about it this way, I feel sorry for our grandfather.
You are wrong.
Wrong in what way ?
Every day, the aircrafts of the special attack unit flew missions from Mabalacat.
For some reason, I have only been assigned to air cover
duties without taking part in the suicide attacks.
One day, returning from an attack ...
because of engine troubles, I had to do an emergency landing at Nichols Base.
Thereupon, on that same day all crew members had been assembled here.
For the commander and the aviation officers, ...
I thought that I looked like someone coming from this base.
I have something to tell you.
I think you have heard about Mabalacat's special attack unit.
It has been decided to form a special attack unit here at Nichols Base as well.
If this strategy succeeds, Japan will be able to win the war.
For that reason, it will be necessary that you thrust your Zero fighters loaded with bombs ...
into the enemy's aircraft carriers and so destroy them.
This special attack unit is a '10 dead 0 alive' tactic.
Accordingly, only volunteers will take part.
Shut your eyes.
At that time, everybody already knew about the suicide attacks.
As a matter of course, we were prepared for it.
Those who volunteer for the special attack unit, one step forward !
Me too, like the other time in Mabalacat, made a step forward.
Let's open our eyes.
However, just one crew member ...
hadn't moved.
It was Miyabe.
Those who volunteer, one step forward !
You bastard !
Those who volunteer, step forward.
Step forward.
Master sergeant Miyabe ... do you think your life is precious ?
Well ? Miyabe.
Answer !
Life ...
is precious.
Nevertheless you are a soldier of the Imperial Navy !
Yes, I am a soldier.
Master sergeant Miyabe ... do you think your life is precious ?
Answer !
Life ...
is precious.
Even now, sometimes I wonder, if the things I have seen at Nichols Base ...
have really happened.
It was a terrible thing, to refuse ...
to join the special unit, wasn't it ?
But it wasn't really an order, you more or less volunteered ?
What Miyabe did, was some kind of insubordination.
Insubordination ?
To disobey the orders from a superior officer.
In the army this means death penalty.
What Grandfather had done up to then ... What Miyabe Kyuuzou had done, ...
was to carry out his own determination ...
to return alive by any means ?
Such presumptuous ideas are inacceptable.
To accept the special attack unit ...
means to accept death.
However, to refuse ...
meant death as well.
When you went against the will of a superior officer ...
you possibly were taken away your fighter aircraft ...
and moreover sent to some dangerous frontline.
You absolutely can't compare it ...
to the situation of an office employee who refuses ...
his company's order for a job relocation.
Nevertheless, Miyabe refused the special attack unit.
Why didn't you volunteer ?
Miyabe.
Doing such a thing ... Under no circumstances I will volunteer for the special attack unit.
I haven't fought until today, in order to die.
Miyabe ...
I can fight in whatever severe battle ...
if there is at least a little chance to survive.
But I absolutely refuse a strategy that decides that you die no matter what.
You have changed.
When we were in Shanghai, ...
you weren't a man who would say such surprising things.
Tanigawa, did you volunteer for the first time ?
It's the second time.
The first time, I volunteered in Mabalacat.
Isn't there anybody who would be sad if you died ?
It's enough, let's stop it.
Don't you have parents or brothers and sisters ?
Won't they be sad if you died ? Stop it !
I have a wife.
We married 4 days before I left Japan.
In that case ... In that case, why did you volunteer for the special attack unit ?
I am ... !
I am a soldier of the Imperial Navy !
Alright, Tanigawa, listen well.
If you are ordered to do a suicide attack, ...
you make an emergency landing, anywhere on some island.
At that time, there were aircrafts, that returned from an attack because of engine troubles.
But to do that on purpose.
Without any doubt, you would be court-martialed ...
and being sentenced to death was a frightening idea.
Your death will not change the course of war.
On the other hand, if you die ...
the life of your wife will be greatly changed.
Say no more. If I am ordered to do a suicide attack ...
I will simply go.
Why ...
did the person, who told me to make an emergency landing instead of a suicide attack, ...
why did he himself die in a suicide attack ?
With his skills, Miyabe would be able to do an emergency landing ...
in whatever difficult conditions.
Emergency landing ?
Did this man say emergency landing ?
Hm, why hasn't he done an emergency landing, he said.
Despite being such a skilled pilot.
Grandpa, it's a bit difficult to ask you this, but ...
haven't you heard anything from Grandma ?
About this former husband, from before she has been married with you.
About Miyabe Kyuuzou-san.
Grandpa ? Hm ?
Sorry, don't mind.
If you had known something, you would have told us already.
As you know that we are investigating this.
By the way, you have war experience as well, Grandpa, haven't you ?
Haven't you been a soldier ? Yes.
Volunteer soldier or callup notice ?
I have been a student soldier at the end of the war.
A student soldier ...
I see, because you have been in college !
Amazing !
It's amazing having been a university student in those times.
Yes, I talked to him.
Well, it's more like work in progress.
That is, perhaps Grandpa doesn't talk ...
because he doesn't like that we investigate concerning ...
Grandma's former husband.
That might be right, I see.
By the way, do you know the Tsukuba Navy Flying Corps ?
What ? I don't know it.
It seems to have been the fighter pilots' training school during the war.
Has it, and ?
By the end of the war, a certain former ...
Navy first lieutenant Takeda Takanori-san has been there.
This man has known an instructor Miyabe.
Instructor Miyabe ? Hm.
Takayama-san has found him.
Wait, what does that mean, instructor Miyabe ?
Ah ... Miyabe Kyuuzou ...
has been an instructor there.
What ? He has been a flight teacher ? It looks so.
What's that, I less and less understand that Miyabe Kyuuzou.
Anyhow, it looks as if he is willing to meet me, so I will go.
Got it. When ?
Ah, I have to discuss the time and date with Takayama-san, so I will mail you later.
What ? Takayama-san is coming too ?
The place is Takeda-san's company, I think.
Takeda-san's company ?
Ah, Takeda-san is now the president of Tosho Bussan.
Tosho Bussan ...
that's a big company ! I know it too.
Sorry for having kept you waiting. I am Takeda.
I guess you two ...
are the grandchildren of Miyabe-san.
Yes, I am Saeki Keiko. I am Saeki Kentarou.
I am the one who made the appointement ...
with your secretary, president Takeda, ...
my name is Takayama.
You are newspaper reporter ?
Yes.
I certainly heard ...
that the inquiry had come from a newspaper company ...
but I accepted to meet you without fail ...
because I guessed that the ones who were looking for me ...
were the grandchildren of Miyabe-san.
Well, as finally ...
this is a rather personal story ...
I would be glad if you just allowed my presence.
I don't want to tell it to you.
May I know why ?
Because I don't trust your newspaper company.
As a newspaper reporter, I am sincerely interested ...
in the fact that you have been a member of the special attack unit, Takeda-san.
I think it's extremely valuable, that a person like you ...
talks about his personal experience of the suicide attacks.
Valuable ? What, I wonder.
After the war, you have become a splendid corporate warrior.
It is a fact, that a person like you, has in those times been a patriot.
What allows you to say, that I have been a patriot ?
Wasn't the special attack unit a system based on volunteers ? It had that form.
In other words, you have volunteered too, president Takeda.
I think that, if a person like you did so, ...
that means that not all the people of that time ...
had been brainwashed.
Brainwashed ?
You want to say, that the comrades ...
who died, had been brainwashed ? Yes.
I believe that the members of the special attack unit have been brainwashed.
However, this is not just a story of the past ...
today as well, throughout the world ...
this kind of suicide bombing terror occurs, like in the 9.11 attacks.
Suicide bombing terror ? Yes.
I believe that the suicide bombing terrorists ...
and Japan's kamikaze attack units ...
have the same mental structure.
What are you talking about ...
This isn't something like religious martyrdom ...
I think that ... Why !
What allows you to think like this ?
Because I have read the suicide notes of suicide bombing terrorists ...
as well as the last letters of members of the special attack unit.
You have read the letters of members of the special attack unit ? Yes.
And rather than to regret ...
they were proud of giving their lifes for the country.
In the same way, the terrorists are proud ...
of giving their lifes for god ...
You idiot !
Do you believe that these letters were the true feelings of the members of the special attack unit ?
When they write that they are pleased to die ...
do you believe, that they are really pleased to die ?
Of course this is not their fault ...
but the fault of that time, covered with patriotic ideas ...
and the fault of the military authorities who circulated them.
In reality this meaning is ... Don't talk like that !
Despite being a newspaper reporter ...
you are unable to read between the lines of a letter written by a person who is going to die.
They tried to control their confused minds ...
and during the short time they had left ...
they wrote these letters to their families, and you can read their minds between these lines !
I understand what you say.
However, it's the same for the suicide notes of the terrorists ...
That's enough !
The purpose of the suicide bombing terror, you are talking about, is the massacre of ordinary citizens.
They aim at the lifes of innocent people.
But the special attack unit didn't aim at buildings inhabited by ordinary citizens.
The aim were aircraft carriers, that carried bombers and fighter aircrafts, ...
that came to attack our country. I admit that difference.
And yet, there is the point of martyr ideology ...
When communicating with kamikaze pilots, I ... First ...
you said that the military authorities circulated patriotic ideology ...
but the ones who circulated it, were the newspaper companies, I have been talking about.
If in those times the citizens have been brainwashed ...
this brainwashing has been done by your media.
Moreover your newspaper company has become popular with postwar betrayal.
You went along with the views of disapprouval of the general public in the prewar times.
That is, my seniors have inspected the errors that have been made in the prewar era ...
and concerning the disapproval of war and army, they had gained the support of the general public.
You're wrong ! Your newspaper company ...
has taken a firm stand in order to take away the patriotic feelings of the citizens.
As if it were a crime to love one's country.
I think, this way they just corrected mislead patriotic feelings.
That's it !
Despite having claimed the exact opposite before the war ...
you didn't change your posture of wanting to instruct the stupid citizen !
The outcome, this country is looking down on itself ...
and has come to the point that it isn't flattered by the neighbouring countries.
Do I still have to explain the reason ...
why I don't want to talk to you about the war ?
I understand.
However, they aren't related to me.
Please, without fail, talk to them about your memories.
Excuse me please.
Please.
If you two intend to talk like this man ...
we'd better stop here.
No, I want to learn about our grandfather.
The grandfather, who in those times ...
has been called a coward and who tried to run away from the battlefields.
A coward ?
Our grandfather, who for the sake of his wife and child was obsessed with his own life ...
and in order to return home alive seems to have refused the suicide attacks ...
Despite that, why did he finally take part in the suicide attacks ...
And even, assuming it was an order, why didn't he do an emergency landing ...
I want to know the reasons for this.
I understand what you said.
However I don't know, if by telling you my memories about Miyabe-san ...
I can solve that mystery.
That's alright. Please tell us about our grandfather.
Sit down please.
Excuse me. Excuse me.
It's the first time that we hear that our grandfather ...
has been instructor.
At that time, I have been flight reserve officer ...
in other words an officer coming from a university.
A student departing for the front ...
As the situation of the war became worse ...
the students of universities and higher schools, ...
who had been exempted until then, were now enlisted too.
The flight training of those reserve officers ...
was really harsh.
Those who were taught of course ...
and those who were teaching were desperate in the same way.
It was because we had to become able to fly ...
as quickly as possible, in order to be used for suicide attacks.
In the middle of all this, instructor Miyabe ...
was well known as an instructor, who didn't give the passing mark.
He must be kidding !
When on earth will he finally give us that passing mark ?
For other instructors we would be perfectly acceptable !
For someone like instructor Miyabe, who is coming back from the frontline, ...
the likes of us are still wet behind the ears.
No, rather than giving a failing grade in most of the cases, ...
he gives it to everyone.
And that all the time.
Undoubtedly, he doesn't like officers like us.
Himself having served for over 10 years, to become merely second lieutenant, ...
while we become officers without any hardships, ...
that's certainly not amusing.
Even so, it's not a reason to harass us like this.
Harass ...
That's what I thought.
And then we brought it daringly to the attention of the other instructors.
Did the harassement stop after that ?
Instructor Miyabe's attitude, stubbornly remained unchanged.
He continued giving failing grades ?
But to his honor, I must say that he was brilliant.
Instructor Miyabe was unexpectedly a man of spirit.
However, as I already said before ...
we were wished to become pilots ...
as quickly as possible.
But because of instructor Miyabe ...
we weren't able to go to the battlefield.
Well, because of that, you didn't go to the battlefield, Takeda-san ...
No.
Instructor Miyabe was finally removed from the task of evaluating the students ...
and became a technical instructor only.
And yet, instructor Miyabe always stayed ...
reluctant to say things like "You've done well" ...
of 'You have made progress".
Reluctant ?
And then, I heard something.
Instructor Miyabe !
I think, today ...
I have shown acceptable results.
Yes, I think you have well done.
You really don't think that I am hopeless ?
No, why do you think so ?
Because it seems that you have told the commanding officer of the flying corps not to give me the passing mark.
I heard it from a comrade. Why did you do that ?
Where have I been at fault ? Or else is it just harassement ?
I don't ...
think that you are hopeless, student Takeda.
In that case, why ... But I think that you absolutely ...
shouldn't fly, student Takeda.
On what grounds ... such a ...
If you go to the battefield now, student Takeda, you will be shot down for sure.
The Zero fighter is no longer an invincible fighter aircraft.
Many young men are ...
thrown into combat without sufficient practice ...
and are killed in action during their first battle. For that reason ...
at this moment, even alone, many crew members ...
Everybody is not meant to become a crew member !
They are meant to accomplish greater, more splendid tasks.
I don't want you all to die.
He didn't want you to die in a suicide attack.
Is it that meaning ?
It certainly is.
We knew that at that time, there were ...
suicide units departing one after another from the Philippines.
I thought that I would be send there too, after having finished my training.
And then that I would certainly fall there.
Certainly fall ... You mean, certainly die ?
Yes.
I see ...
The special attack unit means to be sure to die.
This is a story I heard after the war ...
Some commander in chief , in front of members of the suicide unit, ...
after having given encouragements in tears ...
asked the following "Do you have any questions ?".
Thereupon a skilled crew member ...
is said to have asked "If we have hit the ...
enemy ship with our bombs, are we allowed to come back ?"
"Out of the question !" declared the commanding officer.
That's how the special attack unit was.
There was only one goal in the special attack unit ... Just to come and die.
It wasn't a strategy that aimed at victory.
Nevertheless ... nevertheless our grandfather ...
had said that he didn't want the students to die ?
Yes.
This grandfather, why did he go himself to the special attack unit ?
The day after the end of the training ...
the application forms for the special attack unit have been distributed.
Application forms ...
Those who have filled out the application form, take it and leave the room ...
and then put it inside the box in the hallway.
Take care not to forget to sign.
We already knew about the special attack unit ...
but having presently the application form in front of our eyes ...
let arise a completely different feeling.
That day, suddenly ...
we were told to give up our lives.
And at length, I understood the difference between being ready to die in a mission ...
and knowing that you will die in a mission.
I did my best, not to write in shaky letters.
I understood that many of us ... no ...
that everybody was going to volunteer.
I thought that I didn't want to be the only coward.
That night ...
nobody talked about the application form.
Instead, for some reason ...
I remember a story about instructor Miyabe.
This is just a rumour but ...
It seems that instructor Miyabe has refused ...
in the Philippines to join the special attack unit.
At that time ...
it was an unbelievable story.
Was it because we had just signed the application form for the special attack unit ?
But nobody blamed ...
this Miyabe-san.
Did you see instructor Miyabe's face earlier ?
He had the same face ...
when he said to us "You have made progress".
Instructor Miyabe ...
was suffering we he saw that we became better.
It is painful for this man to know that we will die.
It is painful for me to see this instructor Miyabe.
I see.
Instructor Miyabe has refused the special attack unit.
[ --- The Japanese subtitles ended here --- ]