The Eternal Zero - Part 1/3
English subtitles by OncTom (for private use only)
"The Japanese came one after another crashing themselves.
It was sheer madness to face their death like this.
We just fired at random.
We shot those kamikaze down ...
as if it were a clay pigeon shooting.
If we hadn't done it, it would have been us who had died.
Eventually, our defense against the kamikaze ...
had become perfect. That's what we thought.
Until we saw that devilish Zero ..."
Original work by Hyakuta Naoki
Yes. What are you doing ?
What ... nothing special. Taking a walk.
How long will you waste your time without working ?
I've planned to go job hunting this afternoon.
Won't you soon be 30 already ?
As you have actually nothing to do, Kentarou, ...
I will introduce you for a good job.
What kind of job ? Hm, I want to do some research concerning our grandfather.
Do some research ... you call that work ? Hm ... listen ...
Next year is the 60 anniversary of the end of the war. Is it ?
And you are in the mood to listen to some of grandpa's war stories ?
Ah, when I say grandfather, I don't mean grandpa here.
It's about grandma's first husband.
You see, 6 years ago, when grandma died ...
Grandma. Thank you.
Thank you very much !
Grandpa ?
You're wrong. What ?
I am not your real grandfather.
Father, this is not the moment ...
What ? What does that mean, not our real grandfather ?
Don't say things we can't understand !
In that case, where is our real grandfather ?
He died in war.
I have been surprised. The person I believed to be our grandpa ...
isn't blood related with us at all.
He has always been affectionate with you, Kentarou.
Hasn't it been Grandpa's influence that made you aim at becoming a lawyer ?
I have already given that up. Excuse me please.
Or rather, you ran away from the bar examination. Because it was too difficult.
You see, when you fail 3 years in a row, that makes you think it over, usually.
And as the result you are doing part time jobs.
That's because I'm still thinking about it.
Hasn't it been 3 years ago, that you took the exam for the last time ?
What have you been thinking about for 3 years ? Listen ...
You want to write an article about this person who died in war ?
Hm ... I don't know but when I talked about it, people became interested.
Ah ... don't say this job ...
That's right, the project concerning the 60th anniversary of the end of the war, planned by Takayama-san.
I see, it's a work that your lover asked you to do.
That's only part of it, Mother too has been talking about it before that.
I wonder what kind of man he has been.
What ? My father who died ...
I was wondering what kind of man he was.
Father ?
No, No, my real father, who died in war.
You don't know anything about your real father ?
I wasn't even 3 when my father died in war.
I see. Didn't you hear anything from Grandma ?
Just once in my teens, I heard about it.
And then ?
"What do you want me to answer?", I have been told.
What does that mean ?
I don't know.
What do you mean, you don't know, you didn't hear anything else ?
That is, it was difficult to ask, after what I had been told.
Wasn't it just out of respect of the present grandpa, that she didn't talk about it ?
That's possible ...
or she simply couldn't talk about it.
At the age of 3, when he died, I only thought ...
that my mother's
and my father's married life had been short.
That's why mother too only knows ...
that her real father has died in war.
Well, I wonder if Grandpa hasn't ...
heard something from Grandma ?
I can't ask Grandpa something like that.
If he hasn't heard from Grandma something about her former husband.
I see. Listen, concerning our Grandfather who died in war ...
I have tried to seek information from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
"Miyabe Kyuuzou born in year 7 of Taisho era. [1918]
Showa 9 [1934] enlistement in the Navy.
Showa 20 [1945] killed in action in the sea of the Ryukyu Islands as a member of a kamikaze special attack unit."
Kamikaze special attack unit ?
A kamikaze attatck unit, that means ...
with an airplane, crash oneself in an ennemy ship or something.
Well, you can call it rather reckless, something like that.
What ! Our real grandfather ...
has been an extremely brave soldier.
Really, it's unbelievable that such blood runs in your veins.
That's clearly exaggerated. Well, I can't deny it.
So, how about it ? Did I wake your interest ? Not really ...
With just that one line about his life.
But having just this name, Miyabe Kyuuzou, and this little about his personal history ...
wouldn't it be possible to find out, which unit it was ?
Don't tell me you want to search for people who were in the same unit ?
You are quite bright, Kentarou-kun. But these are people who fought 60 years ago.
They are already dead. There might be still someone alive.
It is certainly a bit late to investigate now, but it is for sure the last chance.
In that case, why don't you investigate yourself ?
Because unlike you, I am quite busy. What do you mean ?
Are freelance writers that busy ?
It's because I am freelance, that I have lots of things to do.
Apart from that, aren't you concerned by this too ?
But I told you, I am not interested. Of course ...
I didn't say that it would be for free. Here !
Did I wake your interest a little more ?
A little.
Wait, Sis, is this the right way ?
It should be the right one.
You have really deciphered this letter correctly ?
In the past, they used this kind of writing.
Having been in the special attack unit, ...
means that Miyabe-san has been a fighter pilot ?
Hm, the man we will meet, wrote that he has been ...
a pilot in Rabaul like Miyabe-san.
The former navy second lieutenant Hasegawa-san.
Here.
This is the house of a former navy second lieutenant ?
Perhaps it doesn't work ?
Hello ... excuse me.
Excuse me.
We have been brought into contact through the veterans association ...
Saiki Kentarou and ...
Well, Hasegawa-san, you have been acquainted with our grandfather ?
I know.
This guy has been the navy's flying corps' greatest coward !
What ?
Miyabe Kyuuzou has been a man,
who above all was reluctant to die.
What do you mean by that ?
He was a man who untolerably wanted to stay alive.
That's what I mean.
Life is precious ...
I think that is a rather natural feeling.
That's a woman's feeling.
A woman's ...
Isn't it a natural thing to care about one's life ...
no matter if you are a man or a woman ?
Young lady ...
This is the way of thinking in time of peace.
I think, it's the right way of thinking at any time.
At that time ...
we were fighting over if this country called Japan would be destroyed or not.
That was the kind of battlefield ...
where me and Miyabe met.
At that time, 5000 kilometers to the south of Japan, in Rabaul ...
and furthermore 10000 kilometers away, in Guadalcanal, ...
a furious battle was starting to spread.
Everyday we flew missions from Rabaul to Guadalcanal.
And from every mission, many planes didn't come back.
That night 2 veterans of the 3rd flying corps assigned to the Rabaul base with me ...
didn't return ...
How was it ?
I see.
We are fighter pilots.
Since the time we have been trainees we live next to death.
Do you understand that ?
I understand.
Next time it's our turn !
You're right ! Anyway, life doesn't count for us !
When it's time to die, let's act like heroes !
Instead of living miserably, let's magnificiently die a noble death !
No, I will come back alive.
I want to come back alive.
That was Miyabe Kyuuzou.
What did you just say ?
What did you just say ! Flight sergeant Miyabe !!
What did you say ! Hey, don't mess around !!
What did you say !
Don't mess around ! Hey ! Don't mess around ... !!
This guy's rank was higher than mine.
And of course, beating a superior officer was punishable by imprisonment.
However ...
I should have beaten him.
"I want to come back alive."
Was he serious !
I want to come back alive ... I think it's a wonderful way of thinking.
Wonderful, you say ?
If everybody were thinking like this ...
there would be no wars. Sis !
If everybody cherished life there would be no wars ?
If you really believe that ... I believe it.
In that case, you should go around and explain that in those regions ...
where conflicts still go on.
However, battlefields are for fighting.
It's the soldier's duty to shoot the enemy in front of him.
In spite of that, this guy all the time ran from place to place.
Ran from place to place ?
The proof of this, is that this guy's ...
plane always returned undamaged.
It was at that time ...
that the mystery had been resolved.
On an air-raid to Guadalcanal ...
Grummans were lying in wait.
Before long, we were in a fight ...
and chased by two Grummans.
After shooting down the enemy, ...
before I knew it, I had been separated from the battlefield.
Thereupon, in order to return, I pulled up the nose of the plane.
And at that time ...
I saw a single Zero fighter ...
flying leisurely away from the battefield.
It was Miyabe's Zero.
This guy was just watching from above ...
without joining the combat.
What's this "I want to come back alive" ?
Do you call this, to survive ?
He just ran from place to place.
Everyone was deperately fighting ...
and like everyday, some comrades didn't make it back.
And in the middle of that ...
this guy just cared about his own life !
You call that wonderful ? Young lady !
No ...
this guy wasn't just the usual coward.
In Rabaul, there wasn't any fighter pilot ...
who owned a regular parachute.
Even if you get away with a parachute ...
you are just good to die by drowning, or to become shark bait.
Despite that, this guy all the time inspected his parachute.
Flight sergeant Miyabe, where do you want to jump with this parachute ?
The parachute is something important.
You ought to check it thoroughly.
Even if you check it this carefully ...
there is a chance in a million, that you will ever open it.
I hope that I will never have that opportunity.
He didn't even see the sarcasm.
However, a guy being to this point obsessed with his own life ...
The parachute is important.
That's what he said ...
At that time, when an enemy crew member ... tried to escape by parachute
the strangest of all things happened ...
Seeing this, I was disgusted.
Usually evading himself the dangers of the battlefield ...
he now shot remorselessly an inoffensive human being.
He wasn't just a coward ...
but he was really mean.
I hated this man called Miyabe ...
from the bottom of my heart.
That's why you remember him ?
What ?
It's because you hated him, that you remember him so well ...
Do you know the aircraft called 'Chuko' ? [aircraft developed by Mitsubishi G3M13]
No ...
It was a so-called land-based medium sized attack aircraft.
These attack aircrafts were rather slow.
That's why they were necessarily escorted by Zero fighters.
That's what we call 'fighter cover'.
On that day, I was flying as the Chukos' fighter cover too.
The enemy avoided to engage the fast Zero fighters ...
they only aimed at the Chukos.
That's why I defended the Chukos eagerly.
When the Grummans approached slowly ...
I plunged promptly into the space between the Chukos and the Grummans !
From the shoulder down, I was red with blood.
The pain let me lose consciousness several times.
Nevertheless, I was flying eagerly.
On that day, my Zero and after that ...
several others returned to the base with their wings and fuselage ...
covered with bullet holes.
Come on ! Hasegawa, are you okay ?
Astonishingly, among all the Zero fighters ...
there was only one plane that hadn't been hit.
Of course, it's Miyabe's Zero.
Hasegawa-san, hold on please !
Why !
This guy and me, hadn't we flown the same fighter cover ?!
Where has he been ...
while I was fighting desperately
While I was shot into my left arm !
Where has this coward been flying ?
That's what your grandpa was.
Do you understand now the reason ...
why I can't forget this guy ?
What has become of Miyabe after the war ?
The reason why I didn't refuse ...
that you come here, ...
was that I wanted to hear that from you.
Grandfather has ...
Miyabe Kuuzou has ...
He was killed in action in a kamikaze attack unit.
Kamikaze !?
A kamikaze attack near the end of the war ...
This coward ?
They certainly made him go unwillingly.
Despite having been ready to give my life in battle, I have lived a long life ...
and this man, who cared so much about his life died in a suicide attack ...
What's so funny about it ? Kentarou !
If that's not irony of life ...
then what in the world is it ?
He is bitter, don't you think ?
Even 60 years after the end of war.
Has he never been happy ?
Having lost one arm, didn't he think his life had been snatched away, I wonder.
Don't you feel somehow disappointed ?
That your own Grandfather appears to have been a coward.
Doing this investigation has become painful.
Oh. Hey ?
Is it okay that you are up, grandpa ? I have a visitor.
What ? Who do you think it is ?
Fujiki-san.
Ken-chan, it's been a while. You have become an adult.
When I left Oishi-sensei ...
you were still a student.
I have already graduated a while ago. I see.
Sensei, you are already back home ? So-so.
Don't you ask me ? What I am doing now.
You already heard it from Grandpa, about the bar examination.
Well, anyhow, I am not in the position ...
to comment on that.
Having been allowed to work at Oishi-sensei's, having learned a lot from him ...
and yet I finally abandoned him.
You couldn't help abandoning him with what happened to you.
I heard your father has been hospitalized again.
Did he collapse again ?
He's okay.
He has again been unreasonable at the factory. So he was a bit ...
How about the ironworks ?
They don't turn out well.
Whatever I do, the company is going into deficit.
I am ready to close, ...
but I can't do that because of the employees.
And what about marriage ?
Certainly not, that's impossible.
I am already 40.
I will be 30 next year too ...
and I am still idling, as my sister says.
Thank you.
Concerning the said guarantor ...
don't use my name.
And then, once you have established ...
the financial report, you may send it to me.
"Keiko-chan."
Ken-chan.
I am glad we met, see you.
Hm, see you.
See you, Sensei.
Take care. Hm.
Say, Grandpa ...
You have been over 30, when you took your bar examination ?
Indeed, because I had all the time worked for the National Railways.
From railway employee to lawyer.
As I thought, that's great.
What's the matter ? Did something happen ?
We have just been investigating about Miyabe Kyuuzou-san.
Ah, but ... That's Matsuno's former husband.
So, what did you find out ?
We wrote some letters to veteran associations ...
asking to search for someone who knew Miyabe Kyuuzou.
But for now, we have only heard the story of one person.
Someone who was in Rabaul with him, a Zero fighter pilot.
It seems that Miyabe Kyuuzou-san has been a Zero fighter pilot as well.
And ?
What did he say, this man ?
That he was a coward.
That he always ran away from the battlefield.
I wonder ...
It's because I have the blood of this man inside me, ...
that I don't make enough effort and finish giving up easily.
Don't be stupid.
You see, Kyoko, ...
your mother, has always battled in difficult circumstances since she was a child.
And she didn't make complaints at any time.
There is no blood of a coward inside you.
You are always kind with me, Grandpa.
Whatever I might say ...
Even if we aren't blood related ?
Although the war is over and 60 years have passed ...
Miyabe's grandchildren come to meet me.
That's how life goes.
According to your letter, you have been a Zero fighter crew member too, Itou-san ?
At the time we said 'rei sen'. [rei = zero / sen = war, battle]
The Zero fighter is a miracle created by that war.
It was not only fast, but had an excellent maneuverability.
It's cruising range was of 3000 kilometers.
At that time, the range of other fighter aircrafts was only of some hundreds of kilometers.
With the appearance of the Zero fighter ...
the Japanese army could engage war with America and even win it.
That was our conviction, I would say.
One way or the other, the Zero fighter has changed Japan's fate.
Where did you meet our grandfather, Itou-san ?
I fought together with Miyabe for over half a year, from Pearl Harbour to Midway,
as crew members of the aircraft carrier Akagi.
The result of history's first aircraft only attack on a fleet ...
was the sinking of 5 battleships.
3 others were severely damaged and over 200 airplanes were destroyed at the base.
As soon as the attack of Pearl Habour was over ...
there has been a loud celebration onboard the aircraft carrier Akagi.
However, only Miyabe was different.
What's the matter, Miyabe ? Itou-san.
You don't seem to enjoy yourself.
It looks like 29 planes didn't come back today.
I know.
But with that we achieved important results for the war.
We can say, that we had almost no losses.
But it's war, so there is always someone who will die.
Today ...
before my eyes, a dive bomber made a suicide attack.
He had been hit by the enemy's anti-aircraft fire.
I heard about it. It seems that he rammed the battleship at the last moment.
Just before the nose-dive ...
the two men on board the dive bomber ...
saluted me with smiling faces.
I couldn't believe, that their smiling faces ...
were the faces of someone who goes to meet his death.
Wasn't it because they had achieved enough results for the war today ?
When it's our time to die ...
I want to die too with the satisfaction of having accomplished enough for the war.
As for me, I don't want to die.
Why don't you want to die ?
Because I have a wife.
Everybody has a family.
I don't have a wife, but I have a father and a mother.
That's why I tell you, don't say that you don't want to die !
I ...
I am bringing disgrace to the Imperial Navy, that's it ?
That's right.
Miyabe's phrase of 'not wanting to die', as he said at that time, ...
even today, I can't accept it.
Ah ... I am sorry ...
for using these words in front of the grandchildren.
Don't be ...
But it's quite a mystery for me.
We weren't just soldiers who had received their call-up order.
We joined the Navy on our own accord, we volunteered for becoming fighter pilots.
You volunteered ?
Don't say our grandfather too ? Of course he did.
If he valued his life to this point ... and was so reluctant to fight ...
he shouldn't have volunteered.
Certainly ...
Why did our grandfather volunteer for becoming a fighter pilot ?
I don't know.
However, his flying skills were excellent.
Don't you recall anything else concerning our grandfather ?
The last time I saw Miyabe ...
was at Midway.
Midway ? Yes.
Japan believed that in a long-drawn-out war ...
it would inevitably been defeated.
For that reason we tried by all means ...
to beat the enemy's fleet.
Although 60 years have passed ...
I clearly remember that day.
After having finished the first attack on the Midway base of the American forces ...
we returned to the aircraft carrier Akagi ...
in order to change the weapons we were carrying.
It was because a second attack had been decided hurriedly.
The change consisted in replacing ...
the torpedoes, used for attacking aircraft carriers, by bombs better suited for attacks of ground targets.
However, immediately after that, ...
an order to replace all the bombs with torpedoes arrived,
What are we waiting for ? We have to attack immediately !
We can't sink an aircraft carrier with bombs made for ground targets.
Even if we don't sink it, we have to take the initiative !
It comes to nothing, If you just damage it and it escapes !
It's better than doing nothing !
The target of the operation are the aircraft carriers !
If the aircraft carriers are the target, why did we take off the torpedoes ?!
Shall we wait for the enemy's aircraft carriers like this ?
If we continue like this, the enemy will arrive !
And that's what happened.
At that time, the American forces, that had discovered the Japanese aircraft carriers, ...
launched the attack airplanes, that were ready to strike immediately, ...
without any fighter escort.
The Americans took the same risk of losing their lifes.
Nevertheless, the Japanese army didn't launch
it's bombers, still fussing about the torpedoes.
The outcome, the sinking of 4 aircraft carriers ...
and merely half a year after the attack of Pearl Harbour, Japan was now in an inferior position.
This battle certainly was the turning point.
And then, many comrades had died.
However, afterwards almost none of the top-ranking officers took the responsibility ...
for this large error of judgement.
And ... our grandfather after that ...
There is nothing more about Miyabe.
When I was contacted by the veteran association, ...
I heard that Miyabe was killed in action.
Yes. Grandfather was killed in action with the kamikaze special attack force.
The special attack force ? Yes.
Why did Miyabe volunteer for the special attack force ?
What ?
Volunteer ?
The special attack force was supposed to be a volunteer group.
Miyabe Kyuuzou has been a coward, hasn't he ?
Both of the witnesses said so.
60 years have passed and he is still hated and blamed.
Don't you want to give up this investigation ?
I wanted to give up.
But why ...
Well, the cowardly soldier has been ordered to do a suicide attack ...
against his will, that's what I thought.
But in fact, the kamikaze were volunteers.
Right.
Moreover, Miyabe Kyuuzou joined the Navy on his own accord ...
and volunteered for becoming a fighter pilot ...
And finally he was a volunteer for the special attack force.
Is that what a coward does ?
"Why did our cowardly grandfather volunteer for the special attack unit ."
Interesting.
We might use it for the 60th anniversary of the end of the war project.
It's unexpected that such materiel would turn up.
I am glad that you like it.
What ? Oh yes, there is also another job for you, if you want.
Ah, not specially.
If it's just one of the jobs you give me usually.
Ok, well, I will give that to someone else ...
and you concentrate on this project, Keiko-chan.
So, what about the next interview ?
Ah ... we haven't received that much replies from the veteran's association.
I see. I'll see if from my side I can find someone to interview.
Thank you.
Don't thank me.
Let's try to find the truth about this Miyabe Kyuuzou together.
I want this to become a really good article.
A former navy fighter pilot sergeant major ?
Hm. A man called Izaki Genjirou.
He was in Rabaul and has known Miyabe Kyuuzou.
Good find.
The power of a newspaper company is amazing.
So why didn't you let your reporter sweetheart do the investigation right from the beginning ?
This man called Izaki-san is actually hospitalized.
A sick person. Well, certainly just old age.
Is Monday okay ?
I have to come too ? You don't want ?
Well ... it looks like I will meet your lover.
Takayama-san is busy next week, so he wants us to go there alone.
Again ! Isn't this that guy's project ?
He's a busy person. He's not a bad guy.
You have lost your heart ... to this man.
I don't hate him. He's a nice person I think.
Of course he is unmarried ?
Hm. Ah ... divorced.
Divorced ?
I am sorry to have to receive you like this.
I am Izaki Genjirou.
Father, you'd better lie down ...
No, I am alright.
Since you contacted me, I have ...
all the time recalled everything about Miyabe-san.
You have been in Rabaul with our grandfather ?
Yes. We flew a lot together in the same Zero fighter unit.
Miyabe-san was someone who had a careful flying style.
A careful flying style ? Yes.
Always watching around him ...
the fuselage ... changing the angle frequently.
Even changing to inverted flight on the way ...
in order to be on his guard in direction of the ground.
That's because he was a coward ...
Has someone told you something ?
Miyabe Kyuuzou was a coward.
All the people we met, said so.
Ah, it's not a problem, tell us whatever you want.
We want to know the truth about our grandfather.
Miyabe-san was able to use such a flying style ...
because he was certain about his skills of controlling the aircraft.
And then he was more careful than anybody.
However ...
I understand what it means to be careful, but this is really too much.
Indeed. It's disgraceful.
Well ... Are you talking about platoon leader Miyabe ?
Look, even Izaki thought so.
No, I am rather vigilant too when there might be enemies around.
That's true for us as well.
But that guy begins right after leaving Rabaul.
And he continues all the time until he returns to the base.
That's because he has no nerves.
Have you ever seen such frightened eyes ?
Possibly he was born to be a coward, I wonder.
That's why he was called a coward ?
No, it wasn't that alone.
At that time, in order to break the communication lines between America and Australia, ...
Japan was building an airfield at Guadalcanal.
Guadalcanal ...
What about it ?
Ah, we heard about it before.
About flying missions every day from Rabaul.
Ah, well this story happened ...
a little bit earlier.
It was the time when the American forces ...
snatched away the airfield built at Guadalcanal.
The information that Guadalcanal had been taken ...
had been transmitted to Rabaul on the morning of that day.
The flight map !
Here is Rabaul and there is Guadalcanal.
It's the shore opposite from Tulagi.
There is a garrison in Tulagi.
It's far.
It's 560 nautical miles.
Attention !
Salute !
Stand at ease !
Gentlemen, I think that you have heard about Guadalcanal.
Thereupon it has been decided to cancel the air-raid against Rabi ...
and to attack instead an enemi troop ship group located in Guadalcanal.
That's impossible ...
It is not possible to fight at such a distance.
Who just said that it was impossible ?!
You ! What did you just say ?
This morning comrades have been honorably defeated at Tulagi.
Tulagi's seaplane unit has been totally destructed as well.
A soldier has to fight for revenge.
I am very sorry.
You are Miyabe ?
I heard rumours about you.
You coward !
From now on, if you ever talk as cowardly as you just did ...
I will not let you go away with that !
Are you okay, platoon leader ?
However, it's foolish to say things like that.
I ...
... want to curse the man who built this aircraft.
What did you just say ?
I am sorry to contradict you ...
but the Zero fighter is an excellent aircraft, I think.
Just one example, the cruising range ... Certainly ...
to be able to fly 1800 nautical miles ...
or to fly for 8 hours is amazing, I think.
Yes. Then ...
And yet, this faculty will make ourselves suffer.
Fight after having flown 560 miles, and then fly back 560 miles.
It's because of this faculty, ...
that such a strategie has been decided.
Being able to fly for 8 hours, means ...
that we can't be off our guard for 8 hours.
Yes. We don't know when the enemy will attack us.
We aren't civil aviation pilots.
As we don't know when the enemy will attack, 8 hours of flight ...
will exceed the limits of our strength.
We aren't machines.
We are human beings of flesh and blood.
The man who built the Zero fighter ...
did he keep in mind that it will be flown by such human beings ?
Even if he was called a coward, ...
platoon leader Miyabe was right with what he had pointed out.
After merely 2 days of fighting, ...
many of our comrades hadn't returned.
This went on for some time, and then one day ...
It was certainly at breakfast time ...
Ah ... !
Just one time, I want to eat a good stuffed rice cake.
Rice cake ?
We are fighting, risking our lifes !
So they could at least let us eat rice cakes !
Ah ! Me too !
I want to eat some too !
Now that you say it, me too.
Me too ! Me too !
Don't make such unreasonable demands in time of emergency !
It's for that reason, that I want to eat it !
I want to eat rice cakes now, because tomorrow I might be dead !
Hey ! Usually people saying things like that never die !
Surprisingly, at dinner that day ...
the cooks did the best they could.
By habit, we had everyone our designated seats, ...
but like everyday, some comrades ...
hadn't returned.
The comrade I had breakfast with in the morning, wasn't there that evening.
This was just an everyday occurence.
And so, that time too ...
"Ah ... !
Just one time, I want to eat a good stuffed rice cake."
The grief for a lost comrade doesn't come immediately after the loss.
Not immediately after the battle.
You feel it at dinner time.
That was Guadalcanal.
Moreover, at that time the world largest battleship, the Yamato, ...
was at Truk Island, merely ...
thousand and some hundred kilometers away.
But ...
But the Yamato didn't move.
The staff officers of the headquarters ...
while having extravagant meals, ...
just handed down orders to the soldiers.
That's why ...
we called it Hotel Yamato.
The Imperial headquarter's ...
and the military headquarter's high-ranking staff officers ...
They ...
didn't care about ...
the lifes of the soldiers.
They didn't even come into view.
That the soldiers, each one of them, ...
had a family or a loved one, ...
they didn't bother ...
to imagine such a thing.
Are you alright ?
Excuse me, he is again in pain.
I'll come immediately. Yes.
Only platoon leader Miyabe has been different.
Father, it's enough ...
Platoon leader Miyabe ... a coward ...
That's perhaps what you have been told.
It's enough. Once you feel better, we ...
No ... it's because I have been thinking so too.
But ... Father, stop it !
We will listen to your story another time. There will be no other time !
When you have lived nearly 80 years, you know such things.
Another time ... There might not be another time.
Yet ...
there are still things, I have to tell you.
Father ... Isaki-san, lie down please.
Father ... I will put on the IV drip.
Father ... Izaki-san ...
hasn't the doctor told you ?
You should stop talking about things that get you all worked up.
Ah ... yes.
But just one last thing.
Please.
Excuse us.
I have ... no.
Me too, I have been thinking that the platoon leader was a coward.
When it came to a fight, he quickly ...
retreated from there.
But this Miyabe ...
has saved my life.
Showa 17 (1942), at the time of the air-raid of Port Moresby ...
At the moment, I returned to the battlefield after shooting down an enemy ...
I have been chased by 2 enemy fighters, bullets flying on both sides.
Left or right, in whatever direction I tried to excape, they would get me.
I was prepared to die.
Suddenly, 1 of the enemy planes was shot down ...
and the other one escaped.
The one who saved me, was platoon leader Miyabe.
Perhaps Miyabe-san always flew at some distance from the dog-fights ...
in order to be able to save anybody ...
who was in a dangerous situation.
Thanks to that, I could survive.
Besides myself, there has been another person ...
who had been chased too far by an enemy.
Miyabe immediately started following him.
Me too, I left the battlefield with them.
For that reason, our three fighters returned to the base in Rabaul ...
separated from the other planes.
On the way, Koyama, ...
having only little fuel left so that he wouldn't be able to make it back, ...
signaled that he wanted to return to Guadalcanal and act as a suicide bomber.
When our planes were in bad condition, making it difficult to return, ...
we were supposed to crash our aircraft, aiming at an enemy vessel or base.
That's what we had been told.
Let's return.
Let me go !
Please, let me go !
I thought Miyabe-san's orders reckless ...
to return to the base, with fuel ...
for merely 100 miles.
It's an order.
Miyabe-san slowly tried to gain altitude ...
because by flying at higher altitude, our fuel consumption would be lower.
Koyama said that he would be able to fly over 100 miles.
We had just to keep on flying for another 10 minutes ...
However, Koyama's Zero ...
slowly began to descend.
Koyama ! Koyama !
Koyama !
At that moment, how much Koyama must have regretted ...
I have been thinking.
Platoon leader !
Why didn't you let Koyama do the suicide bombing ?!
Platoon leader !
After all, if he had to die ... at least ...
He wanted at least to accomplish something worth of a fighter pilot !
Platoon leader, I am asking you.
If I am shot, let me do a suicide bombing like a man !
You only have one life !
Don't you have a family ?
Is there no one to regret you, if you die ?
Are you bastard without a single relative ?
Answer, Izaki !
In my hometown, I have my father and my mother.
Is that all ? I have a younger brother too.
And you think, your family will not be sad if you die ?
No ! In that case, don't die !
However difficult it may be, let's do our best to survive.
After that and even later on ...
I have never again been yelled at by Miyabe-san.
I didn't think that it had really been the words of a coward.
Miyabe-san seemed to cherish his life more than anybody else.
That's what I believe today.
But ...
What ?
This man who cherished life more than anybody ...
has shot down an American soldier who tried to escape with a parachute ?
Ah, that really happened.
You know about it ?
Yes.
On our way back to Rabaul ...
after having finished the attack of Guadalcanal ...
we have been attacked by a Grumman.
It has been platoon leader Miyabe who shot him down.
I admired the platoon leaders skill.
However, immediately after that ...
He shot down an inoffensive human being.
It was an unpleasant thing to see, I have been thinking.
Miyabe !
Don't you have the compassion of the samurai at all ?
You are not supposed to steal the life of an enemy who has been shot down !
A guy like you, is a disgrace of a man !
We are fighter pilots and we should act like samurai !
Never again behave like someone who stabs ...
a fleeing enemy with a bamboo spear.
Yes.
We all thought like the squad leader.
Platoon leader Miyabe I have something I want to ask you.
Why did you shoot the American soldier with the parachute ?
In order to kill a crew member.
Izaki.
What we are doing here is war. Yes.
War means to kill people. Yes.
America's industrial power is terrible.
They build new aircrafts in the blink of an eye.
It's for this reason ...
that we have to kill the crew members.
But ... however ... I ...
think that I am myself a murderer.
Of course ...
the pilots of the American forces too are murderers, I think.
That enemy certainly was a skilled crew member.
If I had let him return alive, how many Japanese would he have killed after that ?
And then, I might have been one of them.
That's what war is about.
It was as if I felt it for the first time.
You can't gloss over war.
After all, it's just about killing each other.
In order to survive ...
you have to kill numerous enemy soldiers.
That's war.
If he had let live the American soldier ...
he might have been killed himself by this man later on.
But why has our grandfather ...
to this point been called a coward on the battlefield ?
Why ?
Miyabe-san had this habit.
In the evening, he left the quarters ...
and didn't come back for about an hour.
What was he doing ?
I was worried about that too and so I went to look for him.
I understood right away what he was doing.
While the fighter aircraft is turning and looping ...
the control stick can become extremely difficult to move.
That's why Miyabe-san was doing this training.
Excuse me. I didn't want to spy on you.
What I am doing, is not specially a secret.
Well ...
May I try to take it ?
Yes. Excuse me.
Are you doing this all the time ?
Yes, it's for myself. I do it every night.
Every night ?
On days when we have been on mission as well ?
Yes.
But in the evenings after a mission ...
I am usually so tired that I don't even want to move.
And despite that, you don't feel like giving up ?
Is this your wife and child ?
Her name is Kiyoko.
It's written like 'Kiyoi Ko' [=pure child]
Kiyoko-san is a beautiful person, isn't she ?
Kiyoko is the name of my daughter.
When have you married ?
In the beginning of last year, after coming back from China.
At that time, I have been with Yokohama's flying corps for a while.
My name is Kuroda and I am acting as the go-between today.
Please be kind to me.
The bridegroom, drink this up in three shares please.
Give me back the sake cup.
If I had known that shortly after that ...
I would take part in the attack on Pearl Harbour ...
I wouldn't have married her, but ...
Without having exchanged a single word with Matsuno, ...
we held the marriage ceremony.
Ah, her name is Matsuno.
This photograph is still new.
I just received it.
That means your child ... Yes.
I haven't seen her even once.
She has only been born this summer.
I order to meet my daughter ...
whatever it takes, I won't die.
This was the only time, that Miyabe-san talked to me about his family.
Our grandfather's marriage hasn't been a love marriage ?
His married life has only lasted one week.
That means ...
that he has barely spent any time together with his wife, ...
that is to say, with our grandmother.
Probably.
That is, in our time, ...
there were rarely love marriages.
Excuse me, I am a bit tired.
Half a year ago, the doctor told me, that I had only 3 month left ...
but today I understood ...
why I have lived until now.
I have been allowed to live until now ...
in order to tell you Miyabe-san's story.
I wonder, if my mother, who was then only 3 year old, ...
has ever met Miyabe-san.
Well that ... why ?
That is, Miyabe-san said that he absolutely didn't want to die ...
in order to see his daughter.
Wasn't it rather because he was a coward ?
Wasn't it just an excuse ? And so he stayed away from the battlefield, ...
saying that he didn't want to die, because he held on to the memory ...
of someone who was hardly his wife.
But it's good like this.
That Grandma ...
met our actual grandpa, instead of continuing her married life with ...
this cowardly Miyabe-san.
An ordnance soldier who was in Rabaul ?
Yes, former ordnance chief warrant officer Nagai Kiyotaka-san.
Does this Nagai Kiyotaka-san know Miyabe Kyuuzou ?
It seems he knew him. But because it's from the time in Rabaul ...
he probably doesn't know why he performed the suicide attack.
Has it been Takayama-san who found this man ? That's right.
So of course Takayama-san will come too ?
Sorry.
What are you doing ? Let's go quickly.
Ah, we arranged to meet here. What ?
It's because Nagai-san always takes a walk at this time of day.
That's what I call a newspaper reporter, always well informed.
Do I sense a hint of sarcasm ?
You're in good health. Taking a walk every day.
I have to do some walking, ...
since I left the fields to my son.
Hower, I can't believe it myself.
That such a worn out old man ...
has once been in war against the Americans.
You have been together with our ...
grandfather in Rabaul ?
Yes, I remember Miyabe-san well.
What kind of man has he been ?
What kind of man ... let me see.
A coward for example ? Kentarou !
There has certainly been the rumour that Miyabe-san was a coward.
To tell you the truth, I believed that rumour too ...
because his Zero fighter always came back ...
unharmed, having even bullets left.
In other words, he barely participated in the dogfights.
Miyabe, your aircraft is always flawless.
I felt that the engine becomes abnormally hot.
What ?
The sound too, doesn't feel right.
It's you, Nagai-san who are in charge of the engine, aren't you ?
Yes !
According to the gauges, I wasn't short of fuel.
So it must have another origin.
Could you please fix that ?
Yes, at your orders.
Thank you.
Thanks to your maintenance, I can fight without reserve.
Fight without reserve ... that's well said.
Miyabe-san always expressed himself politely ...
but he was touchy about maintenance.
That's why he was called a coward ?
However, when I did the maintenance after that ...
I positively found something defective.
Therefore this uncomfortable feeling about the engine.
Yes. I found a fuel leak ...
a most terrifying defect.
As the thermometer inside the plane was damaged too, it had been discovered lately.
But Miyage-san guessed this ...
just from the sound of the engine.
This too, didn't really please the ...
maintenance soldiers.
I imagine he must have been hated.
But I liked him.
You see, this has been my home town.
At this place, there has been a soy sauce factory.
As the third son of a farmer family, ...
after finishing common primary school, ...
I started my apprenticeship there, but it was closed and then ...
having nothing to earn my keep, ...
in order to work for my bread, I became a soldier.
Perhaps our grandfather was in the same situation ?
No, it was different for Miyabe-san.
But he seems to have had a hard life too.
Did you hear something from our grandfather ?
His father had gone bankrupt because of speculations.
That's certainly what he told me.
You talked with our grandfather about such things ?
I like to play Go ...
and so Miyabe-san often played with me.
I remember it well, because it was rather unusual for a non-commissioned officer ...
to play Go with a simple soldier.
"I apologise to the creditor for my death"
Saying so, my father hanged himself.
I am sorry, it wasn't my intention to ask you something like that.
No.
It's your turn Nagai-san.
It must have been hard for you
It has been even harder for my mother.
After that she became sick and collapsed.
Don't say your mother has died as well ?
The only person I could rely on, had died too.
That's why you joined the Navy, Miyabe-san ?
My dream was to graduate from middle school and then go to high school.
It's regrettable, despite having been sent to middle school ...
It's not specially regrettable.
Because as I am today ...
I have a much more important dream.
Do you understand ?
No.
What is it ?
To stay alive and to return with my family.
Stay alive and return with my family.
As his parents had died ...
his family means his wife and child ?
That's right.
So it's just what I thought, ...
he has told you, that he wanted to stay alive ...
in order to return to his wife and child.
But hasn't his married life lasted merely one week ?
He hadn't even seen his daughter, so why ?
Our grandfather ... Miyabe Kyouzou ...
did he tell you that he loved his wife ?
No.
Our generation didn't use words like 'love'.
However, Miyabe-san told me, that he ...
didn't want to die because of his wife.
For our generation, that meant the same ...
as saying 'to love'.
No, it meant perhaps even more.
In that case ... why ...
Why did our grandfather volunteer for the suicide attack ?
Loving his wife and child ... Wait please !
I have heard that Miyabe-san died in action ...
but did he really go to the suicide unit ?
Yes. He died in action at the suicide unit.
I can't believe it ... most of the crew members who died with the suicide unit ...
were young pilots called reserve officers.
I see ...
Even skilled crew members like Miyabe-san took part in the suicide attacks.
However, I can't believe it.
That is, at that time ...
At that time ?
In summer of year 18 (1943), ...
we flew air-raids day after day.
The surrounding islands having been ...
taken by the enemy, the situation became precarious in Rabaul.
In the midst of all that, it happened, that an American crew member ...
crashed inside the base.
It's over there.
He is dead.
Yes, he's dead.
He is already dead.
This guy went down by parachute in enemy territory.
He certainly expected to become war prisoner.
In his place I would have done a suicide bombing in the enemy base.
What a shameless man.
Search his personal effects. Yes.
Look ... this guy has something like this.
It was the photograph of a naked young white woman.
A photograph of a naked woman, ...
I hadn't seen something like that before.
It was probably the case for everybody here.
Just as I said.
He really is a shameless man.
Stop it.
Look.
Those guys, while looking at such obscene photographs ...
Sorry.
Bastard ... what does that mean !
It's the man's wife on this photograph.
To my loved husband ... that's what is written on it.
If possible, let's bury him together with it.
That's what he was like, Miyabe-san.
Because of leaving the loved ones behind, death was so painful.
He felt that more than anybody else.
Master sergeant Miyabe, is there anything defective today ?
Yes, when I pull up the control stick ...
the fuselage veers slightly to the left,
can you check that please ?
Yes, at your orders.
This was an overcoat as they were suplied in the cold regions.
By the way, Miyabe-san took this ...
overcoat all the time with him.
I took care of it ...
Master sergeant Miyabe.
Yes.
Well ... as you are always taking care of this ...
Ah ... that one.
It looks a bit different from the ones we are supplied with.
It has a fur collar and it is a bit more thick.
It was a kind attention from my wife.
Ah, from your wife.
About 2 years ago ...
Before we went to Etorofu in preparation of the attack of Pearl Harbor ...
I could return home just for one day.
I'm back.
Welcome back.
Ah ... tadaima.
Though we hadn't seen each other for a long time ...
we had nothing to talk about.
No wonder.
Me and my wife got married right after we met ...
and our married life hadn't been more than one week.
When finally I was able to speak ...
it was already night.
Matsuno-san.
Yes.
I should have said it earlier but ...
Yes.
I have to leave tomorrow morning.
I am sorry.
This time, when will you come back ?
Well, I don't know.
And where are you going ?
Sorry.
We are not supposed to talk about that.
In the ocean ...
There is ice in the ocean, it seems.
It looks like it is such a place.
Ah, take a look at this.
Because of that ...
we have been supplied with these.
Look.
It looks warm, don't you think ?
Wearing that, in whatever cold place ...
Ah, what are you doing ?
If that's the case ...
If that's the case ... you ...
should have left more clothes
Let me ...
put some cotton inside it like this.
And then ...
the leather I have been given ...
There is some leather.
I will use this.
And fix it to the collar.
This way ... this way ...
If I do it like this, it will do.
Like this it will become a warm overcoat.
I will make it.
I will make it until tomorrow morning.
As long as you wear this ...
to whatever cold place you might go ...
you will be alright.
Even ...
if it is an icy place.
Be sure ...
Be sure to stay alive ...
Stay alive ...
After that I didn't hear any longer.
However ...
I had seen something irreplaceable.
That's what I thought.
Without fail ...
I will come back home alive.
Even if I lose an arm ...
or I lose a leg ...
For sure ...
I will come back to your side for sure.
He loved her, our grandfather.
Even ...
if they married without exchanging a word before.
Whatever ...
short married life they may have lived.
At a time, when you couldn't ...
decide yourself about your life, ...
Miyabe-san cherished his life ...
more than anybody else.
Yes.
Grandfather cherished life ...
for the sake of the short ...
but certain love he had ...
brought up for his wife ...
and the wish to meet the daughter, he hadn't yet seen.
It's strange.
If that's the case, it's really strange.
Such a man would not volunteer for the suicide unit.
Gentlemen, pray for a good fight.
I will come back home alive.
I will come back to your side for sure.
And yet ... why ?
Miyabe refused the special attack unit.
I will absolutely not volunteer for the special attack unit.
I think I have been brainwashed in order to become
a member of the special attack unit.
Did you think you could save your family ...
by dying yourself ?
For sure, I won't die.
His eyes weren't the eyes of someone who resigned himself to die.
I wonder if he tried an emergency landing.
Don't tell anything to anybody. However. This is an order.
Miyabe Kyuuzou is a devil.
Those who volunteer for the special attack unit, one step forward.
Master sergeant Miyabe ...
do you think your life is precious ?
Answer !
Life ...
is precious.
I ...
didn't save a single plane.
How many men died, you think ?
How many men died, what do you think ?
My live is ...
above their sacrifice.
Perhaps Grandpa didn't go to the special attack unit ...
in order to die.
Most likely ...
in order to live.
Live !