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.
That's why he continuously declared us inapt.
He has a strong personality.
Compared to him ...
Despite having been to university, we never think with our own heads.
Right.
We are cowards.
Well ...
It's difficult to ask you that ...
Go on, whatever it may be.
Takeda-san, why did you accept to go to the special attack unit ?
How have you been made to accept your own death ?
Sis ! That's a difficult question, isn't it ?
Excuse me.
Why I accepted death ...
There couldn't be any higher ideal than this evidence, I think ...
With my own death, I would save my family ...
This might sound as if I wished to embellish it, ...
but if I could have, I would have given my life happily.
You have been thinking that you could have saved your family with your own death ?
Do you want to say that the death of the members of the attack unit has been in vain ?
No.
One's own death is neither meaningless nor worthless.
If you don't think like this, why would you die in the special attack unit ?
Why would you have to die ...
People cannot think otherwise.
That's why ... that's the reason why I reject the special attack unit.
I firmly reject it.
But let's return to Miyabe's story.
From the day we had filled out the application form, I couldn't help but thinking about Miyabe, who had refused the special attack unit.
Then one day ...
Takeda-san.
You have been particularly skillful today.
You think so ? Yes.
You begin to be quite better than anybody else.
I understand why the navy has made many university students fighter pilots.
Thank you very much. However ...
Those who are skilled, will go to the special attack unit.
This morning, one of my students has departed for a mission from Kanoya.
At the beginning of the war, the Zero fighter has been an invincible soldier.
Yes.
He is an old soldier now.
At that time ... I have been thinking that the Zero fighter and instructor Miyabe had become one.
The was no difference between the Zero fighter and instructor Miyabe, I thought.
It was exactly at that time, that a friend died ...
Durning a nose dive training, he failed to pull up.
I think you know about the incident that happened today.
The reserve officer who died, didn't have enough spirit ! How can you fight on the battlefield like this ?
And how can you lose your life during training and at the same time crush a precious aircraft ?
A guy like that is a disgrace to the army !
First lieutenant.
The second lieutenant Mutou who has died, ...
has been a splendid man.
This man hasn't been a disgrace to the army.
You bastard !
What did you just say ?
That he was a splendid man and ... Shut up !
Don't be impertinent towards a special duty officer !
We couldn't do anything.
First lieutenant ! Let loose !
But I have been moved.
I thought that it was okay that I went to the attack unit while this man would be spared.
And I wasn't the only one to think so.
Some days later, while instructor Miyabe was leading the nose dive training of some students ...
4 Sikorsky swooped down from a gap in the clouds. [the Japanese called the Vought F4U Corsair 'Sikorsky']
Look ...
As there had been no air-raid alarm, instructor Miyabe didn't notice. Sensei !!
At that moment ...
The ascending Zero fighter leapt into the gap between Miyabe-san's Zero and the Sikorsky.
The training machine had no machine guns. So he tried to sacrifice himself.
And then instructor Miyabe, who had noticed, ...
After firing his machine gun into one Sikorsky, he managed to get into the back of another one ...
and to shoot this one down as well.
The remaining 2 Sikorsky fled to an advantageous higher altitude ...
but instructor Miyabe, without pursuing them, seeing that his flight student, who had been shot, had managed to get down safe, landed himself too.
Instructor Miyabe ... instructor Miyabe ...
Where is the officer who has saved me ? He has taken some bullets, but he is still conscious.
Come on, come on, you will be alright ...
You will be alright ... come on ... hurry !
What was that stupid thing you have done ?
You are safe ?
Why have you been so unreasonable ?
Instructor Miyabe is a person that Japan needs.
You are a person that absolutely mustn't die.
We're almost there ... hurry ! Come on ...
Come on ! Just a little longer ... hey, come on !
Our grandfather had his life saved by someone too.
But, I understand less and less.
It seems that Grandfather said that he wanted to return alive for his wife and child.
He also told other people to survive, make an emergency landing and survive.
After becoming an instructor too, he didn't want his students to die. He said so and yet ...
That's right.
Despite that, why did he go to the special attack unit ?
Soon after that, instructor Miyabe has been assigned to Kyushu.
For instructor Miyabe ... salute !
Stand at ease.
Instructor Miyabe.
Please stay safe.
I will ...
... not die, no matter what.
At that time, I have seen an amazing will to live in instructor Miyabe's eyes
I thought, this man certainly won't die.
That was the last time, I have seen Miyabe-san.
An amazing will to live.
Until the end, Grandpa wanted to live.
In that case why ...
That was the first time ... that you called Miyabe Kyuuzou 'Grandpa'.
I won't stop this investigation before I understand.
Why Grandpa went to the special attack unit ...
In order to know that, we need a witness who has seen Grandpa go to the special attack unit.
Kentarou-kun, sorry for having kept you waiting. Well, an urgent job just came in.
You are not with my sister ? I haven't called your sister.
Do you know Kagoshima's Kanoya ? Yes.
It was the mission base of the special attack unit.
Kageura ... Kaizan-san, that's how you read it ? Hm, former first class Navy flight sergeant.
He seems to have known Miyabe-san in Kanoya.
Perhaps if Miyabe-san departed with the attack unit from Kanoya ...
He might know why Grandfather went to the attack unit ... Probably.
I'll go and listen to the man's story. Hm. We'll go just the two of us.
This man has been until recently the leader of this well known yakuza organization.
That's why we'd better not take your sister to this place.
And it's okay for us ?
Well, you are a man and it's about your grandfather ...
That's right but ... And then ...
young people, who don't know about the war, following the footsteps of their grandfather, who died with the special attack unit, that's an interesting project.
Wait, don't decide on your own, what our project is.
That's the point of view of the other party.
The other party, you mean ...
Hm, right. In fact, this Kageura-san might refuse, if we tell him, that we are gathering material for an article.
So, it won't work out. Actually, he will be okay, if I come with Miyabe Kyuuzou's grandchildren.
And then, the other party said he knew about Miyabe-san.
Has he. Hm.
That's why it's absolutely necessary that it's you who go.
Absolutely necessary ...
That man really hasn't any remorse.
Remorse ?
Actually he is using our name ... To attract the witnesses ...
But it's Takayama-san who finds those witnesses.
And then Takayama-san reconsidered ... concerning Takeda-san.
That it wasn't the right attitude, towards the object of the interview. Object of the interview ?
He is not a bad person. Well, finally he isn't coming today.
That's because I was against it.
He had said that you'd better not go to the house of this ex-yakuza, and finally ...
I go because I want to go.
Sis, you think you will be happy ? What ?
If you marry that guy ... Do you think you will be happy if you marry Takayama-san ?
I think so, because Takayama-san loves me.
That's all ?
What ?
So the requirements as a marriage partner are met ?
What's that ?
Journalist in an important company ... well, the working hours might be irregular, but ...
the income is certainly high and the social status as well ...
Am I wrong ? You don't care about such things ?
Just as I thought.
And if I were, what's wrong about it ?
Nothing, but ...
Men don't change their life when they marry, but for women it's different.
What's different ?
What kind of man you marry, determines your future work and life.
I don't want you to say that I am simply selfish, just because I carefully choose a man corresponding to my requirements
Listen Sis ... I have written a letter for Fujiki-san.
What ?
That there is a man, I will probably marry.
Why ? Why did you do such a thing ?
I wonder ...
Fujiki-san hadn't proposed to you, that's what you said.
But you might have, Sis. ... That time.
Keiko-chan.
The fact that you cried, wasn't that a confession ?
Sis !
There is no name plate, but it's this address.
We have been waiting for you. Please come in.
You are Miyabe's grandchildren.
Thank you for accepting to receive us ...
Don't pay attention to these men.
These young men have been sent by the organization for training.
To serve as my body guards, I suppose.
And now ?
Haven't you something to ask me ?
Well, I thought that you looked quite young ...
I heard that you will be 80 soon ...
You came to ask me that ?
Grandfather ... Miyabe Kyuuzou ... well ...
We came today to ask you about our grandfather.
Kageura-san, you have been at the base of the special attack unit in Kyushu's Kanoya with our grandfather.
Miyabe flew to a mission with the attack unit from Kanoya.
Did you see our grandfather going to the special attack unit ?
I have seen him from a short distance.
You remember it, don't you ?
Even now, I clearly remember Miyabe.
Because he was someone I wanted to kill.
Wanted to kill ?
Even without killing him, this guy's fate was to die.
When I met Miyabe again ... Wait a second please !
Why did you ... wasn't he a comrade ?
Kageura-san, weren't you and Grandfather comrades fighting the Americans ?
And in that case, what ?
In that case, ... why did you want to kill that grandfather ...
and why, even if you didn't kill him, was it his fate to die ?
I ... I hated Miyabe.
Are you surprised that I suddenly say something like that ?
No.
We have also met people like that ...
who told us that Grandfather ... that Miyabe Kyuuzou has been a coward.
Why did our grandfather, who was a coward, go to the special attack unit ... that's what we want to know.
But before that, Kageura-san, would you tell us, why you hated our grandfather to that point ?
I see.
You are Miyabe's grandchildren.
It hasn't been in Kanoya, that I met Miyabe for the first time.
So, where was it ?
It was autumn of Showa 18 (1943) in Rabaul.
So, you too, Kageura-san ... Yes.
At that time, every day many enemy aircrafts came to make air-raids and we chased them.
And during such a fighting, this guy ...
It's my wife and daughter.
We have already heard from another person, that Grandfather always had a photograph of his wife and daughter with him.
Have you ?
It's because it was a well known story in Rabaul.
Is there something wrong with that ?
You want to say, that today's young people all do that ?
Yes.
You can't blame ...
We are not talking about some weak office worker, who has quit his job and has nobody to rely on !
In those days it was different.
We were fighting for our lifes. And Miyabe talking about his wife and child disgusted us.
But it's not only for that, that I hated this guy.
You already heard that Miyabe was a coward.
Yes, from different people.
But that was because he wanted to see again his wife and child.
If Miyabe had been a simple coward, as many people said, I would just have laughed.
But what I couldn't stand above all, was that this guy was an extraordinarily skilled fighter pilot.
What ?
We heard this from different people as well.
In Rabaul, I have shot down more than 20 aircrafts. I had confidence in my dogfight skills.
The sky was the world I lived in.
In the sky, I wouldn't have any regrets, if I died being shot down by an enemy.
I was thinking so, when I heard this rumour.
A rumour ?
That Miyabe had shot down nearly 100 aircrafts.
I couldn't believe such a rumour.
Master sergeant Miyabe, I have something I want to ask you. What is it ?
How many aircrafts did you shoot down ?
I don't remember.
This guy's way of speaking was always stupidly polite.
And yet he was of the same rank as me.
He was irritating on purpose.
Many people repeat this rumour. Some say it has been 10, some say it has been 100 planes.
And in reality, what is the truth ?
How many enemies I have shot down ... Is that important ?
Of course it is. Am I wrong ? No.
War means to cause losses to each other. Yes ...
If our losses are low and the enemy's losses are high, the headquarters declare that we have won.
Yes.
If we shoot down 10 enemy planes, and we lose only 1, it's a great victory.
However ...
what if this 1 aircraft is yours ?
Whatever number of enemy planes you may have shot down, if you are shot down just one time, it's over for you.
I ... I just want to do my fight.
That's what I think too.
That's why I desperately fight, not caring so much about how many planes I shoot down, but about not being shot down myself.
However, master sergeant Miyabe !
"The sword and Zen are the same" isn't that Miyamoto Musashi ?
Yes.
Musashi ran away several times during his life.
He never fought against an opponent, against whom he couldn't win.
That's certainly the essential point in battle.
I had the feeling that something I had believed in, had been proven wrong.
I had the feeling, that I had been laughed at as if I were a chlid.
So I proposed this guy a mock dogfight.
A mock dogfight ?
It's a training, simulating a dogfight.
You take aim at the opponent ...
and you do the movements until the point of firing ...
... shot down.
A mock dogfight ?
Please.
It's not necessary. You have good skills, Kageura-kun.
I have heard that your mock dogfight skills are unequalled, master sergeant Miyabe.
I want you to teach me.
After all, a mock dogfight is just training.
It's not a real fight. I understand that, however ...
Flight sergeant Kageura.
In a real fight you are even better than me.
Please.
I refuse.
Master sergeant Miyabe. Don't insist !
What a humiliation.
So finally you didn't have your mock dogfight ?
No ...
That day, many enemies came for air-raids.
But we had the advantage in the skies over the base.
The fight was over after some ten minutes.
Before I knew, there were neither enemies nor friends around me.
No, below me there was just 1 Zero fighter.
It was Miyabe's plane.
At that moment, I decided to do it.
This meant, that I declared my intention to do a mock dogfight.
Thereupon Miyabe accepted.
During these sharp turns, the body is exposed to an important gravitational force.
The internal organs and the eyeballs hurt as if they were smashed.
If the dorsal and abdominal muscles aren't trained the backbone might break.
If you succumb to this suffering and give up turning ...
the opponent will come into your back, shoot you down and the dogfight will be over.
This guy had given up earlier. I thought I had won.
I didn't understand what had happened.
His plane had disappeared.
Even now I can't forget that shock.
His fuselage almost touched the fuselage of my plane.
He didn't even need to aim.
He had just to pull the trigger and I would be blown away.
It was a perfect win.
I had lost.
At that time.
His plane entered into my sight.
At that time.
His plane entered into my sight.
I don't have any excuses.
I did ...
something unthinkable.
You shot down our grandfather ?
This guy was ...
Miyabe Kyuuzou was ...
far from being finished ...
He was reading it all.
I was resigned to be shot down.
From the moment I had pulled the trigger ...
I had become a man who wasn't worth living.
Shoot !
Having nowhere to escape, I was waiting to be shot down.
Shoot, shoot !
But he didn't shoot.
There was nothing else to do but to crash myself.
He signaled me to stop it.
It felt as if I had been told, that it would be cowardly to kill myself.
I signaled him that I had understood.
We returned to the base.
I decided to confess to the whole squad that I had shot at him and then I would cut open my stomach.
Kageura. It's alright, don't say a word about it.
Don't tell anybody.
But ... That's an order !
You fired at me.
However I am alive.
So ... don't talk about it.
Don't die in vain !
I was overwhelmed with a sense of defeat.
I had challenged him arbitrarily into a dogfight, ...
I had lost and on top of that I had been tested.
However, after all ...
I didn't die.
You think that I am a coward ?
I lost to Miyabe.
And yet he didn't kill me.
This guy didn't have the courage.
However from this day on ...
I have valued life.
I thought that I would not die before I had killed him.
In short, it was as he had said.
I became afraid of dying in vain.
He made me take hold of my life.
A dark rage was swirling in my heart.
I swore that someday I would shoot him.
And then in Showa 20 (1945) ...
when I was assigned to Kanoya base ...
I met again the man that I even saw in my dreams.
It's him.
It's Miyabe.
But I didn't recognize him right away, ...
because his looks had changed.
From his rank badge I saw, that he now was second lieutenant.
Second lieutenant Miyabe.
I'm Kageura.
I am myself flight sergeant now.
Since that time, I have improved my skills too.
I no longer lose easily.
This guy didn't remember me.
And yet, there hadn't been a single day that I hadn't thought of him.
I recalled the anger and humiliation from the time of Rabaul.
I will kill this man, that's what I really thought.
But the next morning, I had a surprise.
Among the members of the special attack unit, there was Miyabe.
Gentlemen, pray for a good fight.
Second lieutenant Miyabe.
You are with the special attack unit ?
If you are covering me, Kageura, I am relieved.
He remembered me.
This pleasure and the bitterness of having wanted to kill him ...
were blanked out in my head by the question of ...
why this guy had gone to the special attack unit.
Which reminds me, the Zero fighter that he flew at that time, was a Type 21.
The old type that had been used during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Why was someone with Miyabe's skills flying such an old Zero fighter ...
I felt an uncontrollable anger.
I wouldn't let Miyabe be hit by a single bullet from the enemy.
If the enemy attacked, I would shoot everybody down.
And if I had no bullets left, I would ram the enemy in order to protect Miyabe.
That was the only thing I was thinking.
However ...
Old piece of junk ... show some fighting spirit !
Second lieutenant Miyabe. Miyabe ...
Miyabe-san.
Forgive me please.
So, Grandfather has ... Miyabe Kyuuzou has ...
There is nothing more.
Grandfather has ...
Has he done a suicide attack ?
I haven't been able to see his last moments.
But at that time, the suicide aircrafts, usually barely managed to reach the American fleet.
Probably he has been shot down by an enemy fighter.
It was probably the revenge ...
towards this Japan that had killed Miyabe.
That I continued to live ...
And yet ... he has been called a coward ...
because he wanted to return to his loved wife and child ... That's what our grandfather certainly declared.
Despite that, why ... did our grandfather go to the special attack unit ?
His eyes ...
weren't the eyes of someone resigned to die.
If you are covering me, Kageura, I am relieved.
What do you mean by that ?
Does it mean that until the end, he didn't lose his hope that he would survive ?
I don't know.
This is the end of my story.
Kentarou.
What has become of your grandmother ?
Your grandmother.
She died 6 years ago ...
Do you know something about our grandmother ?
Did she ...
Did she have a happy life ?
I think she did.
I see.
Have you met our grandmother ? I haven't.
I don't have any interest in his family.
Then, why ? That's all for the story.
Please go home.
Thank you very much for your time.
I'm sorry.
Forgive me.
What does that mean ?
His eyes weren't the eyes of someone resigned to die.
Right before the suicide attack, Grandpa wasn't resigned to die ?
Listen well.
If you are ordered to do a suicide attack, you make an emergency landing, anywhere on some island.
Emergency landing ...
What ?
I wonder if he has made an emergency landing ?
If you think of it like this, it becomes coherent.
He valued his life to this point, because of his wife and child ...
He refused the special attack unit and told other people to make an emergency landing ...
Why did he go himself to the special attack unit ...
Well then, why didn't Grandpa make an emergency landing ?
Kageura-san told us ...
He has certainly been shot down by an enemy fighter.