80th Anniversary of the End of World War II: "Film Festival to Pass on the Memories and Records of the War Notice of Holding

The "Film Festival to Pass Down Memories and Records of War" is held every August to screen films about war and the atomic bombing, along with talk shows with invited guests related to the films. 14 years have passed since its establishment, and this year the festival will be held for three days from August 2 to 4 at Shinbungeiza in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, screening the following three films and holding a special talk show.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, and the theme of the festival is "The Weight of 80 Years After the War. We have selected films that we hope all people living today will see. The talk shows will be held after the screening of each film, with actress Kumiko Akiyoshi on the 2nd, Keiko Takahashi on the 3rd, and Tomoko Hoshino on the 4th.

August 2-4, 2012 Content

The 14th Film Festival to Pass Down Memories and Records of War

(1) Saturday, August 2

11:40-13:20 Screening of "War of the Sixteen" followed by a 10-minute intermission

13:30-14:20 Talk show by Kumiko Akiyoshi and Tamaki Tachibana (interviewer) (50 minutes)

(2)August 3 (Sunday)

10:30-12:10 Screening of "Hana Monogatari" followed by a 10-minute intermission

12:20-13:10 Talk show by Keiko Takahashi and Tokuyuki Yagami (50 min.)

(3)August 4 (Monday)

10:30～12:10 Screening of "Last Message: Corporal Tomotsugu Sasaki, the Immortal Suicide Pilot" followed by a 10-minute intermission

12:20-13:10 Talk show by Tomoko Hoshino and Michio Agematsu (50 minutes)

Film Information

War of the Sixteen" 1973 / Color / 35mm / 94 min

［Director: Toshio Matsumoto [Supervisor, Script] Toshio Matsumoto [Script] Masahiro Yamada [Cinematography] Takayo Oshikiri [Sound, Sound] Itsuro Shimoda [Sound] Kazumasa Otani [Sound] Kumiko Akiyoshi, Michiko Issa, Takamaru Sasaki, Casey Takamine, Rokuhiro Toura, Hideaki Obara, Masumi Otoguro, Amagaku Jitsukawa Distribution: Dageleo Publishing Co.

Kumiko Akiyoshi's starring debut film! This is a rare screening opportunity!

<Commentary> "A film about a man who is a young woman who is in love with a girl.

Jin Arinaga meets a 16-year-old girl, Azuna, in a town he suddenly visits. Invited by Azuna, Jin meets her family and learns of a mysterious fate that connects the past and the present. The film is set in Toyokawa, where a naval arsenal was once located and where more than 2,400 people lost their lives, including female students who were mobilized as school children during an air raid on August 7, near the end of the war. In the poetic images, the innocence, danger, and fleeting glimmer of the young girl played by Akiyoshi are impressive. This is a requiem film with the message that the soul lives on by remembering, not burying the past.

War of the Sixteen" (C)1969 Matsumoto Production

Guest:Kumiko Akiyoshi

Hana Monogatari (1989) / Color / 35mm / 95 min

［Supervisor] HORIKAWA Hiromichi [Original] TAMIYA Torahiko [Script] KOMORI Natsu [Cinematography] MARUIKE Osamu [Sound] KOROKU Reijiro [Art] OHASHI Toyokazu [Appearance] TAKAHASHI Keiko, Kanie Keizo, Fujiwara Ryo, Kikuchi Ayami, ISHIBASHI Renji, SASAKI Sumie, SUGIYAMA Tokuko, TONOYAMA Taiji

The interviewer is Tokuyuki Yagami, who played the role of the eldest son when he appeared in the film, and this is a dialogue between the father and son in the role.

<Commentary on the film

At the end of the war, when the country is in a deep state of defeat, a "flower-growing ban" is issued, forcing people to convert their flower fields to vegetables and grains due to food shortages. Undeterred by the stigma of being unpatriotic, flower-loving Hama secretly planted flowers on a desolate piece of land in the mountains. ...... The thoroughness with which even the seeds and bulbs are burned is horrifying, and the film, which has no battle scenes, shows us how much of life in one corner of the world has been deprived of freedom in the name of war. Keiko Takahashi's performance, which embodies both her tenderness as a wife and mother and her strength in trying to carry out her will, is heartbreaking.

Hana Monogatari"(C)KADOKAWA1989

Guest:Keiko Takahashi

Last Message: Corporal Tomotsugu Sasaki, the Immortal Suicide Pilot" will be released in 2021 / Color / Digital / 98 min

［Supervisor, Photography, Editing] Michio Agematsu [Production Assistant] Shiho Mitarai [Cinematography] Masato Nasu, Minoru Hamano, Makoto Adachi, Michio Agematsu, Shiho Mitarai [Sound] Yuji Abe, Satoshi Matsuzawa [Narration] Tomoko Hoshino, Satoshi Tokushige

This is a documentary that makes you rethink the concept of suicide attacks!

＜A document that makes you feel the weight of each and every life.

I think it's okay if you don't die. I will go as many times as I have to until I die and hit the bombs. In wartime, when orders from superiors were absolute, a soldier was ordered nine times to "go out on a suicide mission" to "die," and he survived all nine times. He was Corporal Tomoji Sasaki, 21 years old. He was the pilot of the "Manryotai," the Army's first suicide attack squadron. Twice he was reportedly "plunged" into enemy ships and "killed in action," and was treated as a "military god," but he miraculously returned alive. How did Corporal Sasaki survive the "10 deaths and zero lives" suicide attack? Six months before his death, he told us his experience and thoughts about the suicide attack on his hospital bed. The entire video interview, which can be called his "last message," is now available to the public. The film was recommended by Ken Okumura, a member of the selection committee of "Kinema Junpo" magazine, as No. 1 in the "Top Ten Best Cultural Films of 2024" in the cultural film category.

Film: "Last Message: Corporal Tomoji Sasaki, the Immortal Suicide Pilot" (Japanese only)

Guest:Tomoko Hoshino

About the film festival to pass on the memories and records of the war

Shiho Mitarai, the president of the festival, started the festival when she was 23 years old and held it for the first time at the age of 24. Since then, the film festival has continued for 14 years on her own.

Its predecessor was the Kaneto Shindo Peace Film Festival, held every August since 2012. From 2020, the title will be changed to "Film Festival to Pass Down Memories and Records of War.

The festival will screen a wide range of films depicting war. Many celebrities and cultural figures, including Yoji Yamada, Sayuri Yoshinaga, Kazutoshi Hando, Tomoko Naraoka, Akira Emoto, Kazuko Yoshiyuki, Kyoko Kagawa, and Takako Tokiwa, have participated as talk guests and contributed their messages for peace.

Organizer: Shiho Mitarai