Release Date

July, 22nd, 2006

Running Time

101 min

Genre

Documentary

Color

Color

Screening Format

35mm

Screen Size

-

Sound Processing

-

[ Directed by ]

• IKEYA Kaoru

[ Produced by ]

• KWON Yoko

[ Cast ]

• OKUMURA Waichi

[ Staff ]

• FUKUI Masaharu ── Director of Photography
• TOYAMA Taizo ── Director of Photography
• TAYAMA Koichi ── Editing
• UCHIIKE Hidekazu ── Music

[ Production Company ]

Ren Universe

[ Story ]

Shanxi province in China at the end of the War. There was a group of Japanese soldiers who remained at arms despite the Potsdam Declaration. They joined an armed faction of the Chinese Nationalist Party and fought against the Communist Party for four years following the end of the War. Of the 2,600 Japanese soldiers who remained, 550 were killed in action, and over 700 were captured. The soldiers finally returned to Japan after a long detention in prison camps, but what awaited them in Japan was their treatment as deserters. The government regarded them as volunteers who continued fighting, and refused to pay them war compensation.
An eighty-year-old Okumura Waichi, one of the soldiers who was appealing the Supreme Court, heads for China to expose the truth. His visit brings back bitter memories of when he was ordered to stab an innocent Chinese to death as part of training for newly recruited soldiers. 60 years after the War, Okumura's tenacity gradually uncovers the truth of the matter - an army commander schemed to remain in China under the guise of "homeland reconstruction" in order to avoid prosecution as a war criminal.
This is the world's first documentary feature film which squarely tackles the issue of the Japanese army that remained in Shanxi province. The film was awarded the Humanitarian Award for Outstanding Documentary at the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

[ Film Festivals, Awards ]

Hong Kong International Film Festival 2006
Hotdocs Canadian International Documentary Festival 2006
Melborne International Film Festival 2006
Hong Kong International Film Festival 2006 - Humanitarian Award for Outstanding Documentary

[ Contact (International) ]

Ren Universe, Inc.
#201, 2-1-17 Komagata, Taito-ku, Tokyo 111-0043
Rep: IKEYA Kaoru
Attn: KWON Yoko
tel: +81-3-5830-7202
fax: +81-3-5830-7203
E-mail: gon-ren@wa2.so-net.ne.jp
http://en-an.com