SYNOPSIS

The film is based on a true story depicting the life of Commander Fujii, a flight school instructor who sacrificed his life in the suicide attacks at the end of World War II.

December 1944. With defeat on the horizon, the Japanese military commits to desperate tactics viasuicide attacks. Fujii, the commanding flight instructor at the Kumagaya Aviation School is emotionally torn. While carrying out a “safe” duty, he trains many young, boys and sends them off todie inthe kamikaze attacks. As a resultof his torment, he volunteers as well. But his wife and two children are unable to accept his wish to join the suicide missions.

Uehara, a student attending flight school, argues that while he is prepared to lose his life to fight the enemy, he can’t consent to a special mission that just means dying. Fujii, who sees Uehara being punished by an officer, encourages Uehara and the other students that the suicide missions will show the world Japan’s grit and that they must risk their lives for future generations of Japanese.

December 15, 1944. Tragic news comes in for Fujii. His wife Fukuko committed suicide by drowning herself along with their two children in a river near the school. In her last will she writes, “With us around, we made you worry. You couldn't performyour duty, right? I’ll be waiting for you in the afterlife.” This acts show her resolution as the wife of a solider to not be a burden on her husband who has volunteered.At the riverbank in the dead of winter, Fujii sees the dead bodies of his family that have been tied together with a string so they would not get separated when they drowned. He crouches down and gently brushes off the sand from their dead faces and then weeps and groans.

After the death of his family, he volunteers again. This time he writeshis petition in his own blood. Under the circumstances, his wish isfinallygranted and Fujiiis ordered to undergo training for the suicide mission as the commander. On the day of his departure, his student give him a sword that they bought by pooling their money. Fujii is deeply moved as this is the first time he has been seen off to battle. Until now, it had always been the other way around.

May 28, 1945. Fujiisortied towards Okinawa never to return. For his homeland, for the promise he made to his students, and for his beloved family, he headed off into oblivion