*Japanese Studies General Guide: Feature Films

The life stories of the men who raised the American flag at the battle of Iwo Jima. In English or French.

In February and March 1945, American and Japanese military forces engaged in a bitter, protracted battle for control of the island of Iwo Jima. Decades later, hundreds of undelivered letters written by Japanese soldiers are unearthed from that stark island’s soil. The letters give faces and voices to the men who fought there, as well as the extraordinary general who led them, Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi. With little defense other than sheer will and the volcanic rock of the island itself, Gen. Kuribayashi’s unprecedented tactics transform what was predicted to be a quick and bloody defeat into nearly 40 days of heroic and resourceful combat. Japanese and English dialogue, with English, French or Spanish subtitles; closed-captioned.

An agonizing portrait of desperate Japanese soldiers stranded in a strange land during WWII. In Japanese with optional English subtitles.

In August 1945, the world was transformed in the blink of an eye when American forces dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and then Nagasaki. The destruction was unprecedented and the bombings precipitated the end of World War II. Contains archival footage and stunning photography. Interviews are from both Japanese survivors and the Americans who believed that their involvement would help end a brutal conflict. English and Japanese dialogue, optional English subtitles; closed-captioned.

A platoon of Japanese soldiers is struggling through the mountains of Burma when notification of the war’s end is received. But high up on Triangle Mountain, where the news is greeted with disbelief, the fighting continues. Captain Inoue sends Private Yasuhiko Mizushima to the mountain to persuade the soldiers to stop fighting and dying in vain. Meanwhile, Captain Inoue’s troops are moved to a concentration camp at Mudon and await Mizushima’s return. As time passes, their worst fears are realized when news of Mizushima’s death is received. The news is especially difficult to accept when the soldiers recall their encounter with a strange monk during the first days in the concentration camp--a monk who bore a striking resemblance to Mizushima. Could he have possibly survived and still be alive? Original Japanese dialogue with English subtitles. VHS.

Presents three tales of combat during the Second World War. In the first story, an ace German pilot must put aside his personal feelings for the sake of humanity and fly into battle, guns blazing. In the second story, a kamikaze pilot has but one goal--to guide his flying coffin into the enemy fleet. In the third story, a young boy must brave enemy fire to complete his assignment and return to his comrades with reinforcements. In Japanese with English subtitles. VHS.

While the Sino-Japan War is raging in 1940, the Government imposes strict censorship on stage performances, one of the few entertainments available to commoners. All plays that are deemed out of step with the war effort are being censored. Tsubaki Hajime, a comedy script writer for the theater group "Warai no Daigaku (University of Laughs) meets Sakisaka Mutsuo, a government censor who has never understood what a laugh is and has been especially merciless about censoring satirical scripts. Of course, Sakisaka demands that Tsubaki alter his scripts, but as the two men work with and against each other, the scripts keep getting funnier and funnier. In Japanese with optional Japanese and English subtitles.

After her husband is arrested on suspicion of being a Communist, a woman is suddenly in charge of taking care of her household and her two daughters, with the help of her husband’s sister, during the early days of WWII. In Japanese with optional English subtitles.

The film is set in Hiroshima three years after the atomic bomb was dropped. Mitsue is a librarian and one of the survivors of that horrific event. She lives alone and has no family but she is visited by the spirit of her father Takezō, who was killed by the bomb. One day a young man visits Mitsue's library looking for information on the atomic bomb. Although they are attracted to each other, Mitsue feels compelled to turn her back on happiness and reject him because of her guilt that she survived while her father and so many others perished. Takezō's spirit encourages her to open up to the young man. In Japanese with English subtitle.

Contains both oiriginal/uncut Japanese-language version of Gojira amd "Americanized" version, starring Raymond Burr as a reporter covering Godzilla's rampage. The original version has Japanese dialogue with optional English subtitles. The "Americanized" version is English dubbed.

A bad day gets worse for rookie detective Murakami when a pickpocket steals his gun on a hot, crowded bus. Desperate to right the wrong, he goes undercover, scavenging Tokyo’s sweltering streets for the thief, whose desperation has led him to a life of crime. With each step, the cop and the criminal’s lives become more intertwined and the investigation becomes an examination of Murakami’s own dark side. In Japanese with optional English subtitles ; closed-captioned.

Immediately after Emperor Hirohito's World War II surrender, General MacArthur suddenly finds himself the de facto ruler of a foreign nation. He challenges his expert on Japanese culture, General Fellers to provide evidence in ten short days to decide if the Japanese Emperor, worshipped as a god by his people but accused of war crimes, should be punished or saved, as the fate of a nation waits. English dialogue; optional English or Spanish subtitles.

An epic study of athletes struggling to excel against their own bodies and against each other. Kon Ichikawa used 164 cameramen and over 100 cameras to show the humanity of the competitors-- the tears of the Japanese women volleyball champions, the bellow of the hammer throwers, the pain of the collapsed marathon runner and the solitude of the loser, finishing his lap, picking up his sweats and leaving the field. In Japanese with optional English subtitles.

In 1929, a poor fisherman sells his 9-year-old daughter to a geisha house in Kyoto. Chiyo will be an unpaid servant until it is determined if she is beautiful enough for apprenticeship. Under Mameha’s mentorship, Chiyo becomes the geisha named Sayuri, trained in all the artistic and social skills a geisha must master in order to survive in her society. As a renowned geisha she enters a society of wealth, privilege, and political intrigue. As World War II looms Japan and the geisha’s world are forever changed by the onslaught of history. In English or French.

A visit from her grandchildren and the discovery of a half-American relative cause an elderly woman to relive her memories of the atomic bomb that fell on Nagasaki.is title is only available in VHS format. In Japanese with English subtitles. VHS.