Kono sora no hana: Nagaoka hanabi monogatari (2012) Movie Script

"To the children of the future"

"from adults who lived the past"

"This movie is a work of fiction

based on our experiences"

"and real stories we heard in

Nagaoka, Niigata, in 2011."

"Nagaoka Film"

CASTING BLOSSOMS TO THE SKY

If people made pretty fireworks

instead of bombs

there wouldn't have been any wars.

Words by wandering artist

Kiyoshi Yamashita.

Taking a trip is like wandering

into fantasy land.

My trip to Nagaoka, Niigata

Prefecture, in the summer of 2011

was just that.

I had dream-like experiences

that were full of wonder.

But they were all part

of Nagaoka's history.

This story is based on

actual experiences

by the citizens of Nagaoka.

Yes, they're all true stories.

Here in Japan

there are still many untold,

dream-like wonderlands

some of them forgotten

before they were even told.

Would you like to join me

on a journey

to go visit them?

"A 2011 film by Nobuhiko Obayashi"

"Reiko Endo's Wonderland

A Journey of Emotions to Nagaoka"

This is Sakon in the city of Nagaoka.

They tell me it was a nice sunny day.

"July 20, 1945"

"7:30 AM"

This siren is a warning.

A signal that enemy airplanes

are coming to attack.

At the time, Japan was at war

with the U.S. and U.K.

and this happened very shortly

before Japan's defeat.

People were used to it and

left for the fields as usual.

It was a blistering hot summer morning,

the sun blazing in the sky.

Today is also a day in

a blistering hot summer.

"Shinano River, Nagaoka, Niigata

7:30 AM on July 20, 2011"

I received a letter.

This unexpected letter

prompted me to wander

into Wonderland.

The letter had a nostalgic scent.

Scents are cruel because they

always remind you of some scenery.

Even before I opened the letter,

I was certain that

"Early summer, 2011"

it was going to take me

back to the past

when we were two

halves of a whole.

Who are you?

From where did you

come to greet me?

From that moment, I think I was already

in a dreamland of my journey.

How are you? I'm fine.

"Yamakoshi, Nagaoka"

I'm finally able to write you a letter.

It took a very long time.

You went back to Amakusa and

I came back here to Yamakoshi.

We parted so suddenly

without a proper farewell.

I might sound brusque but I can

only talk to you like how I used to.

If this letter troubles or annoys you...

- We're off.

- See you later.

just throw it away.

Time stopped moving for me after

the Great East Japan Earthquake.

My past came rushing back to me

in a completely different light.

Amidst all that, Reiko...

I thought about you and me.

Watch yourself.

Why?

Sorry.

"18 years ago in Tokyo"

Did you stop loving me?

We have nothing to do with war.

War?

We broke up but

more accurately

I suddenly vanished.

Without giving him a good reason,

I erased my existence.

It hurts.

This rain hurts!

When you mentioned

the word "war"

it felt really bizarre.

I remember the feeling well.

Your letter is right here.

I took the trip with the

scent of your letter.

I don't know if I'd be here if the Great

East Japan Earthquake hadn't occurred.

No... I probably wouldn't be.

That's Chosei Bridge,

or "long life bridge."

This view hasn't changed

since before war.

People fled across the bridge

during the air raid.

So I heard.

I was born after the war.

They say it was horrible.

Where were you during the earthquake?

The Chuetsu Earthquake?

No, this one.

After the Great East Japan Earthquake

lots of people from Minami Soma

came here seeking shelter.

The town near the nuclear power

plants in Fukushima...

"Akiyoshi Muraoka"

The Great East Japan Earthquake

occurred this year on March 11, 2011.

One afternoon in April

right after the disaster

"Chuetsu Senior High School,

Nagaoka"

a student from the drama club

came to me with a script.

But strangely

I had no recollection

of her before that.

"There's Still Time Until a War"

by Hana Motoki.

Unicycles are only allowed

in designated areas.

Her name is Hana Motoki,

"hana" as in "flower."

She really did have

a face like a flower.

This script is made with voices,

said Hana Motoki.

I understood when I read it.

I heard many voices calling out to me.

For example, there was

a 19-year-old boy.

"Amakusa, Kumamoto Prefecture"

When I pulled the letter

out of the mailbox

the slightly plump envelope

held hope and uncertainty

and a sense of solace that might

make my heart sigh with relief.

As incendiary bombs poured down,

the boy stood by the bomb shelter...

And poured buckets of water

over the people inside.

Somebody asked him...

"What's your name?"

someone asked.

Satoru Tanigawa.

He replied.

In the face of death, the purpose of

the war meant nothing to him.

He just desperately poured

water over the people.

To keep them alive.

Then Hana said...

I know him well.

That was my encounter

with this young man.

So we decided to produce a play

based on this script of voices.

If you come to feel like it

why don't you come visit my

hometown to see this play?

It'll be performed on the night

of the Nagaoka fireworks.

I want you to see

the fireworks too.

Fireworks in the memory of

the air raid victims.

The fireworks are a prayer.

On Dec. 8, 1941

Japan launched a surprise attack

on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, USA.

The war it triggered

ended on Aug. 15, 1945

with Japan's defeat.

That was already 66 years ago.

We've forgotten or decided

we don't have to know

"Is Japan peaceful now?!"

and we live here today in

a peaceful Japan.

"Then... on a riverbank in Sakon"

It happened right then.

A bomb fell on top of my head.

And it was...

Right here.

The atomic bomb landed.

Atomic bomb?

Of course it wasn't real.

A mock-up atomic bomb.

Mock-up?

Of the A-bomb?

Have you heard of Fat Man?

Little Boy was dropped

on Hiroshima.

Fat Man was dropped on Nagasaki.

The bomb dropped on Nagaoka

was a mock-up of Fat Man

dropped on Nagasaki.

It was big and heavy and fat

and looked exactly like

the real atomic bomb.

Fat Man...

The same as Nagasaki...

I can't believe it...

It was a regular bomb inside.

It was also called Pumpkin

because it looked like one.

The people back then thought it was

a huge horrible bomb.

And it was dropped here...

That day on July 20, 1945

at 8:13 AM...

Just around now.

The driver's voice sounded

like the devil's whisper.

Do you know what

"kyoshutsu" is?

The citizens' offering of precious

goods to the nation.

Like my grandpa's gold dental fillings.

All to win the war.

My mother told me.

People around here

offered potatoes.

Potatoes?

There was heavy snowfall

that year in 1945.

When the snow melted,

it flooded Shinano River.

Most of the fields were flooded.

Only the potatoes were

ready to harvest.

That day too, farmers were in

the fields for the country.

To dig up potatoes...

They were oblivious of the siren

and continued to work hard.

And then...

Clank clank!

They heard a loud noise.

The clanking noise continued

for 40 seconds.

It was the sound of the huge

bomb piercing the air.

It made a hole 20 meters in diameter

and 5 meters deep right here.

The older brother's lower body

was ripped off

"Gosaku Yokoi,

age 20 at death"

"Yosaku Yokoi,

age 15 at death"

and the younger brother

was torn in pieces.

He didn't look human anymore.

Over there, the young mother

was collapsed

"Toyono Kamio,

age 30 at death"

without a head.

The baby was blown away

but survived

and her cries echoed

through the air.

Her head and face were

plastered with mud and

her mother's blood.

They encrusted on her and

wouldn't come off no matter

how much they washed her.

Even though babies...

have nothing to do with war.

We have nothing to do with war.

But...

now...

But now...

A connection is beginning

to form with the war.

Even to me, who had

nothing to do with war.

Good morning.

Hello.

One of the members who

built the memorial here.

He's one too.

This man is also

a main member.

I just made a small contribution.

Sorry I'm late. I had things

to do at the shelter.

We had a meeting about community

building with the evacuees.

Freshly harvested.

My hoe hit it something

in the ground.

Potatoes?

I don't use a hoe

for potatoes.

The mice started noticing

the fat yakons.

Yakons?

A cross between a potato

and daikon radish.

I dug a little deep

and found this.

He was trying to get rid of mice.

They should've waited until

winter for the big yakons.

What is it?

A bomblet of an E46

incendiary cluster bomb.

Incendiary cluster bomb?

I was just telling her.

It's a little bomb that's

part of a big bomb.

This is Mr. Mishima,

a military history researcher.

This is Mr. Matsushita.

I dig up potatoes.

He's also a triathlete.

Do you know about

incendiary bombs?

Just the term.

How about B-29?

Also just the term.

I only know the terms too.

That's why I study them.

Traditional Japanese houses are

made from wood and paper.

Light a match and start a fire.

Houses burned down fast.

People burned with them.

Bombs tailor-made

for Japanese culture.

Culture?

Civilization is the attacker.

Culture is the attacked. Right?

One B-29 carried up to 40

cluster incendiary bombs.

When dropped, the propeller

fuse was activated and

the bombs were scattered from

1,500 meters in the air.

Scattered?

Scattered and opened.

4 strips of gauze came out from here

which controlled the

velocity of the drop.

That's how it worked?

When they flew into roofs

or the ground

the explosive charge in the tip burst

and ignited the napalm.

Napalm?

Jellied gasoline.

It showered down on

and burned humans too.

Even the roofs of bomb shelters.

They were very efficient.

163,000 were dropped

on Nagaoka.

2 per person.

What a waste.

Will you take it to the office?

Sure.

There are more around?

Yeah, they're everywhere.

Around here, the war isn't over yet.

The war isn't over yet.

Incendiary bombs are still dug up

from the fields in Nagaoka.

Come visit the war museum.

I'll show you around after

the evacuees' meeting.

Thank you.

Will you send 2 buses around?

Nagaoka was burned to

the ground on Aug. 1.

14 days before Japan surrendered.

Fat Man was dropped

10 days before Nagaoka.

Why Nagaoka and not Niigata?

Niigata is a major city.

Because Nagaoka is the birthplace

of Marshal Isoroku Yamamoto.

Oh... That's right.

The locals believed it was retaliation

for the attack on Pearl Harbor.

But it wasn't.

Mr. Matsushita, the man who

dug up the incendiary bomb...

The woman whose head was

blown off was his aunt.

The baby survived

but it must have been difficult.

The father held the baby

and dove in front of

an oncoming train.

Where are you from?

Pardon me...

Mr. Akiyoshi Muraoka...

I saw your name plate.

I was named after Tsugunosuke Kawai

whose real name was Akiyoshi.

He was from Nagaoka.

A top-ranking samurai of

the Echigo Nagaoka clan.

He advocated the clan's neutrality

in the Boshin War

"Tsugunosuke Kawai

of the Nagaoka Clan"

but was not accepted by

the new national army.

He was shot by a stray bullet

and died from gangrene.

He hated fighting and

my mother always used to say

"Be like Tsugunosuke and

be friendly to each other."

Friendly to each other...

Yes.

I'm Reiko Endo from Amakusa.

Amakusa...

In Kumamoto prefecture

a town called Ushibuka that

rests by a beautiful sea.

Ushibuka...

It merged with the city

of Amakusa in 2006.

You came a long way.

But my real hometown is Nagasaki.

The city where the real

Fat Man was dropped.

Nagasaki?

They were going to drop

a real atomic bomb on

the city of Niigata too.

The neighboring city?

Many residents of the city

don't know about it.

The mock-up that was dropped here

was not for retaliation

but as a trial for dropping

the real one over Niigata.

A trial with the mock-up?

Actually, 49 mock-ups

were dropped all over Japan

before we lost the war.

But we only found out

about them recently.

Niigata too...

Before Nagasaki became a target.

I didn't know that.

My journey to Nagaoka

started off

with a horrible, mysterious day

like a nightmare.

When the Fat Man mock-up

was dropped over Nagaoka

Chosei Bridge was mistaken

for Zao Bridge and

instead of the industrial zone,

it landed in the fields.

Bombers returned on July 26

but due to the weather

the bombs were dropped over

Kanose and Kashiwazaki.

Niigata was spared because

of these 2 mistakes.

6 days later

B-29 bombers attacked Nagaoka

with incendiary bombs.

That script by Hana Motoki

writes in great detail about

Nagaoka during the war.

But strangely, she knows nothing

about the fireworks today.

There, I can help...

You worked on the Phoenix fireworks

after the Chuetsu Earthquake.

They asked me because I was

on the project committee but...

That firework craftsman,

what is he like?

Seijiro Nose is a legend and he's...

straightforward.

A man with a sense of humor

who acts serious.

He's 88 but seems much younger.

I'm looking forward to

the fireworks too.

I'll watch the fireworks

and your play.

Is this your first time?

You're from Niigata, right?

I've never seen the

Nagaoka fireworks.

My wife and kids have

but Niigata and Nagaoka

are actually far apart.

Niigata is a major port city.

But Nagaoka is...

But after what

happened this year

there's something special

about the fireworks.

You're from the mountains

of Yamakoshi.

I moved here when the Phoenix

fireworks were launched.

When Yamakoshi merged with Nagaoka

the year after the Chuetsu Earthquake.

Your 7th year here?

But I've visited before though.

Sure, you can't worry about

everything all the time.

So what?

The essence of fireworks is...

Radiation level is normal.

Essence of fireworks?

They're launched at night.

Yes, usually.

Strontium for red, copper for blue,

barium for green.

Sodium for yellow,

titanium for gold.

The compounds?

It's the craftsmen's

trade secret.

Many chemicals for

just one color.

- First, the stars.

- Stars?

- Like mustard flower seeds.

- Yes.

Mix them with water and

a pyrotechnic composition.

- They form spheres.

- Spheres?

From 1cm to 4cm in diameter.

4cm for the 90cm shells?

Like this.

The 90cm shell.

For one that changes from

red to yellow to blue

the chemicals are used in reverse

order, from blue to yellow to red.

Like candy with layers

of different colors.

This is education too.

The dried stars are placed

in half a shell.

So is the bursting charge,

which ignites the stars.

Wine cork is sometimes

used for the core.

A firework's effect depends

on how they're placed.

For a beautiful shape

when it opens up.

- And scattered.

- Scattered and opened.

Bombs have the same mechanism.

Technically speaking,

they're both explosives.

One good, one bad.

Lastly, paper is pasted on

the surface of the shell.

Another technique?

A thin layer makes it fast.

Boom and it's gone.

I see. Fireworks embody

the spirit of the Japanese.

But Mr. Seijiro Nose...

- Mr. Atsumi!

- I'm coming.

I'm supervising the cleaning.

It's like war too.

May God prosper our arms.

Charge forward!

He's the king of trivia.

Did you know all that?

No, I just gathered the funds.

So the essence of fireworks?

Mr. Nose likes fireworks

that open up slowly.

Yes, that's what he said.

I went with him.

Slowly?

It's not just about

fireworks anymore.

If you ask me

"Legendary firework craftsman

Seijiro Nose"

I like to make fireworks that

open up slowly and smoothly.

Because I think smooth fireworks

tug gently at people's hearts.

Here you go.

It was an extremely hot day.

Traditional Japanese paper had long

fibers unlike modern craft paper.

So the fireworks opened up slowly

like paper falling apart.

We used to use old

notebooks and calendars.

They had flavor.

The melon was delicious.

Everything was slow

in the old days.

Please eat as much as you want.

We're sorry our house

is so small.

It's fine...

It was ruined by the big

snowfall of 1963.

It's about 200 years old.

It used to be a big house.

Our ancestors were fugitives

of the Taira Clan.

After they lost in

the great war

they hid by the river and

became farmers.

In my grandfather's days,

we owned around 6 acres of land.

A stubborn man.

He built embankments around

his firework workshop.

They dug holes in

those embankments

and used them as bomb shelters

during the war.

My grandfather...

I'm the head of the Nose family.

Come attack me!

I'm not afraid of B-29s.

To hell with America.

I'm Japanese male!

Seijiro in the battlefield!

Go get them!

"Seijiro in the battlefield

at that time"

Making fireworks was a hobby.

It was my great grandfather.

When Nagaoka Castle

was conquered...

I bestow this chest onto you.

From a man named Nagino

of the Nagaoka Clan

he received a chest as a keepsake.

Inside, he found notes on

firework compounds.

It was long ago.

Long ago, society and

people's lives were laid-back.

Fireworks and Nagaoka's history

are starting to connect.

My grandfather was tall and handsome.

He was popular with the geishas.

Fireworks used to be displayed

to please the geishas.

The men wanted to show off.

One summer, after the offering of

2 rounds of fireworks to a shrine

he got drunk and fell asleep

and started to snore.

Nothing out of the ordinary

but he died in his sleep.

His name was Tsurukichi,

dead at age 84.

My father's name

was Makoto.

An earnest man who

was always smiling.

He was polite and

never got angry.

He didn't drink either.

Fireworks turned into

a side business of his.

This is Yae.

She's like a monkey.

I try to be someone

in between my grandfather and father.

Hot!

You don't like it hot but

I'm sure our guests do.

Please, while it's hot.

My grandfather doted on me and

I was a mischievous kid.

We used to steal gunpowder and

threw it in the pond

and let it explode.

Then fish would float up.

They were tasty, too.

We'd also bury gunpowder and

pretend they were land mines

and make bottle rockets

out of bamboo.

We experimented.

It was fun trying things out.

My father always used to say to me...

Be a great man like

General Nogi.

He'd say.

The Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937.

When the war escalated

fireworks in Nagaoka were launched

to send off the soldiers.

I too was sent off on

April 10, 1943

as a member of the

158th infantry regiment.

I was healthy and received

a Class-A certification.

I think more fireworks were launched

for me than anyone else.

At Jo-oka Station, which is

now North Nagaoka Station

my father stayed

until I was gone.

He didn't say a word.

If only there was no war...

The connection between fireworks

and war became stronger.

We were hit and punched

and given no meals.

The military code of honor

was drilled into us.

The look in our eyes changed.

"A soldier must be brave."

"A soldier must be frugal."

From Habomai to Shikotan

to Kamchatka.

On a deserted island in the middle

called Matsuwa Island

through air raids and naval

gunfire by the Americans

I ran carrying messages.

All the telephone lines were destroyed.

Suicide missions.

It was like running through fireworks.

Through fireworks...

I kept at it because I wanted

to move up the ladder.

Private 2nd Class

to 1st Class.

Then Corporal.

A soldier one rank above you

is like a god to you.

When Japan was defeated

on Aug. 15, 1945

we soldiers weren't informed

but we knew.

We were suddenly

shipped off to Siberia

to work 8 hours a day

in the freezing cold.

With my physical constitution,

I can gain weight with water.

I have strong stomach

that absorbs everything.

After 3 years over there

I was finally able to

come back to Japan.

"Apple's Song" was

popular at the time.

My father was doing well but

Nagaoka was burned to the ground.

In August 1946,

a year after the air raid

an honorable man named

Juzaburo Hanagata

who later became the president

of Niigata TV Station

organized a festival promoting

the city's recovery.

The following year in August 1947

fireworks were launched

in the city of Nagaoka.

After our defeat in the Boshin War

Torasaburo Kobayashi told the

hungry warriors who

demanded the 100 sacks of rice

received as consolation

that for Nagaoka's recovery,

we have to think not only about today

but about the children's

happiness in the future.

He sold the sacks of rice

and used the money for education.

We must follow his principle and

do something to revive Nagaoka.

Recovery means to raise the children

well to become good human beings.

Let's let the fireworks go bang

and enliven our spirits.

Bang!

He's talking too much and

your tea has gone cold.

Eat the cake.

We got married in 1951.

That year, we got a big job.

A mortar for launching 90cm shell

was found by Shinano River.

A chunk of steel 4 meters long

and weighing 3.5 tons.

At first, we were going

to offer it to the army

but it was too heavy.

The cylinder was upside down

and on the bottom,

there was a drawing of a face.

It looked sad.

"Let's use this and revive

the 90 cm-diameter shells."

The city employees asked us

and my father said...

Shall we then?

Mumbling and grumbling

from the moment we woke up

until we fell sleep

we thought only

about the firework.

It was the Thousand Ring Chrysanthemum.

We conducted a purification ceremony

and said our prayers.

Then the siren was alarmed.

Like that night, the lights

in the town were turned off.

10:30 PM, the time of the air raid.

It was launched downstream

from Chosei bridge.

It was amazing.

It burst open.

Yes!

It was a great

wedding anniversary.

On the same night

as the air raid.

Hello.

Our daughter Fumiko.

Thanks for your help with

the Phoenix fireworks.

Hello.

Hello, Mr. Katayama.

You know each other?

Excuse me.

Yasuo, her brother.

Hello.

By Kiyoshi Yamashita?

They're fireworks composed of

torn pieces of colored paper.

But my father kicked him off the site.

Kicked him off?

I learned about him later.

I wanted his piece of work

so I bought this.

If people made pretty fireworks

instead of bombs

there wouldn't have been any wars.

It's a "fox's wedding."

Do you know what

a "fox's wedding" is?

I heard the phrase a lot

when I was a kid.

Kiyoshi Yamashita

one day said, "Which firework

festival should I go to this summer?"

Then he passed away.

My fireworks bloom and

disappear in the sky.

He composed his portraits

after they disappeared.

And they became prayers.

Fireworks disappear

but they revive.

This year when the fireworks

are launched

Mr. Yamashita will be

somewhere in Japan.

A day like this is rare when

the sunset feels so gentle.

Even around here.

Japan's history is embedded

in this man's life

as it is in Nagaoka's fireworks.

Finally, a connection between

the fireworks and our lives today.

"Morning of July 21, 2011"

INVESTIGATION LAUNCHED ON

INTERNAL RADIATION EXPOSURE

Internal radiation exposure...

Good morning.

I'm sorry.

Did you wait?

You knew it was me?

Yes, I guessed.

I'm sorry I called

out of the blue.

You took me by surprise and

I couldn't say anything.

Plus...

I have to wait for you

to speak to me first.

"Objectives of the

Phoenix fireworks"

Your first time in Nagaoka?

The fireworks are launched every

year on Aug. 2 and 3?

The city was burned down

twice in two wars.

Not on a weekend.

They're not for tourists.

They're launched on Aug. 1 too,

but only three.

The 90cm shells.

Only 3 because some people remember

the air raid and get afraid.

Afraid?

Before the 90cm shells are launched,

the siren is set off.

It reminds them of the war.

Those are the voices

I wanted to hear.

Voices of people I've never met.

I'm Reiko Endo.

I'm Wakako Inoue.

No... I want us to be friends

without all that.

Before I decided to come here,

I read all the local newspapers.

I'm a reporter too so they give me

the best insight about the city.

I'm glad you did.

That's Hirakata Shrine.

Hirakata Shrine...

This is the place?

That gate collapsed too.

In the air raid?

No, in the Chuetsu Earthquake.

It all began when I heard

that voice here.

That voice?

"Bomb shelters provide safety."

That's what people believed.

There was a big one

in this shrine too.

Everybody was roasted to

death in the bomb shelter.

Bodies were piled on

top of one another.

The ones on the top were burnt

and charred black.

"Yasu Yoshizawa (74) recalls

scene in bomb shelter"

The ones under them were

roasted and yellow-brown.

And bloated.

The ones on the bottom were green.

They were crushed to death.

You couldn't tell which body was whose.

It feels like yesterday.

I saw it.

13-year-olds at the time

didn't know how babies were born.

But a baby was halfway out

from between the legs

of its mother whose

body was burnt black.

The baby was also burnt black.

All I can do now is to pass on

the story as long as

I'm alive and

I have my voice.

What do you want

to do first?

Walk around like you did.

After I started the column

I walked along Kaki River

many times.

Silly, isn't it?

My mom's lunch bag.

She wants me to carry around

food for emergencies.

Actually it's pretty good.

Ever since the earthquake?

The war...

No, earlier than that.

It was my grandmother's idea.

"Niina" and butterbur sprout...

My mom picks them in the

mountain and cooks them.

What's "niina"?

Boiled vegetables.

Usually "taina" leaves but

they're not in season right now.

In Nagaoka, we say "nina" but it's

"niina" in my mother's dialect.

She's from Tochio on Kariyata River,

a village of weavers.

Wakako...

Are you involved

with anyone?

Recently...

I had my heart broken.

The column and the reporter's name

jumped right into my eyes.

The title was

"There's Still Time Until a War."

Time for what until a war?

To do what after making

it in time for a war?

My parents were A-bomb

survivors in Nagasaki.

They're the ones that have

experienced war and not me.

"Ushibuka, city of Amakusa"

Between my mother and me there was

always a tiny ache like a hangnail.

Two springs ago, she was spending

her last quiet days on this earth.

Knowing we wouldn't be

living together for long

I wanted to make normal conversations

of a mother and daughter.

I found out she couldn't

ride a bicycle.

I found out she wasn't too happy

about my being a reporter.

"There's Still Time Until a War"...

What an extraordinary title.

I covered the Great East

Japan Earthquake.

I wrote about its horrors but

they weren't my experiences.

In fact, I was the one

encouraged by the victims.

Being heartbroken helped too.

Heartbroken?

I wanted to think things over

and I chopped off my hair.

I know what you mean.

Natural disasters are harsh

on us small humans

but people say they create miracles.

Miracles?

People's beauty and cleverness...

Enduring, giving and accepting,

and being grateful...

We see people's goodness that's

usually hidden or forgotten.

People all over the world were

moved by the Japanese

and offered their support.

The disaster victims' courage,

cleverness and beauty

will be the driving force

of Japan's recovery.

In contrast, damages from war

only create hatred.

War, the worst possible man-made

disaster, creates nothing.

I'm a reporter who has seen

both types of disasters

and I wanted to think

seriously about war.

That's why the title

"There's Still Time Until a War."

I had a feeling since

2 or 3 years ago

that the elderly people were

starting to talk about the war.

There's still time?

Until the next war

that might break out.

Next war?

It's possible.

It's not impossible.

We've never experienced war.

We actually have something

to do with it after all.

The day was a "fox's wedding,"

in other words, a sun shower.

"Late spring 2009

Reiko's house in Ushibuka"

Mom, more tea?

Thanks.

Everyone's practicing for

the Haiya Festival.

You're going out to

work in this rain?

Everyone's in high spirit.

Reiko...

Yeah?

What are you going to do from

now on by yourself?

What do you mean?

My health has been frail since birth.

But I gave you a healthy body.

I was 40

and your father was ecstatic.

I know... Thanks.

You should be thanked too.

Life is connected.

Mom...

I was scared.

I couldn't see anything.

The war... The atomic bomb...

I couldn't see anything.

What I couldn't see the

most at the time...

was my life.

It hurts.

I was running away.

I don't think I can make it right again.

This rain hurts!

I was a coward.

How about minced

meat cutlet today?

That's fine.

Using fresh oil, right?

Of course.

Living half a year on

the southern wind

The other half year

Sleeping all day long

Haiya-bushi is a folk song and

dance from your village, right?

It'll be summer again soon.

Mom...

How old were you in Nagasaki

when they dropped the bomb?

I was 13.

If I can still dance like this,

my life has been good.

So I'll keep on dancing.

Mom...

You're so brave.

"June 11, 2011"

"18 years ago in Tokyo"

How about becoming

a mother soon?

We...

have nothing to do with war.

After I started reading

the column

"There's Still Time Until a War"

in the Nagaoka newspaper

I mustered the courage to

write him a letter.

Because the title of his play

written by that girl named Hana

had the same title

"There's Still Time Until a War."

It was an unusual script set by

a small river called Kaki River.

But somehow, I was convinced

it had to be made into a play.

There were voices,

lots of imploring voices.

What is this urge?

If possible, Reiko, I want to

seek its meaning with you.

I don't know how long it'll take but

I want to think it over with you.

After I left Amakusa,

I made a stop in Nagasaki.

"Atomic bomb dropped over Nagasaki

on Aug. 9, 1945"

It's my parents' hometown

but I had never visited it.

"Atomic Bomb Museum"

I realize I really had

been running away.

In the Atomic Bomb Museum

in Nagasaki

I encountered the full-scale model of

Fat Man that devastated the city.

The mechanism of the bomb

looked like that of the fireworks that

I'd later see in Nagaoka Station.

Next, I visited Hiroshima.

"Atomic bomb dropped over Hiroshima

on Aug. 6, 1945"

It was my second time

but I gazed at the Peace Memorial

like it was my first.

A departure but a homecoming...

A journey to discover my soul...

It was the entrance

into Wonderland.

So this is where they're putting

on that play with the same title.

Yes. The newspaper and I

are backing them up.

Is that so?

I got a call asking if it was

okay about the same title.

The girl...

A girl wrote it?

That's what I heard.

I heard a high school teacher

called Katayama wrote it.

Mr. Katayama...

Wakako, why do you

know about Kenichi?!

I wonder if it was her...

Sure, go ahead and do it.

Please do it.

"Mid May 2011"

Thank you. That's great.

Mr. Katayama will be happy.

Where is the stage

going to be?

There in

Forest of Peace Park.

We need funds.

Will you do a

newspaper campaign?

Are you really a

high school student?

Definitely a high school student.

Do you want to see my ID?

That's not necessary.

Okay, I'll do it.

They're shutting down

the nuclear plants.

I'm not surprised.

- I have a question.

- Go ahead.

Why do you want to

put on this play?

To make people

hear the voices.

That's difficult.

We can do it.

Sincere thoughts.

If we really wish it,

it'll happen.

All right, you're on.

I've been thinking

for a long time.

You started that column

so finally me too.

You what?

Was the girl's name

Hana Motoki?

You really are a reporter.

You did your research.

Wakako, I'm sorry about that

insensitive question earlier.

When I was about your age, I too

went through a nasty break-up.

That's why I became a reporter.

Without a medium

it's hard to find the courage

to openly express yourself.

After the recent earthquake

Niigata was the first to

offer aid to the victims.

We're repaying the kindness

that was shown to us.

I want to get close to real people.

I've been thinking that.

What kind of reporter are you?

From a small newspaper in Amakusa.

I went to China.

China?

A small island called Hainan

in the Guandong Province.

34,000 square kilometers in size.

Yes, information must be accurate.

I visited the "Apo,"

the old woman in Chinese term.

The comfort women for

the Japanese soldiers.

Comfort women...

Girls were taken from their homes.

Now they're old women.

They wouldn't speak

of what happened.

I wanted to hear their voices.

I have no homeland

I can go back to.

I'd like to visit Amakusa.

My grandpa died in Malacca

during World War II.

My grandmother was killed

in the bombing of Nagasaki.

I never knew her.

Really?

I'm a second generation survivor.

Is that right?

Nobody can say they have

nothing to do with war.

I came here feeling the same way.

Reiko...

You weren't heartbroken.

You loved a man.

I'm not sure.

Did you hear his voice?

He was so close yet far away.

Toward the end of WWII

between 10:30 PM on Aug. 1 to

0:10 AM on Aug. 2, 1945

Nagaoka was attacked by

125 American B-29 bombers.

They dropped around 163,000 rounds

and 925 tons of incendiary bombs.

1,480 people were killed and

11,986 homes, which made up 80% of

the urban district, were burned down.

My father felt very heavy.

The feeling of the weight

of his dead body

is still in my arms

even after 66 years.

In contrast, my older sister

was horribly light.

She was burnt and her

body was half charcoal.

My younger sister...

This is my sister, right?!

She cried and cried.

She was a kind, caring sister.

A little after 9:00, the warning siren

was switched to the air-raid siren.

Wearing boots my sister

laid out for us

we fled into the bomb shelter

in our yard.

Then incendiary bombs came

flying through the roof.

My leg!

That voice is my last

memory of her.

My father was a strict man who

used to tell us to sit straight

when the national anthem

was played on the radio.

He loved his family.

He carried my sister on his back

and we ran from the bomb shelter

but we got separated.

I want to forget about the night

but if I don't tell the story

"Sumio Shinkai, 75"

my father and my sister

will scold me.

I know.

I was 11 at the time.

"Yasunari Honmura, 75"

Old Auntie Yone was bawling,

her face all wrinkled up.

If only I knew

I would've brought at least

my daughter's arm with me!

She cried.

She was so kind, giving us

sugared and salted well water.

She was separated

from her family and

found the remains of her 4 daughters

in Hirakata Shrine 2 days later.

When she came back with

a cart to claim their bodies

they were already cremated

with the other bodies.

After all, 267 people died there.

Oh... this little kid here is me.

I watched Auntie Yone

from below like this.

Through my drawings, I want

to tell the children of today.

Why did they all have to die that day?

Right?

I know him.

July 28, 1945...

It's my birthday.

The air raid over Nagaoka

was 4 days later.

My father, older brother,

older sister and 3 cousins

who were home at

the time were killed.

I was still in the hospital

where I was born.

My mother didn't want my

face to get scarred

so she shielded my face

while we fled.

My oldest brother was

a mobilized student

and was in the dormitory

and survived.

When we came home,

he found 6 charred bodies

in the field behind the house.

He made a bonfire and

cremated them right there.

Their ashes were still warm

when he put them in the box and

took it to my mother.

They spent the night crying.

My mother has passed away and

I also lost my brother

to cancer.

So now I tell the story

in place of my mother and brother.

I feel as though

"Yoshie Yamafuji, 66"

that's why I was born

on that day.

I know her too.

Ordinary lives are suddenly destroyed.

Time spent with the family...

Everything was turned to ash.

My brother and I were told that

our mother was by Kaki River.

"Fumihiko Sato, 81"

We found her naked.

Her clothes had burnt off.

Her hair was too.

She was charred black

and lying in mud.

My brother and I grabbed

her arms to pull her up

but her skin peeled off like gloves.

Our mother noticed us.

Her last will was "you brothers

be good to each other."

We took her home after that.

I grew up wanting to help

unfortunate people of the world

and became a priest.

I know him too.

It used to belong to my brother.

"Akira Takada, 71"

The body was charred black and

I couldn't recognize him.

He was holding this saxophone,

which he used to prize

so that's how I knew

it was him.

After the war, when I was

looking through the rubble

I found this fuse from

an incendiary bomb.

I was just a kid.

I was playing with it

when it suddenly

went boom.

You only need one

hand for a trumpet

but you need both hands to

play woodwind instruments.

If I could play this loud and clear

my brother will come back.

That's how I feel.

Write a good article.

I know him well too.

The fireworks of Nagaoka

remind me of the bombs.

That's why I can't enjoy them

from the bottom of my heart.

"Liliko Motoki, 87"

Frightening.

War terrorizes so many more people

than the ones who die on

the battlefields or in air raids.

My baby too...

who died on my back...

I know them all.

"Early June 2011"

Hey, watch out!

- Wanna try?

- Try what?

After you crashed

into me, now what?

Because it's fun.

Come on...

I wanted to meet you.

Why?

Because you don't know.

I have a lot of things

I want to tell you.

About what?

And I don't know anything

about the things you know.

You're weird.

I'm so glad we meet.

It hurts.

YAMAKOSHI IS ROOTING

FOR EAST JAPAN!

"July 24 (Sun)"

It feels strange going to

Yamakoshi with you.

Why?

My ex-boyfriend was

also from Yamakoshi.

Also?

Yours too, right?

Mr. Katayama.

I'm right, aren't I?

Did I say that?

I guessed.

No wonder you were heartbroken.

You're too intuitive.

Yamakoshi has deep valleys and

mountains covered with fields.

The proper attire

for Yamakoshi.

Beautiful.

Japan...

Japan.

This is what it looked like

in the old picture books.

We tend to forget about

the old Japan.

"A village sunken during the earthquake

revived by people's hard work"

It's left as it was

after it happened.

Left as it was?

After the Chuetsu Earthquake,

a lot of people came to our aid.

A piece of bread,

a ball of rice...

He said it's so that we don't

forget what happened.

The man you loved?

The house was buried in snow.

Snow...

Yamakoshi has the beauty of

the 4 seasons of Japan.

The children are lively.

They're one with nature.

Even after the disaster...

At 5:56 PM on Oct. 23, 2004

a huge earthquake hit the Chuetsu

region, where we live.

The earth roared loudly.

The houses shook like pudding

and windows shattered.

That violent tremor

shook our hearts that

lay half dormant in us.

It re-awakened

the Japanese virtue of putting

others before oneself.

"Everything will be fine.

Let's hang in there."

I promised myself that

I'll never forget

how important it is for people to

encourage and support each other.

"Bury our village if it will save

the people downstream."

"Then we'll build a new village,"

said one old man.

"Haruzo Matsuo

Our house submerged in water"

One man put a photo of his

sunken home on his name card.

Magobei here was rescued by a helicopter

after the Chuetsu Earthquake.

A miracle, wasn't it?

Build a good town

for the children.

It's what we adults

can do for them.

It was revived only 2 years after

the quake. Aren't they all lively?

The bulls are Yamakoshi's

pride and joy.

So the adults started the Phoenix Project

to launch the fireworks again.

They gathered funds.

Let's launch the Nagaoka fireworks

and our thoughts into the sky.

Like the 100 sacks of rice

after the Boshin War

and the fireworks for recovery

from the defeat in WW2

let's learn from how our forefathers

encouraged the children of Nagaoka.

That was the Phoenix fireworks.

The symbol of eternal life.

The year after the quake,

the Phoenix was launched.

Wakako...

So why...

Why did you and

Mr. Katayama break up?

Oh my gosh, no!

You must be kidding.

Wakako...

Mr. Katayama is a wonderful gentleman

but he's too old for me.

This is funny.

I'd like to know what happened

to you two but I won't ask.

What happened to me

happens all the time.

Sure, I took it pretty hard but...

These days, I can hear his voice.

They expected 20% of the residents

at most to come back.

But in the end, 80% did.

They created this beautiful nature.

That's the power of "home."

He was also on the Phoenix committee.

He made picture storybooks

about recovery.

He always ate half the lunch

my mother made for me.

You eat half.

When we broke up...

It's no use doing the same thing.

Let's eat separate lunches.

I didn't understand

at the time.

He now volunteers at a

nursing home in Fukushima.

Look at what just came.

Messages from well-wishers.

Niigata's Sado Okesa is a variation of

Haiya-bushi from Amakusa.

It was probably

brought here to the north

on trade ships.

We're all connected

in some way.

Do you want to go

see Mr. Katayama?

His house is not far from here.

That night, I stayed in an inn that

finally reopened after the earthquake.

There were still signs

of the disaster

but this hot spring is

nature's blessing.

"There's Still Time Until a War"

We started rehearsing

the play on July 19.

Exactly 66 years ago today

"U.S. Declares an Air Strike Scene"

General H.H. Arnold of

the U.S. Army

made the following declaration.

Today, August 1, 1945,

is hereby declared

the date of establishment of

the U.S. Army Air Forces.

We the United States

Army Air Forces

will use all our resources available

and launch an air raid on Japan.

To the citizens of Japan!

Read this leaflet if you want to save

yours and your precious one's lives.

Within a few days, the military

facilities listed on the back...

These are propaganda flyers.

Must be destroyed.

The leaflets forewarning

an attack on Nagaoka

were for threatening the Japanese army

and sapping its fighting spirit.

There are military facilities

and factories in this city.

We Americans will destroy...

When Nagaoka was attacked, its name

had been removed from the leaflets.

Bombs can't see and don't

know where they'll land.

So evacuate from the cities

that are listed on the back.

The truth is always

hidden from us

but projects the cruelest sights.

What's that crap?

From my school back home.

I can't wear it here.

You're an evacuee

from Fukushima.

Yes, from Minami Soma, the town

right next to the nuclear plants.

Nagaoka has taken in

close to 1,000 of us.

Hi, Ryo!

Hello.

You can use this bike.

RETURNING KINDNESS RECEIVED

AFTER THE CHUETSU EARTHQUAKE

Really?

We will annihilate Japan

with military force.

So how do you like this play?

I don't know anything about war

and it's never crossed my mind.

Unconditional surrender by Japan

or its complete destruction.

Many people died here

during the air raid.

It's the citizens' duty to

tell the story.

There are adults who think

war is necessary

but not the children.

Of course.

That's why it's up to the

children to make peace.

"And July 24

the rehearsal continues"

Everybody, come out.

That day, on August 1, 1945

"Arrival of Enemy Planes Scene"

not only Nagaoka but

Mito, Toyama, Hachioji

and other cities were targets

of indiscriminate air raids.

Put them in the middle.

"10:30 PM"

66 years later, in the evening

of Aug. 1, 2011

this performance by

the students

will be watched by many

Nagaoka citizens.

Everybody dies one day.

However!

- I heard from my grandma.

- My uncle.

- I heard from my grandpa.

- My great grandpa.

- I heard by Kaki River.

- On Chosei Bridge.

- Everybody didn't die.

- Didn't die.

- Everybody was killed.

- Killed.

By war!

They were killed by war!

I wonder if they're shooting up

fireworks again this year...

"Power of Imagination Scene"

Izuho, go up the slope.

You too, Aya.

Rui, you too.

B-29 bombers are here!

When I went outside

I saw red and blue

lights in the sky!

People must have

held their breaths.

Wondering what was

about to happen...

Aya, a little faster.

Hana...

Yes?

Do you know when

people feel afraid?

No.

It's when their imagination

can't catch up.

Imagination can't catch up?

The cruelest thing one can do to others

is to take away their imagination.

What is kindness and compassion?

Imagination about others.

When it's gone

it's terrifying.

It's unthinkable.

I never noticed her in

the school before.

Poet Daigaku Horiguchi

is also from Nagaoka.

His ancestors were

Nagaoka Clan members.

He wrote this poem about the

Daigo Fukuryu Maru incident.

It happened on Bikini Atoll in 1954.

"You tamed the sun inside

a nuclear reactor"

The thermonuclear test

by the Americans.

A member of a tuna fishing boat

died from radiation syndrome.

"You were able to kill God

with the power of science"

It triggered an anti-

thermonuclear movement.

But the U.S. paid $2 million

in compensation and

Japan discontinued

the investigation

and people soon

forgot about it.

"Trembling with fear about

a nuclear doomsday"

"It is time to make

the decision"

His father works at the nuclear

power plant in Kashiwazaki.

They're taking in those who lost their

jobs at the Fukushima plant.

He's proud of that.

But recently

he and his friends have started

pondering their future.

Then his father brought him here.

Think by yourselves.

You can create your own future.

A better era.

It was their wish too.

Tsuginosuke, Isoroku, Daigaku...

Nagaoka citizens who

hoped for peace.

This is Isoroku's grave.

It was horrible after the

Chuetsu Earthquake.

The people of Nagaoka

helped its restoration.

It took a year and a half.

I was a rookie reporter

at the time.

I was so ambitious.

Yeah, I was too.

A diary by Isoroku's friend

was discovered recently.

It describes how he was opposed to the

war against the U.S. to the very end.

The diary belonged to Mr. Teikichi Hori

of Oita Prefecture.

Like Isoroku, he was opposed to

the war against the U.S.

On the fateful day of the

attack on Pearl Harbor

he saw the marshal off

at Yokohama Station.

Isoroku's last words were

"Thanks. I may not be able to come home."

"Take good care of your wife."

And there's justice

even in war.

That's what we learned

as children.

For example, you don't attack

a hospital ship.

Cultural assets belong to the world and

must be protected by both sides.

That's why Kyoto and Nara

weren't targeted.

That's what I thought.

But Kyoto, like Hiroshima, was

a Class AA target of

the atomic bomb.

They didn't attack the prime target because

they wanted to test the bomb's damage on it.

Nagasaki was bombed

instead of Kokura

because there was poor

visibility over Kokura.

They stopped the Nagaoka fireworks

the year I was born.

Really?

I was born in 1938.

I was moved by the movie

"Naval Battles of Hawaii and Malay."

About the attack on

Pearl Harbor?

The great victories of Japan.

We thought our army was always

winning like the movies.

That's what the

papers said.

I wonder how the reporters felt,

thinking we were going to lose.

Well, it was a war.

We had to win.

We had to win...

But we lost.

Even children know what

happens if we lose.

It's over for Japan.

I was ready to be killed.

But so quickly after that...

A strange, unexpected peace.

Strange...

Americans thought the Japanese

had the mentality of a 12-year-old.

12?

Chocolate and chewing gum

and American movies...

They were so fun

and cheerful.

The Japanese quickly

fell in love with America.

Dark in here, isn't it?

After March 11, the whole

city became dark.

When I was a child

it was always this dark

so I feel comfortable.

No trouble at all.

Are you feeling nostalgic?

Humans are feeling nostalgic.

There was nothing wrong

with this darkness.

Japan became bright because

it imitated the U.S.

Like idol worship.

But people were afraid too.

When a civilization

is too advanced

it will someday bring on

the downfall of mankind.

Like in Osamu Tezuka's

sci-fi cartoons.

Osamu Tezuka...

"Astro Boy"...

President Eisenhower gave a speech

titled "Atoms for Peace."

Astro Boy and Astro Girl

flying hand in hand...

Nuclear power for peace.

Hiroshima's A-bomb was

made with uranium.

Nagasaki's with plutonium.

The peace sign was a performance

by British PM Churchill.

Peace brought on by the bombs dropped

on Hiroshima and Nagasaki...

The V is for "victory."

If victory is peace,

wars will never end.

After we lost the war,

we Japanese kept

blindly imitating the winners.

Peace...

The V sign is peace

for the winners.

In my younger days,

I was so eager to go.

"Zenjiro Hanyu

Yamamoto Isoroku Museum"

To the U.S.?

In 1965 when I was 27,

I stopped over in Pearl Harbor too.

It was amazing.

It was so colorful

just like the American movies.

We only knew Pearl Harbor from

the black-and-white photos.

It was beautiful and

the world felt peaceful.

But in the mainland...

"My son died in Perl Harbor."

"My father was killed."

I was kicked out of the hotel.

"Nagaoka Air Raid Illustrations"

The war wasn't over

in the U.S.

After 9/11 terrorist attacks,

they said "Remember Pearl Harbor."

It's said that

they killed Bin Laden

for the same reason

they killed Isoroku.

The war isn't over

in the U.S.

In Nagaoka, Hiroshima,

and Nagasaki too.

Tokyo too and the

rest of the world.

Nowadays we Japanese kill each other,

even friends and family.

We have no right

preaching about peace.

This March, a 200-member delegation

from Nagaoka paid a goodwill

visit to Honolulu

to launch fireworks as a sign of

U.S.-Japan friendship.

It was March 10.

The fireworks had to be cancelled

because of the 3/11 quake.

The tsunami hit Hawaii.

And it even reached California.

It was too bad but

it's not over.

There's the main event.

Pearl Harbor was attacked

on Dec. 8.

On Dec. 8 in Pearl Harbor we'll launch

fireworks by Japan and the U.S.

in memory of the deceased.

As a Nagaoka citizen, I want

Isoroku's wish to finally come true.

It's been 66 years

since that day.

Japan has to start over from

the day it lost the war.

We have to use the pain

caused by war for peace.

"Hana's Scene"

Voices yelling.

Voices crying.

Voices calling names.

Voices looking for people.

Pour water over yourselves!

No! Not the bomb shelters!

Has anyone seen my child?

Has anyone seen my brother?

Has anyone seen my leg?

Will someone explain

what this is?

- To Kaki River!

- Run!

The bull is running madly

through the fire.

All the bomb shelters are full

and I couldn't get in.

Hundreds of incendiary bombs

were stuck in the ground.

Someone got hit by one

and was torn apart.

- We ran.

- We ran like mad.

- Not knowing what to do.

- Not knowing what will be.

What is it, Hana?

What's happened, Hana?

Run! Get out of here!

"10:45 PM

Running to Kaki River"

"Liliko and Hana's Scene"

Father!

Watch your step.

Mom!

Hana!

Mom!

Hana!

Mom!

Hana! Hana!

Hana!

"August 1, 1945"

A tall unicycle...

A tall, tall unicycle...

Hana's unicycle.

I want you to listen to her story.

Liliko Motoki's story.

Hello.

That lady is Ms. Liliko Motoki

and today she's going to

tell you her story

about the war using

picture cards.

It's an important story

so listen carefully and quietly

until she's finished.

Ms. Motoki, welcome.

Hello.

"The Story of That Day"

My name is Liliko Motoki.

You're all sitting on the floor

and I wish I could too.

But when you're old,

your legs start to hurt.

So forgive me.

Today I'm going to

to tell you about my daughter,

who died when she was 1 and a half.

Can you see over there in the back?

Yes, we can.

What a nice breeze...

Her name was Hana.

If she were alive

she could have felt

this nice breeze too.

"The Story about That Day."

Dad...

Did Hana fall asleep?

Not yet.

What did Mom say?

Nothing.

Okay.

August 1, 1945.

There was very little

rainfall that summer

and it was very hot.

My parents came to see

their granddaughter

but my mother had

already gone home.

My father stayed behind

in Nagaoka.

Outside our yard

a tall unicycle passed by.

My husband was volunteering

at a factory.

He always wouldn't be home

until late at night.

The stars are

so pretty tonight.

I wish they could see

us from the sky too.

If they could see you,

they wouldn't drop bombs.

It was a beautiful night,

the stars sparkling in the sky.

But suddenly, the siren went off.

- I'll bring the lighting stands later.

- Okay.

You guys okay?

"There's Still Time Until a War"

Hello. May I sit with you?

Sure, please.

Thank you.

What are you doing?

A play.

A play about what?

My mother and me.

And about the war

and Nagaoka fireworks.

I don't like fireworks.

Why not?

How old are you?

18.

18...

Hey, Hana! When are the

lighting stands coming?

Mr. Katayama is bringing

them this afternoon.

Hana?

Yes.

Is that right?

If you don't like fireworks,

you must not like flowers.

I do like flowers.

I love them.

Small flowers.

Good.

What do you do now?

I'm a picture-card storyteller.

"10:15 PM"

It'll be de-activated soon.

Liliko, a warning siren.

I'll go check.

Close the bomb shelter

door tightly.

Take care of Hana.

So I stayed back at the house

with my father

and my little baby Hana.

It was terrifying.

The dark shadows of the B-29 bombers

were about to fill the

sky over Nagaoka.

With Hana on my back,

my father and I...

Let's go in the bomb shelter.

Hurry!

Don't trip over yourself.

Air-raid siren.

We hurried into the bomb shelter.

Hurry, Dad!

We have to shut the door.

It's actually no

use hiding here.

Liliko, watch closely.

This is what humans

are capable of.

No, don't stay there, Mom.

Hana!

Let's get out and run.

For some reason,

I felt uncertain so...

We can't stay here.

We have to get out.

I suppose we should.

My father and I quickly crawled

out of the bomb shelter.

Hurry, Dad!

Hana was quiet on my back.

Hana will get crushed!

Let's go to Kaki River.

Mitsuko!

Let's go.

There's Hirakata Shrine.

I heard they have a

big bomb shelter.

What good are they?

"Bomb Shelter Scene"

We need more water.

It's too hot.

Are you okay?

More water!

Run faster!

Be strong!

Get water!

This really happened?

Thank you.

Water!

They're burning!

Sorry!

Hang in there!

You'll be okay!

Don't give up!

We need more water!

Pour some on me!

Do you have enough water?

Bomb shelters

are dangerous!

You'll burn to death!

- This is like hell!

- We can't help you!

The boy stood at the entrance under

the shower of incendiary bombs and

silently and desperately

poured buckets of water over the

people inside the bomb shelter.

You have to live.

You have to live

or you'll die.

They should be rehearsing already.

Should we stop by?

It's on the way.

Hurry up!

Here too!

Here's water!

Hi.

- Who are you?

- What's your name?

You saved our lives.

What's your name?

Who are you?

What's your name?

Who are you?

What's your name?

You saved our lives.

What's your name?

Who are you?

What's your name?

Satoru Tanigawa.

You're Satoru Tanigawa?

You guys, that was great!

Good job.

You did great.

- Hana...

- Yeah?

What's that "boon boon"

you were doing?

Do an airplane.

Mine goes "boon boon."

- That's cute.

- Thanks.

Reiko, Mr. Katayama was there.

I saw him!

I heard him too!

Yamakoshi used to have

terraced rice paddies.

From over 200 years ago, they released

baby Nishikigoi fish in the paddies.

It became serious business with

the rice paddy reduction policy.

The Chuetsu Earthquake

almost destroyed the business

but it's again the world's

largest breeder of Nishikigoi.

- Taking a walk?

- Hi, Motoki.

Ryo from Fukushima asked me

if he could read your script.

He did?

You really are an odd student.

You know all about

the past but...

- What's his name?

- Yasushi.

Yasushi, come here.

There are 3 of us here.

I move away.

Now there's a gap

between you two.

A very sad gap.

The world is the same.

Gap?

The force that fills the gap...

Imagination.

Imagination...

I heard you were going to

cancel the Phoenix fireworks.

Because of the Great East

Japan Earthquake.

I see the point but...

A woman raised her hand.

Go ahead.

You must be Ms. Nagashima

from Yamakoshi.

Most members of the

Phoenix Committee

feel we should cancel

this year's fireworks

but I thought we should listen to

some comments by the public.

I...

lost my little niece in the recent

Great East Japan Earthquake.

My sister's daughter.

She was a sweet, thoughtful girl.

Her body was badly damaged

but her face was peaceful

like she was just sleeping.

My sister is still in another world.

Sometimes

she disappears into a world of grief

that only she can enter.

She's right next to me but

in a world far far away.

I would like to see the fireworks

with my sister.

To appreciate their beauty together.

Our thoughts can be together.

After the Chuetsu Earthquake

our Phoenix fireworks must have

supported people like that.

I want my sister to know

that I'm right by her.

Especially because of

what happened...

Especially because...

I'm sorry for my selfish remarks.

It's irresponsible of me when

I have no money to contribute.

Hana's story about the war and

the story about the Phoenix fireworks

are starting to connect.

Her dead niece and Yasushi here

overlapped in my mind.

The gap was filled.

Yasushi's mother is my sister

who died in the Chuetsu quake.

So you joined the committee?

I began to see the

importance of fireworks.

You're stopping the

aftershocks in your soul.

Motoki... Hana...

You should go see Mr. Nose,

the firework craftsman.

He's a war veteran and the key person

of the Nagaoka fireworks.

A marshal if you were a soldier.

The mock-up bomb was

the other Nagaoka air raid.

My aunt and my uncle

and the "bo"...

"Bo"?

The baby.

None of them knows

why they died.

Go, dad.

Come on, push!

"Masae, older sister, 26"

The older sister is still alive today.

"Sami Imai, the model for this character,

is 92 and still alive in 2011"

There should never

be another war.

"Statue of the Legend

of the 100 Sacks of Rice"

That's Torasaburo Kobayashi.

The people of Nagaoka have suffered

and survived many wars in the past.

They've strived to live.

Peach from my friends.

Thank you.

"Nagaoka War Damage Exhibit Hall"

- Welcome.

- Hello.

My grandfather fought

in Sino-Japanese and

Russo-Japanese wars.

He always used to say war is fun

when you're winning it.

He looked happy when

he talked of war.

He volunteers here.

Be someone who despises war

even when you win.

That's his wish.

Mr. Mishima...

Starting this year,

this exhibit hall

has started a Pearl Harbor exhibit in

conjunction with a museum in Arizona.

We have to start by sharing the

painful history with each other.

Learn from the pain

we both felt.

HISTORY OF PEARL HARBOR, THE FIRST

EXHIBIT OF DAMAGES CAUSED BY JAPAN

You need cleverness and courage

to bring about peace.

In last year's Peace Forum

Pastor Sato talked about the comfort

women to middle schoolers.

In war, people both cause

and incur harm.

The inhuman acts especially

should not be forgotten

so we can learn the

senselessness of war.

Yes... That's courage.

He wants children to learn from

the mistakes made by adults.

I see.

This is a full-scale model

of a cluster bomb.

It's so big.

I'll show you around.

So how are you enjoying

your sentimental journey?

- A journey of emotions.

- Emotions?

Feeling a mixture of

emotions in Nagaoka.

Many things have touched

my heart deeply.

That's a golden peach.

This is warship USS Arizona.

Golden peach?

From Mr. Matsushita's fields.

Yes.

My fields is this...

I have to fix USS Arizona.

Wakako said she's sorry to

have left you alone.

People in the disaster areas of

the East Japan Earthquake

want the Phoenix fireworks

launched in their towns.

She went to Fukushima

to meet with our friends.

Friends in Fukushima?

Hello.

Photos of the air-raid victims.

1,480 civilians were killed

in just one night.

The figure could increase

if there are new notifications.

That one...

The mayor of Nagaoka

also died in the air raid.

He was from Amakusa.

Are you serious?

This woman here is Liliko Motoki.

She tells picture-card stories about

her sad experiences during the war.

Motoki...

It was this baby that passed away.

Her name was Hana.

She died on her mother's

back in Kaki River.

The mother wanted to be

in the photo with her.

Mothers are strong.

Hana...

Hana Motoki...

This baby?

These are drawings

of people's memories.

People who were in their teens.

The hole made by the mock-up bomb,

now a potato field.

And a peach field.

A water tank.

Bombs look like fireworks

when they're drawn.

Fleeing from incendiary bombs...

This is the old Rokujuku Bank.

It withstood the fire.

The whole city was

burnt down so

there's no shadow of the past.

This is Nagaoka in 1955.

The era still has a gentle

and nostalgic atmosphere.

When the economy grows,

the old Japan becomes lost.

It was war of the economy

and the nation crumbled.

Japan abandoned

its old ways and

adopted convenience and

grew into an economic giant.

The recent big quake has

gotten us to think.

How will the Japanese

go on living?

We had the ability to

survive with nothing

but now

we've lost ourselves

in over-abundance.

Nagaoka in the past. Japan was poorer

but it seemed better off than now.

The Great East Japan Earthquake brought

forth the beautiful spirit of Japan.

What is real prosperity for this country?

We have to think again.

Get out of here!

You're not allowed in here.

- Dad...

- What.

That uniform is

Mr. Katayama's school.

Can we help you?

Where's your teacher?

Go home!

Oh, Dad...

He kicked out Kiyoshi Yamashita

this way too.

This place is dangerous!

Go away!

Can't you hear me?!

Get out of here!

What's so dangerous

about fireworks?

Who's Kiyoshi Yamashita?

Are you a fool?

You don't know that

famous artist?

You didn't know either.

Come back with an adult.

There are thing you can only

see with your imagination.

I hate people who quibble.

You use your imagination

too, don't you?

What?

You imagine how people will feel

when they see your fireworks.

Will they remember people

they've forgotten?

Will they find their

lost treasures?

You're a weird kid.

People think I'm odd.

This paper is no good.

It has to be smoother.

Do you know about wars?

Yes.

You do?

At your age?

If the difference in age

means anything

it's whether you know or don't

know why you have to die.

I left my war by river Amur.

River Amur?

You said "imagination," right?

Yes.

A prisoner-of-war camp in Siberia,

minus 30 degrees.

One small piece of black bread.

Watery soup with about 5 beans.

We were fed livestock feed

and every day, one man

out of 10 was dead.

Can you imagine that?

Not yet.

In the morning...

On a bed...

He's gone.

Oh...

Dead...

Your friends...

You're too desperate

trying to stay alive

that you forget you're friends.

Your souls became

hard as a rock.

But now, my friends that are deceased

come here and help me out.

I loved the fireworks

over River Amur.

Stay healthy and fit.

Fireworks again

this summer, huh?

You hit the very bottom

in the war.

Then you rose to the sky

with the fireworks.

Mr. Nose, the firework craftsman

in the summer of 1990

in memory of fellow soldiers

who died in the POW camp

went to River Amur

in Khabarovsk

and launched fireworks.

Are you Hana Motoki?

Yes.

I wandered into your play

rehearsal the other day.

I'm glad I got to meet you.

I'm happy too.

Let's put on a good show on Aug. 1!

The day for Nagaoka fireworks!

Let's change all the bombs

in the world into fireworks

and launch them!

It's a fox's wedding!

The sudden rainstorm in

late July turned into

a record-breaking rainfall

and for 4 days...

Shinano River flooded.

The venue that was prepared

for the big day...

was submerged in water and mud.

The display of fireworks

seemed beyond hope.

Yet the mayor of Nagaoka...

Mayor! Mayor!

A word, please!

We'd definitely cancel or postpone them

if they were for attracting tourists.

But our fireworks are launched

in memory of the deceased

and as a message for peace.

We have to keep sending

the message to the world.

The fireworks of Nagaoka

must be launched at all costs.

They're not the greatest

fireworks in Japan.

They're the greatest in the world.

The citizens worked all night

to clear the mud from the river

and to prepare the field.

At 10:30 PM on Aug. 1

the rain miraculously stopped

and the fireworks were to be

launched as planned.

"Early morning Aug. 1, 2011"

"Nagaoka City Hall"

"Hirakata Shrine"

"Kaki River

Forest of Peace Park"

We made these

origami cranes.

"Students delegated to the

Hiroshima Peace Ceremony"

We'll offer them to the

deceased in Hiroshima.

"And then..."

"that evening"

What is that pretty

white flower?

It's called a lily.

Like your name, Mom?

Yes.

My father said if Japan

weren't at war

he wanted to go to New Zealand

and climb

this tall snowy mountain

called Mt. Cook

and hold these flowers

in his hands.

That's why he named me Liliko.

He said wars take away

people's dreams.

Mom...

Yes?

The night of the fireworks

is the night of my play.

I'm so happy.

That you came back.

Are you still afraid?

Yes.

Fireworks are light and sound.

Just like war.

So you won't go see

them again this year?

No. A picture-card storyteller

stays home when she's alone.

Then Mom... Goodbye.

Goodbye. Thank you.

Hana...

And simultaneously

there was a live broadcast in Nagaoka

of the Phoenix fireworks in Ishinomaki.

You're very young, Mayor.

My dance steps?

No, Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor...

The main event's coming up.

The U.S.-Japan launching of fireworks

on Dec. 8 in Pearl Harbor.

Yes.

I was unnerved when

I heard about it.

I'm prepared.

Prepared.

Even if we can't this year,

I'm a Nagaoka statesman.

I'll fulfill my duties.

You have to dream

to realize it.

You really are young.

My dance steps, right?

"There's Still Time Until a War"

- Mr. Katayama...

- Tonight's the night.

You'll be watching, right?

Thanks.

No, thank you.

Do you feel lonely?

The gap remains empty.

I lack imagination, huh?

Mr. Katayama,

you're wonderful.

Hana Motoki...

You appeared out of nowhere

and practiced hard for the play.

I'm sure your prayers

will get through to people.

"Liliko and Hana's Scene"

To the healthy brave children

of the future like ourselves.

Can you run

to Kaki River?

- Yeah!

- Then run.

How about you?

Granny!

Bomb shelters are dangerous!

You'll burn to death!

We can't help you!

Let's get out!

Hana!

Dad!

To the river!

To Kaki River!

It's time to perform the play

we practiced so hard.

Don't forget the war.

By not forgetting,

let's make peace.

I worry about when people like us

who know the war are gone.

But it's reassuring to know

that our memories of war are

relayed to the children like this.

"Ai Shichiri, 87, the model for

Liliko Motoki's character"

Kaki River was surrounded

by wild red flames.

Dad, watch your step.

Hana!

Senseless...

How senseless...

My father was gone before I knew it.

He always used to have

his arms crossed.

I tried to give milk to Hana.

It was the only thing

a mother could do for her daughter.

I definitely felt it.

She sucked once, twice...

She drank milk from my breast.

Soon it was morning.

I realized I was no longer

hearing the airplanes.

I climbed out of the river

and looked around.

Where there used

to be a town

it was now the sky

as far as I could see.

I crossed Chosei Bridge.

Someone looked at Hana

and said, "Disgusting."

The sunshine was so strong

so I held Hana to my chest

to give her some shade.

I've never wanted a parasol

more than I did then.

Dr. Shima of Kusama clinic

examined Hana and said...

Poor girl.

He then...

wrapped a bandage

around Hana.

When I saw how white

the bandage was...

for the first time...

in my empty heart...

I felt regret.

When I cremated Hana

on a metal sheet

her ashes fit

on a handkerchief.

I was stumbling along

holding her ashes when

I ran into my husband.

My husband...

had dried a diaper Hana had wet on...

and was carrying it with him.

Time passed and

I lost my husband

and I've aged.

But the grief I felt then

has never disappeared from my heart.

Still...

You all can see me, right?

But they couldn't see us

from the airplanes.

If they could, there wouldn't

have been a war.

But we humans

have the power to see

no matter how far away.

This is a story about a girl who was

alive for only a year and a half.

Her name was Hana.

What did Hana see?

- Her mother's breasts.

- Her hands.

- Her mother's smile.

- Her eyes.

What did she feel?

- Her mother's scent.

- Her warmth.

- Her mother's flavor.

- Her breath.

Then what did Hana see?

Mom!

In their future...

I hope the war ends.

Is there still time until a war?

Flowers!

"Hana"!

Flowers!

Fireworks!

Fireworks! Yes!

Flowers...

Flowers!

Flowers...

There were wars.

There were earthquakes.

Many people died.

Many people's grief lingered on.

Sorrow permeated people's hometowns

and anguish seeped

into the rivers.

But hometowns revive

and rivers are still flowing.

That's hope and people's courage.

We felt the pain and

learned from these people

about their experiences

engraved in their hearts.

That's why we'll pass them

on the others, candidly and

with prayers of hope.

Fireworks are so pretty

because the night is dark.

After the fireworks, the night is lit

with light from people's hearts.

"Seiji Kase, 89, the model for

Seijiro Nose's character"

Fireworks!

They bloom slowly and smoothly.

Beautiful!

God must be telling us that this

amount of light is all we need.

Because when nights are too bright,

they break our souls.

Don't forget.

We care about you.

Don't forget.

You are right next to us.

I'm right next to you.

Casting blossoms to the sky.

Let's cast blossoms to the sky together.

Let's cast blossoms to the sky.

Goodbye!

Uncle! Auntie!

Bo!

Goodbye!

Here they are...

The Phoenix fireworks.

If the A-bomb was

dropped on Niigata

I wonder if we'd be sitting

here watching fireworks.

Maybe we wouldn't be here.

- A-bomb?

- On Niigata?

No... We'd be here.

With the fireworks of Nagaoka,

with everybody.

When we young people discuss trivia,

we also need the right reason.

Right reason?

Wishes and prayers.

You draw fireworks like bombs.

You think so?

Because you hurry.

But fireworks disappear

so quickly.

Just close your eyes

and draw slowly.

How can I?

You can draw the fireworks'

wishes and prayers.

Right, Mr. Nose?

Yes.

These fireworks bloom slowly and

disappear slowly and smoothly.

Slowly and smoothly...

They become flowers

in these skies.

These fireworks today are

exceptionally amazing.

The fireworks of Nagaoka have

matured beautifully.

And this is the 90cm shell.

Our flowers of prayer

that bloom in these skies.

Thank you.

Mom, can you see me?

Yes, I can see you very clearly.

Hana...

Spirits... Rest in peace.

Hana!

Good morning.

You stayed.

I hadn't said

goodbye to you.

Would we have met

if there was no war?

My grandparents said

they've been through a war

and can endure this disaster.

They can rebuild

Minami Soma too.

To repay the kindness

people showed us.

Sure.

And me too.

I was too embarrassed

to say I was trying hard

but one day I'll go home.

And I'll work hard to

revive my hometown.

Then I'll go back too

to the past.

You mean, to the future.

"There's Still Time Until a War"

What.

I wanted to experience

a heartbreak.

You're weird.

I know. Thank you.

I'm sorry. Goodbye.

We'll always be together.

Always.

I've decided to go to

your hometown.

I'm going there to see you but

I don't know yet if I will.

Let me say hello first.

Please don't speak to me

until I do.

Please leave me alone

until I'm ready.

But I'm happy.

June 11, from Reiko Endo.

To Kenichi Katayama.

The only letter I received from Reiko.

"Wakako Inoue"

Thanks.

Here's mine.

We're weird, exchanging name cards

when we're saying goodbye.

You think so?

You're leaving without

seeing Mr. Katayama?

It's too sad to say goodbye

the second time.

If he and I had a child...

If we did, she'd be 18.

I just realized.

For you.

Lunch my mom made.

What will you eat then?

And the man you

share it with...

We'll work together again but

we'll have our own separate lunches.

- Boiled vegetables?

- Of course.

Okay then.

Take care.

- Wakako...

- Yes?

I want you to have these.

How did you know?

I was admiring them.

I guessed.

This is great.

The fireworks last night

really were beautiful.

I'm glad.

I think I was able to get closer.

There's still time...

I'm going.

Goodbye.

Who's in this gap?

Mom.

You can tell?

I can sense her.

I'm not lonely.

Okay.

Are you?

When I feel lonely

I close my eyes like this.

Reiko...

A tall unicycle.

A tall, tall unicycle.

Hana's unicycle.

"Hana"

Grass transforms into flowers.

Bye!

ISHINOMAKI WELCOMES THE PHOENIX

Kenichi...

It feels like I was finally

able to meet you.

You and I...

There are so many things

we have to do over.

That day too, from such

a beautiful sky

the fake Fat Man

came flying down.

Going straight back

to Amakusa?

I'm returning to Nagasaki.

And I've decided

to become a mother.

I feel brave.

Of course, my baby will

need a father first.

But first, I'll go to the disaster

areas of east Japan.

For research?

Nagaoka, Hiroshima, Nagasaki

and Bikini Atoll and Fukushima.

The connection between

Japan's towns and me...

The U.S., the world, yesterday,

today, and tomorrow...

I want to think about everything

that connects into my life.

You have to grow so that

your life can grow too.

Miss Reiko Endo,

take care.

I will.

You too.

Mr. Akiyoshi Muraoka...

Yes?

Be friendly to others.

Yes, ma'am.

It is now winter and

today on Dec. 8, 2011

Two 90cm shells were cast

in the sky over Shinano River.

The first one was launched in memory of

the approximately 1,500 victims

of the Nagaoka air raid.

The second one was launched in memory of

the approximately 2,400 American victims

of the attack on Pearl Harbor

on December 8.

Nothing like this had

ever been done before.

Nagaoka took this opportunity to send

a delegate of students to Hawaii.

They attended the 70th anniversary

memorial service in Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor today is

a place that symbolizes a new harmony

and bond between the U.S. and Japan.

That was what

The Niigata Nippo reported.

So one day in the skies

over Pearl Harbor

flowers of prayer will surely,

most certainly bloom.

Kono sora no hana: Nagaoka hanabi monogatari (2012) - full transcript