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"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.

Shinano River, Nagaoka, Niigata,
7.30 am, July 20th, 2011
Today is also a day in
a blistering hot summer.

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,

Early Summer, 2011
I was certain that

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.

Yamakoshi, Nagaoka
How are you? I'm fine.

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?

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

Chetssu 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...
It happened right then.

on a riverbank in Sakon
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.

Gosaku Yokoi, age 20 at death
The older brother's lower body
was ripped off

and the younger brother
was torn in pieces.

Yosaku Yokoi, age 15 at death
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.

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 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.

Tsugunosuke Kawai of the Nagaoka Clan
He advocated the clan's neutrality
in the Boshin War

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.

Legendary firework craftsman Seijiro Nose
If you ask me

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!

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 sounded.

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.

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.

Please... relax.

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
I have to wait for you
to speak to me first.

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)
The ones under them were
roasted and yellow-brown.

recalls scene in bomb shelter
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.

Ushibuka, city of Amakusa
They're the ones that have
experienced war and not me.

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.

Late Spring 2009
Reiko's house in Ushibuka
The day was a "fox's wedding,"

Late Spring 2009
Reiko's house in Ushibuka
in other words, a sun shower.

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.

"18 years ago in Tokyo"

How about becoming
a mother soon?

We...

have nothing to do with war.

June 11, 2011
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.

Good morning.

May 2011
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.

Atomic bomb dropped over Nagasaki
on 9th August, 1945
After I left Amakusa,

Atomic bomb dropped over Nagasaki
on 9th August, 1945
I made a stop in Nagasaki.

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.

Atomic bomb dropped over Hiroshima
on 6th August, 1945
Next, I visited Hiroshima.

Atomic bomb dropped over Hiroshima
on 6th August, 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...

Mid May 2011
Sure, go ahead and do it.
Please do it.

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.

Yoshie Yamafuji, 66
I feel as though

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.

Fumihiko Sato, 81
My brother and I were told that
our mother was by Kaki River.

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 submerged during the earthquake
It's left as it was after it happened.

revived by people's hard work
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.

"U.S. Declares an Air Strike Scene"
Exactly 66 years ago today

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.

Arrival of Enemy Planes Scene
That day, on August 1, 1945

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!

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.

Zenjiro Hanyu, Yamamoto Isoroku Museum
In my younger days,
I was so eager to go.

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 on 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 Running to Kaki River
Hurry!

Hana!

Hana!

Father!

Liliko and Hana's Scene

Father... Watch your step.

Mom!

Hana!

Mom!

Hana!

Mom!

Hana! Hana!

Hana!

Hana.

August 1st, 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.
- Hana!

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!

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.

July 27th, 2011
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 the 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.

History of Pearl Harbor, the First Exhibit
of Damage Caused by Japan
Learn from the pain we both felt.

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.

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.

Flooded River Kaki, Peace Forest Park

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

Early morning, August 1st, 2011
the rain miraculously stopped

and the fireworks were to be
launched as planned.

Nagaoka City Hall

Hirakata Shrine

Kaki River
Peace Forest 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.

Liliko and Hana's Scene
I'm sure your prayers
will get through to people.

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

Ai Shichiri, 87,
that our memories of war are
relayed to the children like this.

the model for Liliko Motoki's character
that our memories of war are
relayed to the children like this.

Kaki River was surrounded
by wild red flames.

Dad, watch your step.

Hana!

Hana!

Hana!

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?

Is there still time until a war?

Is there still time until a war?

Is there still time until a war?

Is there still time until a war?

Flowers!

"Hana"!

Flowers!

Fireworks!

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.
Casting blossoms to the sky.

Let's cast blossoms to the sky together.

Let's cast blossoms to the sky.

Goodbye!

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'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.