

“Kamikaze funeral pyre”
A soldier has been in the Japanese military for the entirety of WWII, and in that time, his dedication to the army has never faltered. However, as the war draws to a close, his commanding officers become increasingly desperate and push their men to ever more absurd extremes. The ridiculousness of the orders from above peak when the hero of the story is assigned to drive a one-man submarine straight into the hull of an enemy battleship.
Directed by Kihachi Okamoto
User score
15 votes
Released
October 22, 1968
1h 56m
Japanese

Minori Terada
Him

Naoko Ohtani
The Girl

Hideyo Amamoto
Father

Masao Imafuku
School Principal

Chishū Ryū
Bookstore Owner

Tanie Kitabayashi
Bookstore Owner's Wife

Masumi Harukawa
Woman in Apron
Hirohisa Sonoda
Teacher

Shoichi Ozawa
Sergeant

Kin Sugai
Sergeant's Wife
Sue Mitobe
Woman

Yoshitaka Zushi
Older Brother

Kunie Tanaka
Platoon Leader

Ichirō Nakatani
Policeman

Etsushi Takahashi
Officer

Yūnosuke Itō
Skipper

Tatsuya Nakadai
Narrator (voice)

Shinsuke Achiwa
Hiroshi Hasegawa

Misako Tominaga