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During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Navy’s General Staff played a key role in directing Japan’s war effort. For decades after the war, former General Staff officers kept silent. But in 1981, some began meeting in Tokyo to share candid reflections on the war and to tape-record the truth for posterity. Their recordings form 400 hours of testimony. This documentary - part two of a three-part series - focuses on the “tokko” (special attack) strategy of turning men into weapons to send them on kamikaze missions. It was long believed that theses missions had begun as an impromptu expression of zeal by frontline pilots. But the recordings revealed that the General Staff had been systematically involved in planning the "tokko" forces more than a year before the first kamikaze mission took place. This film sheds light on how and why decisions were made to send so many young men to their deaths.

Japan - 2009 - 59 mn - HD Cam • 16/9 - Colour

Director Migita Chiyo Writer Migita Chiyo Journalist Yoshida Yoshikatsu Camera Houdai Norio Sound Noriyoshi Yamada, Ono Saori Editing Yoshimi Ozawa Music Kako Takashi

Production NHK Japan Broadcasting Corp, 2-2-1 Jinnan, Shibuya-Ku, 150-8001 Tokyo, Japon Tél : +81 3 5455 4279 Fax : +81 3 3481 1453

Sales Media International Corporation, Kayoko Ohmae, NR Bldg. 3rd floor 5-5, Kamiyama-cho, 150-0047 Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japon Tél : +81 3 3468 6984 Fax : +81 3 3466 9530 E-mail : ohmae@micojapan.com