"Matsukichi Fujita, 55, ex-corporal..." "Then settled in Thailand." "I've known him for three years." "I wanted him to come home just once." "Finaly he accepted my invitation." "There were 33 years since he had left Japan." "He's simple, honest and straightforward..." "A real Japanese Muhomatsu." "PRIVATE MUHOMATSU COMES HOME" " Uncle Matsukichi?" " Yes..." "I'm Eiji, your nephew." "How's your mother?" "I hear she's ill." "That's right." "Not serious, though." "She couldn't come to see me." "Why did you move to Tokyo?" "Uncle Fujio..." "He was mean to us." "So we left Nagasaki." "What did he do?" "When he got drunk, he beat my sister." "And he treated my mother badly." " She couldn't bear it." " But he adopted you." "Because he had no children then." "By the way, do you know Sergeant Yokoi?" "He's a coward." "Why did he have to hide in the cave?" "He should've come out when the war ended." "We had fools like him in the army so we lost." "My mother will be happy." "Mother..." "Brother Matsu!" "I'm so glad!" "You look fine." " I'm sorry I didn't return sooner." " I know." "Forgive me." "I'm so glad I can't stop crying." "I'm happy to see you again." "I almost gave up." "I was worried about you and my brother." "I wondered if he was good to you." "So I came back." "Thank you, brother Matsu." "Fujiko's first husband died in action." "Her second one was a drunk." "She divorced him." "Three years ago... .. she came to Tokyo with her children." " What's the matter?" " Something gynecological." "You're thin." "Are you all right?" "Yes." "I still can carry 100 kilograms of rice." "Really?" "You're tough." "I'm thin, but I haven't been ill." " I'm healthly." " And your wife?" "How could I have brought her here?" "Why not?" "I almost didn't bring myself back." "I'll talk with our stupid brother Fujio." "You should live in Nagasaki." "Our mother's grave is in there." "I'll tell him." "Don't worry." "Anyway, Fujio wen't listen to you." "Forget it." "Here, my children are nice to me." "I'm happy." "I thought it over when I left Nagasaki." "Why did you leave?" "Fujio was terrible." "He beats us up." "We did nothing." "He bullied you?" "He hit me for not saying hello to him." "Is this Kyoko?" "I'm Hiroko, the eldest." "I'm Sachiko." "I'm Kyoto." "Kyoto." "Thank you for the gift you sent me." "Please take care of her." "She's a mother to you, and a sister to me." "It was 33 years ago." "She was eight or nine when I went to war." "Now she has four fine children." "Thanks." "By the way..." "Why was I registered as dead?" "I don't know." "Your friend Morita told Fujio you had been wounded." "I wanted to get your ashes." "I didn't know what had happened to them." " What was in the urn?" " Nothing." "It was empty." " Is it hot in Thailand?" " Yes, as hot as summer in Japan." " No rain?" " Lots but... it's seasonal." "After the rain, rivers get clean soon." "There's no fish such filthy water." "Is there some place you want to go?" "Yes." "The shrine for our dead comrades." "Are their souls there?" "No, I think they aren't in the shrine." "They're in the mountains." "Or in the sea." "Some are in the earth." "They're where they died." "Not in the shrine." "On the Burma Thailand border..." "I found two skulls on the road." "I couldn't neither pass by them, nor back away." "Because their souls were there." "Why didn't you come back to Japan?" "I couldn't get in touch." "He was deserted in Thailand." "He believed he'd be picked up later." "He wrote to Japan, but got no reply." "He thought the A-bomb had destroyed Nagasaki." "Four years ago, he met a Japanese... .. and learned what had happened." " Happy to see your brother?" " I'm not happy at all." "We often fought when we were children." "He won't cry, like my sister." "He's there." "Fujio?" "How are you doing?" "Nice to see you." "You look okay." "You're late." "Morita..." "Morita was his classmate." "In the army, they were in the same division." "The Nagasaki Okunchi Festival is being held." " Has it chanaged?" " Yes." " The station?" " Not that much" " Not the mountains." " They won't change." "They do not walk together." "Fujito, 60, lives with thirty year-old girl." "Her mother was his wife." "She ran away three years ago." "I have another girl." "You've chased too many woman." "One after another." "You've had eight wives." "No, five." "I know, don't lie..." "One was killed by the A-bomb." "One came from Omura after the war." "I paid 1.500.000 yen to divorce her." "Our father died without seeing you." "I held a fine funeral for him." "Note that." "Maybe Fujiko blamed me." "She spoke ill of me." "But J'm a success." "I bought ten wreaths for your funeral." "I held it because you were reported as dead." "I'll show you the document I was given." "It said you had died of disease." "You got a promotion." "A medal, too." "Take it." "This is the document." "It reported you dead." "An English plane come to bomb us." "I shouted: "Bombs!"." "The commander was hit." ""... died of malaria;" "also shot in the arm. "" "When we met I told him about our father." "You said:" ""My old man is died. "" "I don't remember." "Matsukichi was wounded." "Morita told him about his father's estate." "But I didn't say that." "Were you wounded?" "He was wounded in the leg." "Morita was wrong." " Not in the arm?" " There's a scar here." "I got it when I was a child." "My mother accidentaly cut my hand." " Not a war wound?" " Not a war wound." " You talk and talk." " I don't talk, unlike you." " Don't talk big." " Even if you have money." "Thai currency." " Then don't talk big." " I'm rich." "Father, brothers..." "I've come back." "The army deserted me, but I came back." "Father, Mother..." "I'm here at last." "Finalty I can visit your grave." "They must be glad." "The A-bomb killed them." "Father's name and Mother's." "Our brother's who died young." "This is my name." "I'm alive, so it's in red." "This is my late wife, Chie." "And my three children, Emiko, Suzuko and Takeshi." "The A-bomb killed them." "Then your name" "Matsukichi." "I didn't make it for you." "I made it last year." "It was for my family." "How much was it?" "It cost two and a half milion." "How's Eiji?" " He ran away." " I asked the police to find him." "You adopted him." "But you have your own child now." "You wanted an heir when you adopted him." "My daughter will get my entire estate." "I can give it to anyone I like." "Matsu is no match for Fujio." "He survived the war." "He's tough." "But his brother survived the A-bomb..." "And the post-war period." "Fujio is tougher." "He seems invincible." "Fujio wanted Matsukichi to stay at his house." "Matsukichi didn't want to." "Next morning he was gone." "Fujio called his aunt." "Matsukichi was there." "Let me talk to Morita." "Damn it!" "It's disgraceful." "Bring him to my house!" "You don't know how to treat me." "I've already explained you." " You treated me with contempt." " Morita wasted his time on you, too." "You almost called him a liar." "You said it was your leg, not your arm." "I have a request." "Just one thing." "About my sister." " Will you take care of her?" " I did." "I gave her 30.000 yen every month." "I built a house for her, too." "I'd taken care of her well enough." "But she ran away." "I won't take care of her again." "I know, but I'm asking you." "What's past is past." "It was only four or so years ago." "This is the only request i'll ever make." "I'd better give away my money." "I donated to chapels and orphanages." "I gave them a few million yen." "I still do." "So I won't go to hell after die." "I've suffered enough." "You should have known the way to talk to me." "You should have understood." "Stay with me for the night, at least." "I'm going to see my commander." "In the army?" "What did he do for you?" "You said..." "You were bullied." "My commander didn't bully me." "Forget the army." "Times have changed." "Like the Emperor..." "Only Tojo was blamed." "Let the Emperor be an example." "He cheated us." "He sent us to war." "He made us fight." "Told us about our fighting spirit." "If you refuse to help your sister... .. I'll have to send her money from Thailand." "You won't see her again." "Still I can help her." "Don't say I can't!" "I don't know what you can do in Thailand." "But this is Nagasaki." "You didn't write to me." "You suddenly appeared and blamed me." "Is that any way to treat your brother?" "I'm sorry." "I've explained many times," " You accused me." " I didn't." "You behaved badly." " I'm sorry if I offended you." " You understimate me." "That's why you talked to me that way." "Go home!" "Don't hang around here." "You can go anywhere but Nagasaki!" "This wasn't the way he had wanted it." "His brother saw his sister first..." "Came proudly home with a film unit." "That made him angry." "He fought many people." "His wives left him." "He has no friends, except Morita." "His loneliness makes him angry." "What happened?" "My brother kept yelling at me last night." "I couldn't talk." "It's really to late." "Why was he angry?" "He blamed me for my past." "He said brother Uzen and I were unfilial." "So our father had to die." "I didn't know what to say." "I was patient." "He said I should have died in battle." "That I should have slept in the grave." "My sister was right." "He is a devil." "I think of these deserted people..." "Japan deserted them and prospered." "Matsukichi was deserted." "Fujio used his money to get ahead." "When you were working here where was the gate?" "That way, as I recall." "Father gave me a horse after I left school." "But the police came." "Said I was too young to work with a horse." "I worked for Father." "But Fujio blamed me." "He said I caused his death." "Matsukichi worked with his eldest brother." "Then he worked at the steel mill with Fujio." "There he was accused of stealing a watch." "I said: "Whose watch?" A guard said I stole it." "He hated me." "I felt I was in danger." "I thought I'd better quit, so I did." " Why did he say that?" " I don't know." "They didn't treat me well." "Because my family was poor." "Discrimination." "I was wild." "No one helped me at school." "I feel it's my lot in life." "People despised me, beat me..." "Even my own brother." "The shock of this return was great." "He wants neither to go out, nor to see his friends." "I found a woman he had once loved." "The restaurant where she had worked was closed." "But the mistress still lives upstairs." "She called the woman." " Want to meet her?" " I'd like to, if it's possible." "Hello." "Of course I recognize you." "Sure, I came to your restaurant a lot." "That's right." "I'm glad to see you back." "It's been a long time since you went to war." "You smiled at me." "I remember that you did." "You have a long memory." "As I think of you, I see... yet." "And I think you're with me." "I told my wife about you." "It's like a dream that I'm really seeing you." " You live in Tokyo?" " No, Thailand." "Abroad..." "When did your father die?" "After we occupied Singapore in 1942." "I introduced Fujio, my brother, to you." "He saw you and liked you." "So I backed out." " You were mean." " All men are mean." "There were many customers." "Some proposed to me." "I knew you loved me, but I chose another man." " Women are meaner." " Maybe..." "She didn't stay long." "She was busy." "You can't fill the of gap time." "I regretted I'd made him meet her." "But he looked better after he met her." "He visited a friend named Ukiie." "Ukiie is a fisherman." "Hello, Ukiie!" "How have you been?" " Fine?" " I'm okay." "You got hurt?" "Shot in both arms, both shoulders..." "Left ribs, joint and fractures of the bones." "I'll never forget you." "You were funny." " We fought together." " Where was it?" "Nam Khan." " Where do you live?" " Thailand." "I got wounded the night after we retreated." " You were sent back first." " I didn't know." "Then, a transport came." "A transport plane." "It dropped two bombs." "The first one blew me into the valley." " Remember?" " There were rice paddies." "We walked this way." " We went up a hill toward a road." " A valley on the left." "The road curved." "There was a paddy." "I don't remember." "The jungle was all around." "Jungle all around." "The commander got lost there." "A plane shot at us." "The plane did all that." "We visited the sergeant of his former company." "He knew how they fought in Burma." "The next day we visited Morita with him." "I told the sergeant." "I don't remember meeting you there." "Where do you think you met Matsukichi?" "I don't remember the place." "I don't know where he got wounded." "As you know, our company turned left." "Facing Burmo, we turned left." " No, we turned right." " Right?" "The artilery..." "We were trapped there." "We couldn't move together." "Anyway we turned right and attacked the enemy." "Then, the plane attacked us." "Hearing about it," "I remember the places I went..." "But I don't remember talking to you." "This is the report." "This is why we thought you were dead." "Read it." ""The 18th Division..." "2nd Field Hospital. "" "Haven't you read this?" "No." "I've never seen it." ""After Burma, Fujita defended Nam Khan. "" ""His troop was attacked... "" "".. by powerfull Allied Forces who had planes. "" ""Fujita was shot in the arm. "" ""He also suffered from malaria. "" ""He was hospitalized in the 18th Division... "" "".. 2nd Field Hospital in December, 1944. "" ""The hospital was poorly equipped... "" "So I died there?" "I've never once had malaria." "It says I was shot in the arm." "Never!" "I was shot in the leg." "Not in the arm?" "People don't remember when they're in danger." "Here's the description of the situation." "It's Morita's report." "In December, 1944, he met you..." "On the way from his mission." ""Fujita had been shot in the left upper arm. "" ""He was being sent back. "" ""I did not have much time to talk. "" "Morita reported how he met you that way." "I didn't talk to him." "Why did he say I did?" "I was on a liason mission then." "I hear you were in the field hospital." "You remember Mr. Fujita was with you?" "Hello?" "Commander?" "It's me." "I'm fine, thank you." "I know." "I understand." "I'm healthy." "I'll came to see you." "I was serving under you when you got hit." "I got hit, too." "I was in the hospital." "I'm a Thai national now, I might go to war." "I might have to kill again." "Who did this?" "Who killed me?" ""Kill" isn't the proper term." "It's a difficult question." "We were informed that you were there... .. in the hospital... .. by the govermmental research party." "At that time your family kept silent." "They didn't say you were yet to come back." " That's my supposition." " Then..." "How and why did you make this document?" "This is..." "It was a report of Mr. Morita, your comrade." "He was in the same 55th Regiment." "He gave your family the data as described here." "And I assume your family passed it to us." "Do you believe a story told by one person?" "Or do you believe one told by a hundred?" "The one told by a hundred should be true." "But you believed a lie told by one person." "I can see why you're angry." "You're right." "I wrote to my family four years ago." "Why didn't they tell you that?" "Four years ago I wasn't in charge." "Who was in charge?" "Someone else." "How much is the pension?" "There's a law about compensation... .. for soldiers who died during the war." "50.000 yen was given to the soldier's family." "Hello." "Come in." "We turned right that time." "That isn't the point." "I checked it at the municipal office." "I didn't see you that time." "And you didn't have time to talk to me." "I told you quickly." "Don't give me that." "Look at the time." "Photocopies from the Municipal Office." "Maybe you told Fujito this, but I didn't meet you on the battlefield." "You didn't talk to me because we didn't meet." "I read the record in the Municipal Office." "It was full of false descriptions." "Your name was there as the one who reported it." "Because you told them." "I didn't." "If you didn't why is your name here?" "That's strange." "This isn't my signature." "Still it's your name that was written here." "That means you went there and told them." "You went there with my brother." "Your brother doesn't remember it that way." "Why did you tell a lie to them?" "We didn't meet." "If you doubt me, look at me." "I'll take my clothes off so you'll see me." "I'm not a liar." "Look at me." "Is there any scar?" "Was I shot?" "Look carefully." "I was shot in the leg." "Understand?" "Can't you see?" "Still you told them lies." "Because you wanted me dead." "There must be some reason." "Will you call Fujio?" "He's coming." "He called me." " You still here?" " Come in." "Somebody went to the Municipal Office." "He wrote this report." "As you see here, there's no scar on my arms." " Who wrote this?" " Stupid!" "Come on Fujio." "If you want to apologize." "Naturally my sister left you." "Stick it out!" "I challange you." "Come out!" "You told me to blame the Emperor." "I won't forgive you for that." "Wise up." "Come out!" "If you're a man!" "Why did you want me dead?" " Why didn't you tell the truth?" " Shut up!" " What are you waiting for?" " Skinny rat!" " You're not my brother anymore." " You're not mine." "Come out!" "I'll kill you, if you come again." "You aren't worthy of being my brother." "Nor anybody's brother." "This is my gift." "I didn't come to ask for money." "But you tried to "kill" me for money." "You care only about money." "Are all Japanese like you now?" "I don't want to stay here." "I'll go home." "On his way from Nagasaki... .. Matsukichi visited his old commander." "Mr. Fujita's here." "You're back alive?" "Are you all right?" "I'm glad to see you again." "As long as we're alive... .. we can meet again." " You've tried hard." "He left Japan on November 2nd." "That day, I took him to the Imperial Palace." "How do you like it?" "I don't like it at all." "Because... .. the Emperor lives in such a big place, he'll ll never know how much we suffered." "That acompanied you, that's all." "During the war... .. we were taught to think of him as of a father." "But now he's deserted some of his is children." "He should've called the ones who were abroad." "He should shown them how Japan has changed." "That's the New Palace built in 1968." "It cost thirten bilion yen." "He has a big house, but... .. he should sell it and call his children home." "When Fujio blamed the Emperor... .. you got mad at him." "Why?" "It's me who should blame him." "Fujio can't, because he's been in Japan." "I have the right." "We fought desperately for four years, but we didn't wish him a long life." "Japan is prosperous, thanks to its money." "The Emperor made us fight for money." "The Japanesse people are slaves to money." "Thailand is better." "It's peaceful there." "I can feel it." " Isn't there peace in Japan?" " No..." "People are hungry for money, because then don't have peace." "They're all stupid." "His language can't express his feelings." "He has been deserted." "In the wake of our rapid prosperity... .. I see the feelings of a deserted people." "The soldiers and colonists, whores, Koreans, victims of pollution." "Their voices cry out against the country..." "It abandoned them as if they were trash." "236 milion yen will be spent... .. to collect their bones..." "And 4.630 billion yen will be spend on arms." "Matsukichi Fujita, a Thai farmer..." "He gave his soldier pension of 160.000 yen... .. to his sister Fujiko."