Best Wishes for Tomorrow

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Movie: Best Wishes for Tomorrow
Romaji: Ashita e no yuigon
Japanese: 明日への遺言
Director: Takashi Koizumi
Writer: Takashi Koizumi, Roger Pulvers
Producer:
Cinematographer
Release Date: March 1, 2008
Runtime: 110 min.
Language: Japanese
Country: Japan

Plot

Japan under the occupation by U.S.A., after the end of WWII. The life of Lieutenant General Tasuku Okada, who fought in war crimes trials for himself, with pride. The director of "The Professor And His Beloved Equation," Takashi Koizumi, presents the emotional film of love and proud.

Notes

The film, which starts shooting on June 2, concerns the postwar trial, in Yokohama, of Lt. Gen. Tasuku Okada, former commander of the 13th Area Army in the Tokai region (the area centered on the prefectures of Aichi and Mie). Nineteen of the general's subordinates were also on trial with him.

The court proceedings stemmed from the last months of World War II, when giant American B-29s carried out relentless and indiscriminate bombings of the region, using high-explosives, napalm and other incendiary ordnance. Tens of thousands of civilians, including women and children, were burnt to death.

Thirty-eight American aircrew who parachuted out of their planes were captured, summarily tried and executed as war criminals in June and July 1945. The war ended with the Emperor's capitulation on Aug. 15, 1945.

The subsequent Yokohama War Crimes Trials garnered much less publicity than those held in Tokyo. For one thing, the latter dealt with alleged Class-A war criminals, such as wartime Prime Minister Hideki Tojo. The trials in Yokohama were for alleged B- and C-Class war criminals.

Also, by the time the Yokohama trials were under way, the people of Japan, like the Allied Occupation forces governing them, were turning their attention to reconstruction and away from retribution.

Nonetheless, the claims against Okada and his cohorts were grave. They were that the American airmen had not been given fair trials, and they could hardly be held responsible for merely following orders. -- An exemplar of where the war-crimes buck stops