Song of Raiyantsuuri, Song of Liang Chu Li
An indentured Chinese laborer, brought to Japan to work in a coal mine during WWII, manages to escape his captors. He hides out in the Japanese countryside, so far from human habitation that he does not realize when the war ends, with ultimately tragic results.
Seiji Arihara
Also Directed by Seiji Arihara
August 1945. In a converted theological seminary on the outskirts of Nagasaki, a young doctor works to help his patients, as unsettling news comes of a new weapon used by the Americans on the city of Hiroshima. When the second nuclear weapon is dropped on Nagasaki, the hospital staff must work to save lives in the midst of the concentric circles of death that their city has become.
Based on accounts of the firebombing of Fukuoka.
A young girl named Tomoko visits the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. There she has a mysterious meeting with Sadako, the little girl who was 2 years old when the U.S. dropped the bomb on her city during WWII and 11 when she died from the effects of radiation poisoning. Sadako takes Tomoko on an eye-opening journey.
Kayoko is a young girl in 1940, just starting first grade. She's a bit of a crybaby, which is no secret to those around her. She loves playing with friends and singing cute schoolyard chants, and occasionally having fun with her three older brothers. Her mother is pregnant, and so she looks forward to being a big sister, only partially understanding the responsibility that might bring. Meanwhile, the war effort is growing, and it`s only the natural thing to do to be patriotic and support the country...Kayoko goes so far as to contribute her favorite dolly, whose materials could help build explosives. Time passes, and as she grows older, Kayoko sees how the war has affected her life and those around her. Nothing can prepare her for 1945, however, and the bleak times that are soon to come.
A collection of four folk tales from Koshiji (from 2005, part of Nagaoka), Niigata prefecture (Echigo is the old name of Niigata). The Azuki Mochi and the Frog, Satori, The Fox's Lantern, The Three Paper Charms.