Abe enjoys 'Letters from Iwo Jima'

I was in the group that returned to Iwo in 1985and I was in the line where we were to shake hands withe the Japanese survivors of the Iwo battle and shook the hand of Kurubayashis daughter and I murmured "Gomen-nasai" and then I stepped in front of her mother and I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her on the check and she slipped something in my hands and I put it my pocket to look at it later. When I did, I saw she had given me two minature swords - the ones they use to commit har'a-kiri. What a elegant lady!

I still have these minature swords and great memories.

 

I blame it on age and fading eyesight, but it makes me angry when I read what I just wrote and I see mistakes that I would never make twenty years ago

"with the Japanese survivors of the Iwo battle and I shook" ,,,,,,,,,,

Sorry...

 

we should fight"

- General Kuribayashi

If only today's terrorists had his wisdom.

 

You hugged Yoshie Kuribayashi?

 

You're right. There is always going to be some crime committed by soldiers in every war. Just like there will be many or most soldiers who do not committ attrocities.

 

The number of US participants in the battle of Iwo Jima numbered roughly 100,000 compared to the Japanese 22,000. The defenders were outnumbered roughly 5:1 and they lacked basic provisions such as clean water and food.

Clint Eastwood's film did a terrific job conveying their dismal lifestyles on Iwo and how they fought against a materialistically superior enemy.

In terms of historical perspective, Japanese defenders who caught unfortunate live American soldiers generally treated them brutally. Common torture techniques included bayoneting the prisoner alive and cutting off his genitals.

Though glorifying in a morbid sense, the Japanese soldiers who commited such atrocities were most likely doing this to try and give themselves last-minute reassurance and satisfaction that their seemingly invulnerable enemies are also mere 'flesh and bones.'

How Clint Eastwood showed Colonel (Baron) Nishi saving an American POW seems to deviate from historical accuracy. From my understanding of the battle, there are no such examples of this.

The American victory at Iwo Jima was fully inevitable. Soldiers are easily outmatched when they are bombarded by the enemy navy, strafed from the air, and burnt alive by enemy tanks. It was like a German Blitzkrieg on Poland's troops, except the combatants were America and Japan.

Now, the most historically 'interesting' part of this battle was that this was the first time that Japanese troops had not commited banzai charges on a massive scale, credited to Kuribayashi's tactics and from what Japan had learned from the loss of Saipan. Also, the thorough tunneling made Japanese troops almost completely hidden from the enemy. Thus it was very rare for American troops on Iwo to see a dead Japanese soldier.

The total American casualties for Iwo mounted to approximately 23,000, with 6,000 death and 17,000 wounded. Japanese losses were 21,000 dead, the remaining 1,000 (mostly Korean laboring conscripts) surrendering. Fascinating indeed that a starving army burrowed underground can toll atleast a 1:1 casualty ratio with a materially and numerically superior foe.

-Ryobreak41@hotmail.com

 

I shook her daughters hand and and let her know that I felt sorry for her and I then said to myself (A handshake isn't going to do it!) I took Mrs Kuribayashi into my arms and kissed her on the cheek. She fumbled to find my right hand and she put what I later found to be a minature set of small swords - I feel I am the only person that received such a memento and I will keep them forever.Mrs Kuribayashi is a brave lady and I wanted to tell her how much I admired her strength.

Ryobreak: On Iwo we never burned, except on pillboxes, but we did use napalm to steal the air from the tunnels and they smothered. We never tortured any prisoners as we took very few prisoners and cutting off their "privates" was never done by anyone, - by any Raider or Paramarine (They were the 28th Marines of the Fifth Division and we landed on Green Beach)

We lost 2000 just climbing the sandy slope to the flat area at the peak of the slope. But as I said the tide of battle changed after the Forty Man Patrol seized and nullified Suribachi. Nobody ever said that Battle would be like a walk in the Park.

We later found out the Japanese had only food for four days when we landed - maybe if we waited they would have starved, but I don't think so. Remember, we had shelled this island for 80 days, but they were all underground and very few Japanese died from the shelling.

Torture and mutilation are not condoned by Marines and I feel what you are saying in "Movie talk"- - It was long ago, but I seem to remember that we put 24000 Marines on Iwo and yes, we lost anout 8000 and I seem to remember the Japanese surrender included about 270 plus men and the rest died and that is what war is all about.

 

Thank you for your posts. I'll definitely watch this movie.

 

I saw this movie in San Francisco, one of several American cities where it is playing in limited release. And I was really moved by it (in contrast to Flags of Our Fathers. It is a great film full of heart which makes it my kind of war movie (in contrast to the rah-rah type).

I've seen a number of Chinese WWII films and the Japanese predictably are villians. So this was the first film I'd seen anyone fighting for Japan who came across as human.

I wondered how the Japanese would view this film and now the news item on this thread has given me some insight.

 

....apologies for the typos above.

"[Letters] is a feat of empathetic cross-cultural connection that Eastwood (working from a script by Iris Yamashita from a story by her and "Flags' " Paul Haggis) more or less willed into existence.

Initially inspired by a book of illustrated correspondence home from Iwo Jima's commander, Lt. Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi (potently played by "The Last Samurai's" Oscar-nominated Ken Watanabe), Eastwood has, against considerable odds, made a film that feels both Japanese (to the point of being accepted there by audiences and critics alike) and like one of his own.

What Eastwood seemed to sense intuitively was the connection between his own themes of men being men and the challenges of masculinity, and the notions of honor, duty and heroism that are embedded in Japanese culture and tradition. While it is far from clear that any other American director could have made a Japanese film or that Eastwood, for that matter, could have made one in yet another culture, the fit here is unexpectedly strong.

Also, though making the film in Japanese may sound arbitrary (the script was translated from English, and subtitles appearing below the images), the reality is the opposite. When actors speak in their own language, they bring an entire world with them; they give a sense of reality to their culture that, for instance, even as fine an actor as Marlon Brando couldn't create for his German soldier in "The Young Lions." Paradoxically, the difference in language makes the similarities between people that "Letters From Iwo Jima" wants to emphasize so much the stronger...."

 

The book Iwo Jima by Wetenhall and Marling is the pure quill, while Flag of our Fathers is a manufactured 2nd hand rendition

The only man still alive that walked the talk is Chuck Lindberg and you have yet to hear from him.

 

Another good book on Iwo Jima is:

Iwo Jima
Richard F. Newcomb
Bantam Books 1965
ISBN 0-553-27547-X

 

I had heard that during the 40th anniversary in 1985 the Japanese would not allow the American vets to walk up Mt. Suribachi.

Is that true from your experience?

 

sucks, I am here in Florida. I wished they played the movie everywhere in the U.S., not just NY and in California. I don't feel like flying north just to watch. Looks like i gotta wait for the DVD :/

 

"Letters" will go into wider release in the USA on January 19th. For a film like this opening in a few markets first is a way to enable good reviews and positive feedback to spread via internet and generate interest.

By contrast, mass released movies rely on opening everywhere on the same day so there's no time to get the word out about how bad it is--which most of them are of course!