Yuki yukite, shingun

This documentary tells the story of Kenzo Okusaki, a hugely out of the norm, 62 year old man from Japan, that decides to spend all of his time and energy investigating what happened to several of the soldiers in his unit that were executed and cannibalized 23 days after the war was over in New Guinea. Denied by both government and the people involved, Kenzo, 40 years after returning from New Guinea makes this into his one cause, wanting to bring justice to a concealed part of history. In doing so, he shun no means. From the opening scene, we follow Kenzo in his green wagon, beginning with conducting a public memorial service to console the victims who perished for the emperor Hirohito during the Pacific War. He continues his journey with abruptly visit people involved investigating the mysterious death of the soldiers. If they refuse to speak, Kenzo threatens to beat them up- and he means it! Violence is something he means, can be justified if the result is good. All of them tell a different story witch make it a bit hard to understand what really happened but also shows the complexity of truth and memory. In the end, Kenzo opens fire and an Ex-officers son is seriously wounded. Kenzo is arrested for attempted murder and spends the last years of his life in prison in Hiroshima. Kenzo ultimately holds the emperor Hirohito responsible for the deaths of the soldiers. However, by making people recognize the crime and bring it up to the surface, he hopes to be able to prevent war and contribute to a better future and a more responsible mankind. Regardless if he achieves justice, Kenzo's story has been told, a story that probably never would have been told, acknowledged and talked about today. That Kenzo would be a better human being than all of the rest, may in the beginning have sounded as a naively thing to say about yourself, but in the end- he may have a point.

The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On was one of the most amazing documentaries I've ever watched. Okuzaki and his wife endured so much over the 5 years, so much pain and emotional suffering to track down the truth. To search for the truth behind what really happened to the soldiers that were in Okuzaki's unit relied on so much of their passion and commitment..I really admire that. Okuzaki along with Kazuo - the amazing director behind this film track down officers one by one...using whatever/appearing however necessary to get within the walls of questioning...completely deceiving most of the time. Each officer who was under Hirohito's power was to explain how the two soldiers died...any form of resistance resulted in abuse verbally and even physically. When the cause was mentioned and when I discovered how the bodies were processed - - I was like ugh!! Who does that?? And the most amazing yet bothersome conclusion I came to in of all this is that I just absorbed Okuzaki's true life experience...a very harsh, painsaking true realism.

When this strange documentary begins, the viewer is left very confused because the context for what is occurring is missing. This is an odd way of doing this film, but so be it. After a while, you learn that Kenzo Okuzaki is angry--angry at the emperor and others...but why? Then, you slowly learn that it's about some atrocities that occurred in New Guinea during WWII. And, eventually you learn the story-- several Japanese soldiers were executed on trumped up charges and Okuzaki thinks it was to provide meat to the rest of the starving soldiers in his regiment! Yet, in the Japanese push to bury the past horrors of the regime, no one is sure what happened and the dogged Okuzaki is determined to track down all the surviving folks who can substantiate what happened and MAKE them talk. If that means beating the snot out of them or publicly shaming them, so be it-- as Okuzaki doesn't seem to care what might happen to him in the process! Okuzaki isn't alone in his quest, as a couple family members of the executed men accompany him. Additionally, a camera crew stands there and refuses to get involved when Okuzaki attacks folks or is attacked in turn! What's next? See the film.

This is an odd sort of film--sort of guerrilla style with Okuzaki and his friends surprising the folks that they want to question, as they just showed up and the film crew started filming! Normally, I would feel sorry for anyone who is set upon by a film crew like this, but the folks WERE war criminals! An interesting film and one that attempts to force the Japanese to finally acknowledge SOME of the WWII war crimes--so it is a very important film for fans of documentaries. But, its style is difficult to follow for some viewers, it's a bit overlong (and loses some of its punch because of this) and a prologue explaining everything would have been appreciated.

I was very open minded going into this film, as it was a Japanese documentary, and I have never experienced such a thing. While the beginning started out a bit slow, it quickly caught my attention. The main character had one goal- to get the truth out of the soldiers who shot and killed their own men. I found it quite humorous at one point, when he would walk into their homes, say sorry for intruding, then insist that he will beat them up if they do not reveal the truth. His goal was simple. He had already been arrested and sentenced to time in the past, so he was not scared of this notion. What's even more funny is the camera man did not even do anything when the fighting's were going on, he insisted on continuing to shoot. This movie kept me on the edge of my seat for many parts of it, and some parts actually made me feel sorry for those he was beating up ( I.e the old man who just had surgery.) He had a mission, and certainly carried it out. Another funny part was when he used impersonators to help lure the people into giving him answers, so in a sense he was a hypacrit himself. He ends up spending time in jail at the end, though his story shall live on. Great overall film.

Like "Fires on the Plain," this documentary gives you the side of World War Two they left out of the John Wayne films. A Japanese war veteran is haunted by memories of fellow soldiers who were executed (and eaten!) by officers in New Guinea. Ironically, the officers used false charges that the soldiers were themselves cannibals as an excuse for executing them. The old soldier goes on a quixotic and unpopular crusade to bring the truth to light.