NikkeiWest--Northern California Japanese American Newspaper

By J.K. Yamamoto--

A special screening of the new documentary “442: Live With Honor, Die With Dignity” was held June 21 at VIZ Cinema in San Francisco Japantown with Nisei veterans and members of Japan’s Self-Defense Force in attendance.

Directed by Junichi Suzuki, this tribute to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was filmed in California, Nevada, Hawaii, Utah, Washington, D.C., France, Italy and Germany. Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and actor George Takei (“Star Trek”) are among the interviewees, the narrator is actor/writer/director Lane Nishikawa (“Only the Brave”), and the music is by Grammy Award-winning recording artist Kitaro.

The film, which is in English with Japanese subtitles, will be shown to the public from Friday, Aug. 13, to Thursday, Aug. 19, at 2:50 and 7 p.m. at VIZ Cinema, 1746 Post St. in San Francisco Japantown. “Toyo’s Camera” (2008), Suzuki’s previous documentary about Japanese Americans, will be shown during the same week at 12:50 and 5 p.m. It is a portrait of famed Los Angeles photographer Toyo Miyatake, who is known for pictures he took while interned at Manzanar. For more details, call (415) 525-8600 or visit www.newpeopleworld.com.

“442” will also be shown on Sunday, Aug. 15, at the Camera 3, 288 S. 2nd St. in downtown San Jose, at 12, 2:20, 4:40 and 7 p.m. For more information, call (408) 998-3300 or visit www.cameracinemas.com.

In Southern California, “442” will be screened in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo, San Pedro, Irvine and San Diego.

Produced by UTB (United Television Broadcasting Systems), which broadcasts Japanese programming in the U.S., and Film Voice, Suzuki’s production company, “442” is the second part of a trilogy about Japanese Americans.

During his 27 years as a filmmaker, Suzuki has produced 12 feature films, written the screenplays for 14, and directed 23. His credits also include numerous TV documentaries and the comedy series “L.A. Blue” for UTB. He is married to popular actress Rumi Sakakibara, who accompanied him to the San Francisco screening.

Suzuki was moved by the stories of Nisei veterans who set out to prove their loyalty to America on the battlefields of Europe during World War II. He interviewed several of the vets, who are now in their 80s and 90s, and was able to elicit painful memories that they had not revealed even to their own families. More than one interviewee sobbed as he remembered a buddy who was killed in action; others recounted being seriously wounded themselves.

“The 442nd was in an ironic predicament, fighting for a country that had branded them as enemies ... In our portrayal of their agonizing battles, we ask Japanese citizens to reflect on the meaning of being Japanese, and what it means to love one’s country through the eyes of Japanese Americans soldiers in the 442nd,” Suzuki said in his production notes.

Suzuki, who was born after World War II, explored “the meaning of war and peace that the young soldiers confronted in the midst of people killing and dying in the battlefield.” He also talked with veterans of the Military Intelligence Service, who served as translators and interpreters for the Allies in Asia and the Pacific, and Nisei internees who refused to serve in the Army until their rights as citizens were restored.

The film includes a visit by a group of Nisei veterans and their families to Bruyeres, France, one of the towns that the 442nd liberated from the Nazis. They were given a hero’s welcome by the townspeople, who have erected monuments to the 442nd and passed the story on to younger generations. Nearby is the forest where the 442nd rescued the “Lost Battalion” of Texas, suffering heavy casualties in the process.

Suzuki and his crew also visited battlefield sites in Italy as well as Dachau, Germany, where the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, part of the 442nd, liberated Jewish prisoners from a death camp. He found it ironic that many of the soldiers had families in internment camps back home.

In addition to Sen. Inouye, 85, who lost an arm while serving with E Company, interviewees included Barney Hajiro (I Company), 93; George Sakato (E Company), 88; Nelson Akagi (522nd), 86; Steve Shimizu (F Company), 89; Ted Tsukiyama (MIS), 89; and Yoshiaki Fujitani (MIS), 86. Inouye, Hajiro and Sakato received the Medal of Honor from President Bill Clinton in 2000.

Japanese Nationals’ Perspectives

The San Francisco screening was part of the yearlong celebration of the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the Kanrin Maru in San Francisco. The ship, which accompanied Japan’s first official delegation to Washington, is a symbol of the beginning of U.S.-Japan relations.

Hiroshi Haruki, president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce of Northern California, said, “I keep telling my members, ‘Let’s learn what our ancestors did in this area.’ It is very important for us to learn the history of the Japanese American community. So I’m very happy to support this event.”

The audience included 30 commissioned officers of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, Japan’s navy. They were among 730 crew members of three ships visiting San Francisco as part of a 156-day training cruise around the world. The squadron commander, Shinichi Tokumaru, was one of the panelists who spoke after the screening.

In the film, Gen. Hideki Tojo, Japan’s wartime military leader, was quoted as saying that although the Nisei were of Japanese descent, it was their duty to fight for America, the country of their birth. Tokumaru said that he was impressed by those words, and that if he were in the same situation as the Nisei, “I think I should fight for the United States.”

He added, “I think the Japanese people also fought for their country … My father was 15 years old. At that time it was impossible to become an officer, so he volunteered to become a kamikaze pilot. During the training, the war was over, so fortunately my father did not die. So I’m here. Anyway, for the soldiers to give life for their country is very important, I felt.”

Tokumaru also stressed, “Nowadays, Japan is a country that has the same values as the United States — democracy and freedom and human rights … We naval officers and military officers … exist to maintain peace and stability. So war is the last resort.”

He called the film “a very good historical record. This is very important for the people to understand and to see this movie.”

Consul General Yasumasa Nagamine praised Suzuki: “My impression is that sometimes documentary film is even more powerful, effective than (dramatic) movies. You can make any kind of effects with the newly created movies, but the documentary is a really powerful means to capture the subject.”

He said he could relate to the veterans’ Sansei children who appeared in the film when they said that they owe so much to the Issei and Nisei pioneers. They reminded him of what his parents’ and grandparents’ generations went through in prewar and wartime Japan.

On the theme of U.S.-Japan relations, Nagamine noted that the Maritime Self-Defense Forces squadron was visiting to celebrate not only the Kanrin Maru’s 150th anniversary but also the 50th anniversary of the U.S.-Japan security treaty, and that San Francisco is where the U.S.-Japan peace treaty was signed in 1951. The two countries “have come a long way” in the past 65 years, he said, from “formidable rivals” to “trusted friends,” and now have “a very robust alliance.”

“We have very sound fundamentals ... What we need is for the future to keep this relationship effective and trustworthy … We need constant effort to keep this relationship going and we need to work together to solve issues in the world … So my mission is to keep our relationship further developing into the future,” Nagamine stated.

Director’s Thoughts

Suzuki explained that with both “Toyo’s Camera” and “442,” “I wanted to portray the whole Japanese American history during World War II because especially in Japan, we Japanese don’t know about the Japanese American history … I wanted to incorporate a lot of things in this movie.”

He added, “I learned a lot from making these films … from these veterans. Not only veterans but Nisei (in general), especially Nisei who experienced hardship at that time.”

When he started to make “442,” Suzuki encountered some skepticism from Nisei vets’ organizations because of past portrayals of Japanese Americans in the Japanese media. In the 1980s, Toyoko Yamasaki’s historical novel “Futatsu no Sokoku” (Two Motherlands) and the NHK TV adaptation, “Sanga Moyu,” were criticized for depicting Japanese Americans as having divided loyalties. Using Japanese actors to play Japanese Americans may have contributed to this perception.

“Normal Japanese don’t understand Japanese Americans … because we don’t have a chance to learn Japanese American history,” Suzuki said. “So normal Japanese think Japanese American is a kind of Japanese, not American. It’s a complete misunderstanding. That’s the most misunderstood point, I think.”

Now that the film has gotten positive reviews, Suzuki hopes that it can be shown in Washington to help bolster the campaign for a bill granting the Congressional Gold Medal to the Japanese American units of World War II.

Suzuki told the audience, which included many Japanese American community leaders, “If you think this film is okay, please tell the people, tell your friends and family to see this film. Or call PBS … because I want as many people as possible to see this film. Please help us.”

Praise From Veterans

“442,” which was screened the day before at the Maui Film Festival, was preceded by a video message from Sen. Inouye. “I remember vividly Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7,” he said. “I remember seeing warplanes bearing the symbol of the rising sun on their wings flying over my home in Hawaii. I was filled with grief as I came to the realization that the pilots who dropped the bombs looked like me. I felt that my world had come to an end. I was just 17.

“About a year after Pearl Harbor, 2,686 Japanese American volunteers were selected to train for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. I was number 2,685. We Americans of Japanese ancestry of the 442nd set out to fight for our country and show our loyalty to the United States while demonstrating uncommon bravery and honor during one of the most challenging periods in our history. We were unlike most other soldiers because we bore the responsibility of bringing honor to our family names and proving that Americanism was not a matter of skin and color, but a matter of heart and mind. We hoped to not only protect our country’s freedoms, but to also free Japanese Americans from the ugly prejudices of the time.

“I commend Junichi Suzuki for writing and directing this important film … Through your efforts, the story of the 442nd and the Japanese American story, filled with enduring themes of courage, honor and patriotism, will serve as an inspiration to all Americans.”

One of the panelists was Lawson Sakai of Morgan Hill, a veteran of E Company and a leader of Family and Friends of Nisei Veterans. He was part of the visit to Bruyeres that was shown in the film.

“I’d like to thank director Suzuki for producing this film,” he commented. “I think there’s a very strong message there. Many of the people from Japan do not understand what the Nisei did, and since the Nisei were very obedient to the Issei parents who immigrated from Japan, they carried over many of their traditions and their personal feelings. You might say that we were very Japanesey. However, we were American. So there was no question that the Nisei were going to fight for the United States, and I think it’s hard for the Japanese people to understand why the same group of people could be so different.”

He recalled, “In 1941, I was 18 years old … I wanted to join the military. I was told that I could not because they had reclassified my draft status from 1A to 4C, which meant I became an ‘enemy alien’ overnight. They took away all of my civil liberties. I could not join any branch of the military until February of 1943 … and the only military unit we could join was the 442nd …

“There was some prejudice there, too. They didn’t trust us. They didn’t know who we were. They felt we were loyal to Japan, so they wanted this one special organization to go to combat to see what we were.”

Referring to proposals to intern Arab and Muslim Americans after 9/11, Sakai remarked, “Memories are short. Political problems exist. There are many senators and representatives in Congress today that know nothing about World War II and what we fought for and what happened in the United States. So it’s an ongoing battle. I don’t think you can ever forget it.

“This country is made up of a multitude of different nationalities, different immigrants from all over, and that’s what makes it what it is. And if you look at Hawaii, you have a population that is very diverse ... and you have a very strong population of people who are proud to be Hawaiian and, of course, American. So I think the same thing can happen here (on the mainland). Hopefully in time it will, but it will take time.”

Along those lines, he said of Suzuki’s film, “I’m just hoping that the effect it will have on the general public will be one of education.”

Emceeing the event in Japanese and English were Shinichiro Okano, one of the film’s producers, and Tina Yanagimoto, a crew member of “Toyo’s Camera” and a staff member of UTB.

For more information on the making of the film and upcoming screenings, visit www.442film.com