Cherry Blossoms in the Air - The Suicide Raiders - Oh, Buddies! (1970)
In 1943 Japan is facing defeat. This makes Shinkichi, a straight, selfless student-patriot, ever more restless. He can no longer stand his soft "behind-the- gun" role of munition factory worker. School-mates one after another are going to the front, where he feels he should be. The last straw is an official report of his father's death in the Battle of Attu in the Aleutian Islands. He rushes to the naval air corps training camp at Tsuchiura along with his close school-mates Naito, Yamada, Saito and Tagawa as Volunteer pilot trainees leaving his mother and sweetheart weeping and helpless.
Released: May 16, 1970
Runtime: 95 minutes
Stars: Ryotaro Sugi, Tatsuya Fuji, Mitsuo Hamada, Jiro Okazaki, Akio Hasegawa, Masaya Oki
Crew: Kenjirō Morinaga (Director), Kōhan Kawauchi (Writer), Ryuzo Nakanishi (Writer), Masayoshi Ikeda (Music), Yoshihiro Yamazaki (Cinematography), Takeharu Sakaguchi (Art Direction)