Japan: Girl Meets War

A teen confronts Japan’s wartime legacy

Japan: Girl Meets War Fifteen-year-old Shurina confronts the weight of history in Japan: Girls Meets War. Traveling across Japan to prepare for the role of a kamikaze pilot in a WWII play, she confronts the realities of conflict and memory.
Shurina, a high school student from Hita, is cast as a kamikaze pilot in a play at school. Tasked with reciting farewell letters and portraying wartime brutality, she travels with Yua to WWII memorial sites, culminating in Okinawa for their final performance. “I read many final letters of Kamikaze pilots. I realized that they wrote a lot to their mothers and families. It felt like nobody really wanted to die. I want to continue learning and speaking about the war,” Shurina reflects. “Regarding the war, I realised it's more complex than I thought after coming to Okinawa. But the worst people are the ones at the top.” Once she returns home, she reflects on the current context: “I really wonder what's wrong with the people in charge? War is a mess.”
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