The Empire of Japan (1982 movie: English subtitles) Japanese view of World War 2

The World War II War in the Pacific told from the Japanese side. (Original title: Dai Nippon Teikoku 大日本帝國 ) The film moves back and forth between scenes of government officials debating policy, and the individual stories of three soldiers: Kokichi is a barber who has been drafted, and rushes through a marriage without a proper wedding before he departs for war. His commanding officer always thinks of his men first. Later, he falls in love with a beautiful brothel owner and as the Americans advance. Egami is a Christian (a suspect minority in Japan), loved by a young girl with tuberculosis. He volunteers and becomes a pilot in the Philippines where he is part of the first Kamikaze raids. [After being introduced, he is absent until the second half of the film.] This was the first Japanese war film to focus on soldiers as individuals, and apparently the first to express (limited) criticism of the emperor.