Japan's Longest Day

is a 1967 Japanese epic war film directed by Kihachi Okamoto. The subject of the majority of the movie is the period between noon on August 14, 1945, and noon on August 15, 1945, when Emperor Hirohito's decision to surrender to the Allies in World War II was broadcast to the Japanese people, and the attempted coup d'état to prevent that from happening. Film historian Joseph L. Anderson describes the film as "a meticulous reconstruction of the day Japan surrendered and thus ended the Pacific War. Cast Production According to Okamoto, Masaki Kobayashi was originally supposed to direct Japan's Longest Day but didn't want to, so co-producer Sanezumi Fujimoto suggested that Okamoto direct it. Okamoto believes that this film and his subsequent film The Human Bullet (1968) are expressions of his anti-war feelings. Japan's Longest Day portrays the actual people who were able to remain above the fighting, but did fight with each other, while The Human Bullet is a satire of those who did have to fight in the war. The film featured dozens of Toho's contracted male actors as well as independent and borrowed stars like Chishū Ryū, Yūnosuke Itō, and Kōji Mitsui. Toho's Michiyo Aratama was the lone female in the cast.