Begins with the Japanese invasion of China in 1931 and ends with the surrender ceremony in the Bay of Tokyo on board the USS Missouri on 2nd September 1945. Using some of the best archival footage ever shown, it takes the viewer through the key events immediately subsequent to the Japanese surrender which established General MacArthur as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers in Japan.
The immediate aftermath of the war and the rebuilding period during which time the Japanese began to question issues like foreign occupation; the individual and collective silence surrounding the 15 years of conflict; the slow and progressive repatriation of 6.5 million civilians and military dispersed over the former occupied territories; the devastation of most cities; and the crippling poverty that now plagued the country. This part explores the more personal side of the wars impact on the ordinary participant.