to go to Palompon for evacuation to Cebu. Tamura asks to accompany them. When one soldier notices Tamura's full bag, he shares his salt. They soon join a stream of ragged, malnourished, dejected soldiers heading to Palompon. Among them are Nagamatsu and Yasuda, familiar men from Tamura's company. Yasuda, wounded in the leg, has Nagamatsu try to trade tobacco for food. When the soldiers come to a heavily traveled road, they decide to wait for night before trying to cross, but they are ambushed by the waiting Americans. The few survivors flee back the way they came. Later, an American jeep arrives. Tamura prepares to surrender, but gives up the idea when he sees a Filipino woman gun down a fellow Japanese trying the same thing. The accompanying American soldiers are too late to stop her. Tamura wanders aimlessly. He comes across a crazed, exhausted soldier, who tells Tamura he can eat his body after he is dead. Tamura hastily departs. He comes across Nagamatsu and Yasuda again. They claim to have survived on "monkey meat" and are living in the forest. Later, Nagamatsu goes out to hunt more "monkeys". When Tamura mentions he has a grenade (given to him to commit suicide), Yasuda steals it. Tamura leaves to find Nagamatsu. When Nagamatsu almost shoots him, he realizes what monkey meat really is. Nagamatsu tells Tamura they would be dead if they did not resort to cannibalism. They head back to camp, but when Tamura mentions that Yasuda has his grenade, Nagamatsu says they will have to kill him, or he will do them in with the grenade. However, Yasuda is too wary. A standoff ensues. Nagamatsu stakes out the only source of water in the area. After several days, Yasuda tries to bargain, to no avail. Finally, he makes his way to the water and is shot. Nagamatsu begins butchering the body for meat. Tamura becomes disgusted and shoots Nagamatsu. Tamura then heads towards the "fires on the plains", desperate to find someone "who is leading a normal life." He slowly walks forward, even as the Filipinos shoot at him. The film ends as a bullet hits Tamura and he collapses lifeless to the ground. Cast Production Kon Ichikawa stated in a Criterion Collection interview that he had witnessed the destruction of the atom bomb first hand, and had felt since then that he had to speak out against