JAPAN: Clint Eastwood greets Japanese fans to promote his latest movie on Iwo Jima battles

Film director Clint Eastwood is in Japan this week to promote his latest film 'Letters from Iwo Jima.' 'Letters from Iwo Jima' is the second of two films directed by the 76-year-old Eastwood about the 1945 battle, engraved in America's collective memory as a symbol of patriotism by an iconic photo of servicemen raising the flag on the island's Mount Suribachi. The movie, which premiered in Tokyo on Wednesday (November 15), stars Japan's Ken Watanabe and focuses on the Japanese defenders of the tiny island. Clint Eastwood, who directed the film, said the movie is a story of what this event means for the history of Japan. "I think it's important that everybody remember that people gave their lives to protect their country, whether they knew politically-- most of them were young people on both sides, did not know what was going on. They were just there. It's one of those tragedies its always young people who risk their lives," he said. Ken Watanabe plays the role of Lt. Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi, who was commander of the Empire of Japan's garrison on the island. "I felt like a father. It's a big father, you know, gentle, kind, powerful and graceful. It was the best experience in my career," Watanabe said. The first scrap of Japan's native soil invaded in the war, Iwo Jima -- 'Sulphur Island' -- was coveted by the Americans as a base for fighters escorting B-29 bombers headed for the mainland. The battle of Iwo Jima claimed about 21,000 Japanese and 6,800 American lives. The other half of Eastwood's two-part series, 'Flags of Our Fathers', opened last month and tells the tale of three of the six Americans who raised the flag and later became propaganda tools in a campaign to sell U.S. war bonds.

ITN Source | November 23, 2006

Tags:. .base. .wednesday. .six. .sides. .important