Coats; Giri, Ninjo, and the Burmese Harp

Mizushima plays a song to his battalion one last time.

This week we will be discussing the Japanese classic, Harp of Burma. This film follows a group of Japanese soldiers in the east asian country of Burma during the final days of the second world war. I wouldn’t call the Harp of Burma a war movie however. It more so focuses more on the subject of music, human feelings, as well as Buddhism (though not as extensively). We learn very early on that the Japanese battalion has taken up the hobby of singing while being accompanied on the Burmese harp by fellow soldier, Mizushima. Throughout the film, the battalion must face hardships such as lack of food and ammunition, being ambushed by the Burmese, being forced to work in a POW camp, etc. However, it seems that when the going gets tough for these soldiers, they find solace in their singing as well as the accompaniment of Mizushima’s harp. And to be honest, they sound pretty good for a bunch of soldiers held up in Burma. In fact, they actually briefly discuss how they’ve all improved greatly in all their musical ability, despite most of them being amatuers when they began, especially Mizushima. The fact that these soldiers are spending their down time practicing song shows that the Japanese, like all other human beings, need an outlet; some sort of stress relief to calm the mind. Because after all, all humans experiance human feelings, or ninjo. It’s sort of the same tone as Letters from Iwo Jima. In that film, it tells the story of the struggle between the United States and Japan during World War II, but from the Japanese perspective. This film does a fantastic job of potraying human feelings (ninjo) within the Japanese, as well as showing how “good and evil” exist on both sides of war, which is something not very common in war movies. Both the Harp of Burma and Iwo Jima focus on these themes of despair, hope, and death in their portrayal of everyday Japanese soldiers in a time of war. The Harp of Burma deals with death a little differently though. One would expect a war movie to portray death directly, through some sort of firefight or battle scene. But in the Harp of Burma, we don’t actually see anyone die. Instead, Mizushima is chosen to travel to Triangle Mountain, where he is supposed to convince a held up Japanese battalion to ley down their arms and that the war was over. This is last time Mizushima ever saw of his battalion. On Mizushima’s journey back, he runs into a Buddhist monk, discovers a newfound spirituality (in Buddhism), and stumbles upon a massive death site of fellow Japanese soldiers. Mizushima is incredibly disturbed and moved at the same time at the tragic scene that lay before him. He attempts to bury his comrades in proper grave sites, but it seems that the bodies are endless. Mizushima gets upset, and returns to the Burmese village. On his way back, he sees a gravesite with a tombstone that read: “Tomb of the Unknown Japanese Soldier”. Poor Mizushima. First stumbling upon a huge murder scene, then seeing this. Mentally disturbed and greatly moved, Mizushima then makes it his duty to bury the rest of the soldiers that were being exposed to the elements. But before he started his work, he returned disguised as a Buddhist monk to the Burmese village to play his harp for the battalion one last time. It isn’t until the battalion is back on their voyage home, that they open a letter Mizushima left for them, explaining the reasons behind his actions. He feels he cannot let his fellow Japanese soldier be left without a proper burial, even if it takes the rest of his life. It is his duty. It is his giri.