In this follow-up to Flags of Our Fathers, Clint Eastwood directs another story about Iwo Jima, but this tale is told from the Japanese side of the battle. The film is set during World War II, where General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) battled American troops for 40 days on the island and is told from the view of two good friends, Saigo (Kazanuri Ninomiya) and Shimizu (Ryo Kase), serving in the Japanese forces who have different perspectives on the war.