Movies by Akitake Kōno

Sanshiro Sugata Part Two

Sanshiro Sugata Part Two

In this government-suggested sequel, Sugata again grows as a judo master, and demonstrates his (and by extension, all Japanese) superiority to the foreign warrior.

Toward the Decisive Battle in the Sky

Toward the Decisive Battle in the Sky

Young men endure challenging flight training in the Yokaren, a program feeding new pilots into the Army and Navy. By the time of the filming, the pressure of the war had led the government to shorten the training and expand the age range of the recruits. Yokaren was highly selective, and thus an object of great fascination and desire for boys and young men. In this Navy–sponsored film, Setsuko Hara plays the daughter of a family that often entertains recruits on their days off—a surrogate sister to many trainees. Her fragile younger brother...

The Last Women

The Last Women

The events of the film are based on the real facts of the Pacific War, when in June 1944 the American troops began landing on the Saipan island. On July 7, an order comes that everyone must die in order not to be captured by the enemy.

The Temptress and the Monk

The Temptress and the Monk

Nominated for Golden Berlin Bear.