The Battle of Okinawa was the sole land battle on present-day Japan and one of the war's bloodiest -- a third of the island's native citizens were killed. In Japanese popular imagination, this event is symbolized by the sacrifice of students from Himeyuri Gakuen, a women's teaching college. On May 23, 1945, the Allies started shelling as the students were preparing for their graduation. Most enlisted as nurses. When the American invasion began on April 1, many of Himeyuri Gakuen's finest were killed by shells or gunfire. Others -- when the battle appeared lost -- committed suicide rather than surrender to the Allies. Only a couple of students survived. The story proved to be fertile ground for filmmakers. Four films about the Himeyuri Gakuen have been made -- one by Toshio Matsuda in 1968 and two by Tadashi Imai in 1953 and again in 1982. Seijiro Koyama's 1995 adaptation starring Kumiko Goto and Yasuko Sawaguchi again shows the flower of Japanese womanhood sacrificing themselves for the honor of the nation. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide