Postcard

Near the end of the Pacific War, Sadazo Morikawa is among a group of 100 overaged conscripts assigned to cleaning duties for the Japanese Navy. He endures grueling tasks while the outcome of the war grows bleaker. Before departure, he asks his comrade Matsuyama to deliver a postcard to his wife Tomoko if he does not return.

After the cleaning duty ends, servicemen are selected by a lottery for different duties. Sadazo is chosen to serve in the Philippines, a posting he fears may seal his fate. The sense of looming danger colors his final days before deployment.

Aware that death could come at any moment, Sadazo asks Matsuyama to return the postcard to Tomoko and to tell her that he received it before he died. The request underscores the distance and fragility of life in wartime. Matsuyama agrees, carrying the weight of the message to Japan.

Sadazo says goodbye to his parents Yukichi and Chiyo and to his wife Tomoko as he is conscripted. The scene highlights how the war tears families apart and foreshadows the hardship that follows. The moment marks a personal turning point for Tomoko's later life.

A military official later reports Sadazo's death, confirming that he did not return from duty. The family and Tomoko grieve, each in their own way, as the war's reach expands beyond the battlefield. His absence becomes a lingering ache in the household.

Yukichi and Chiyo urge Tomoko not to be left alone and to marry their younger son Sanpei. Tomoko agrees to marry him, hoping for stability amid the chaos of war's aftermath. The arrangement ties her fate to another conscripted life.

Sanpei is drafted into the army and cannot escape his fate. He considers running away, but his parents insist that resistance is futile. He dies in the war, extending the family tragedy to the younger generation.

While working on the farm, Yukichi suffers a heart condition and dies. His death adds to the cascade of hardship that plagues the family. The land itself bears witness to the generation's losses.

Chiyo gives Tomoko money and then hangs herself, a desperate act born of despair and loss. The tragedy tightens the family bonds around Tomoko as she tries to navigate a broken home. Her death echoes the collapsing domestic world of wartime Japan.

The war ends and Matsuyama returns to Japan, finding that his wife has run away after an affair with his father and is now working as a bar hostess in Osaka. The domestic realm remains a battlefield of its own, far from the front lines. He confronts a country still reeling from years of conflict.

Matsuyama goes to Tomoko's house to deliver Sadazo's postcard and to recount Sadazo's fate. The encounter rekindles a shared memory of loss and plants the seed for a possible future together. The two consider what life might look like after the war.

Their conversation over money and futures escalates into a decision to travel to Brazil together. The plan symbolizes leaving behind wartime grief and seeking a new life abroad. They negotiate their path despite lingering tensions.

They burn the ashes of Sadazo and Sanpei, a ritual act to let go of their wartime losses. The act marks a turning point as the couple looks toward rebuilding their lives. The act ties the past to the present through shared remembrance.

Tomoko, in a drunken state, sets fire to the house. Matsuyama pulls her out of the flames, saving them both from a final catastrophe. The incident strengthens their bond and cements their decision to stay together.

The story closes with Tomoko and Matsuyama choosing to stay in Japan and cultivate barley on the site of the former house. They work side by side in the field, suggesting renewal, resilience, and a quieter future after years of war. The barley field becomes a symbol of endurance.