In 1943 Japan is facing defeat. This makes Shinkichi, a straight, selfless student-patriot, ever more restless. He can no longer stand his soft "behind-the- gun" role of munition factory worker. School-mates one after another are going to the front, where he feels he should be. The last straw is an official report of his father's death in the Battle of Attu in the Aleutian Islands. He rushes to the naval air corps training camp at Tsuchiura along with his close school-mates Naito, Yamada, Saito and Tagawa as Volunteer pilot trainees leaving his mother and sweetheart weeping and helpless.
Ryotaro Sugi
Tatsuya Fuji
Mitsuo Hamada
Jiro Okazaki
Akio Hasegawa
Masaya Oki
Hisashi Kawaguchi
Eiji Gō
Masako Izumi
Meiko Kaji
Ruriko Itô
Michiko Nakahata
Harumi Sone
Yoshirō Aoki
Kiyotaka Mitsugi
Bin Moritsuka
Yoshi Katō
Ryoichi Tamagawa
Kôji Nanbara
Ryôhei Uchida
Tetsuro Tamba