A skull that sings when the wind blows through its bullet hole — Okinawa's ghosts don't stay buried.
Seikichi, makes his living fishing from a small boat off the coast of Okinawa. He and his 12-year-old grandson Akira live in a small, tree-lined village in the northern part of the island which is surrounded by a white-sand beach and plots of pine and flowering bushes. On the cliff that skirts the shore sits an open-air burial ground containing the skull of a kamikaze pilot who was shot down during the last days of World War II. When the wind blows through the bullet hole in the skull, it produces a whistling sound. The locals call it the "Crying Head."
Cinematography
Okinawa's liminal landscapes — sea, skull, wind — shot with patient reverence.
Sound
That whistling skull sound will haunt your dreams, no notes.
Acting
Muneo Uema's weathered face contains entire unspoken wars.
Director
Yōichi Higashi
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Okinawa's 'Crying Head' legend draws from real kamikaze crash sites, where locals still tend anonymous pilot remains with complex, conflicted care.
Director Yōichi Higashi filmed during actual typhoon season — the wind you hear is documentary, not designed, making nature itself a grieving character.
JP
