Trivia

This film was screened at the 15th Berlin International Film Festival against the will of the Japan Motion Picture Federation (Eiren). The Federation was astonished when the Festival notified the choice, and claimed that the film did not represent the Japanese film industry. Masakazu Nagata, the chairman of Eiren, asked the West German embassy in Tokyo to do something about it, as there was concern that the Festival's choice could interfere with cultural exchanges between Japan and Germany. The Japanese Film Pen Club was also extremely dissatisfied with Wakamatsu's film being treated as a representative of Japan. Nevertheless, the Berlin Film Festival screened the film, ignoring the protests of the Japanese film industry. When the screening began, intense whistling and cursing flew around, and the press conference was canceled. Several German critics also denounced the film. The Japanese Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that the organizers of international film festivals should be careful not to hurt the feelings of a nation and not to spread the wrong image of a foreign country.