this is bbc world news, the headlines: tens of thousands of people are taking part in protests across the united states against president trump's immigration policies. the demonstrators are calling for migrant families split up at the us border to be reunited. eu leaders are struggling to reach an agreement on sharing responsibility for migrants. hungary has denied reports that it's among 1a member states to have indicated it would be prepared to take back asylum seekers. four young men have been killed after two cars crashed in leeds in the early hours of this morning. police are appealing for information. and uruguay are off to the quarter—finals at the football world cup, having beaten portugal in the knockout phase. uruguay‘s striker edinson cavani scored twice, while portugal could only manage a single goal. at 10pm we'll have a full round up of the day's news. first, historian rana

mitter visits tokyo to explore how japan remembers the conflict — through its movies in: japan's never ending war. japan today is prosperous, lively, and enjoying the upside of 70 years of peace. but in the 1930s and early 40s, japanese forces swept across first china and then the pacific, until finally they were driven slowly back towards the japanese mainland and destruction. hiroshima was completely hidden by an impenetrable cloud of smoke and dust. in east asia, the second world war is still so raw it dominate headlines. so how the countries of the region tell themselves their war stories really matters. but as memories of the war die away, what aspects of the conflict remain

in focus and what's left out of the frame? i'm rana mitter, a literary historian of east asia. and i have come to tokyo to find out how japan tells itself the story of the war through its movies, movies that recreate the era of devastation that still shapes this country's relationship with the region and the world. this museum in central tokyo is a record of the everyday lives of wartime civilians. everything from preparing ever scarcer food to sheltering from american bombs. and it's that perspective on the face of japanese civilians that's at the heart of a recent surprise blockbuster. on its release in 2016, in this corner of the world seemed to catch some weight of public mood and became a big hit.

it talks about a woman called suzu starting her married life near hiroshima. as the war comes closer to the islands, it brings food shortages... and worse. but at first, suzu responds with youthful creativity. how do young people watch your film, how do young people react to seeing the war period portrayed on screen? finally, suzu loses her drawing hand, and her neice who's holding it, to an american bomb. but do young people think about movies as a way to understand the war? i went to meet up with three

students, akame, yuri, and haruka. in this corner of the world stays focused on the suffering inflicted onjapanese people rather than by them, but it does give glimpses of the hard edge of the regime. in this scene, the military police, the kempeitai, accuse suzu of spying for warships in the bay. arai harahiko‘s movie, this country's sky, also tells the story of a young woman trying to form her personality and ideas during the last year of the war and its desperation. amid the air raids, 19—year—old satoko begins a highly unconventional relationship with her 30—something neighbour. we've heard quite a bit about films that mourn

the japanese victims of the war, but some films concentrate on the soldiers. and they're not just stories of condemnation. some recent movies have found aspects of the wartime effort to sympathise with. i'm going to a place where the spirits of japan's war dead are commemorated. th yasukuni shrine is a controversial site, as it doesn'tjust commemorate the ordinary war dead, but also leaders who were indicted as class a war criminals after japan's defeat. it's also the place where the souls of kamikaze pilots were inducted after their deaths. it has become difficult to film freely inside. but it is this place invoked in a film that makes those kamikaze pilots its heroes. in for those we love, the young men about to fly off and crash their planes in american warships as japan struggled desperately to stall the american advance promised to meet each other

after death at the yasukuni shrine. it was written by the then governor of tokyo, ishihara shintaro, well—known for his hardline nationalist views, and his script insists on the nobility of the pilots‘ sacrifice. for those we love was not a huge box office success, but a more recent film about the kamikaze pilots proved a blockbuster hit. the kamikaze‘s plane was called zero, and the eternal zero was adapted from a novel from the japanese author, hya kuta naoki. however, the film adaptation took the story in a new direction. in this electrifying aerial chase sequence, the fighter, miabi, desperately tries to outmanoeuvre the american fighter plane on his tail. but when miabi is saved by one of his pupils deliberately crashing

into the american‘s plane, he chides the badly injured young man for risking his life in direct contradiction of japan's wartime insistance of self—sacrifice. some appreciated the film's take on the pilot's noble sacrifice, others, not least the director of the film, mr takashi, saw it as more critical. the director of the film sat down with me. we have known each other for years. people have this perception

this film is pro—war. right—wingers are coming out and saying this is our film. the people in that film, the kamikaze pilots, they are to be pitied, the way they died. so wasteful. how can they even think that? he was mad, angry, offended. finally, miyabe sets out on a kamikaze mission and the film ends with a moment of emotional connection between kamikaze pilots and today's fighters as he comes face to face with his grandson in today's japan. but in today's japan, some worry about how the war is portrayed now that almost no one is left who remembers what it was really like — and that young japanese are dangerously unaware

of the realities of war. that is why in 2015, a movie called fires on the plain confronted audiences with a vision of the war as hell. half crazed japanese soldiers commit atrocities as they struggle to survive. the lead, tamura, is played by the film's creator, tsukamoto shinya. but there is another aspect to what war movies focus on. the differing memories of the war in other parts of asia. japanese movies tend to focus on the war in the pacific, rather than events like the massacre carried out by the invading japanese army in the then chinese capital in winter 1937 — an event known in the west as the rape of nanking. although japanese journalists and academics have worked extensively and honestly on this, it is not a subject that japanese filmmakers have dealt with very much.

but their chinese counterparts have certainly put the subject at the heart of their treatment of the war on screen. writer—director lu chuan‘s city of life and death is a vision of unsparing cruelty as the japanese army forced chinese women into sexual slavery. and this film, the flowers of war, explores very similar themes through the eyes of a young american. in this scene, christian bale struggles to stop a cultivated japanese officer take away

the convent girls that he is protecting to a terrible fate. sir, they're very young. i'm not sure that it is appropriate for them to attend an adults party. as their guardian and protector that is my responsibility. but we thank you very much. i am sorry. this is out of my power. the horrors visited on nanjing are also at the centre of the documentary the girl and the picture, a documentary out this year. it focuses on xia shuqin, who was barenetted as an eight—year—old by japanese forces. the film shows the woman passing on her memories to her curious seven—year—old great—grandson. that moment, to me, is the defining special moment to me, because it is this visceral moments

of literally him touching the past. she was passing on a very valuable lesson to her family and the grandchild: forgiveness. and that is the purpose of this entire film and exercise — learn from history so that we can reduce the possibility of it happening again. but then to move on. there is a moment where he sort of flinches a little bit, and he's concerned about his grandmother. and what i really love is what she says. she notices his feeling and says, "but i survived." japanese leaders have repeatedly apologised, but many feel the country has never quite fully reckoned with its war crimes. some, though, do suggest that china uses the memory of war crimes to pressure japan and ignores its more positive role since the war.

and then few chinese films confront the horrors of the cultural revolution. what's more, a reluctance to confront difficult history is not just confined to east asia. there is no simple british equivalent to nanjing, but uk movies do often not tackle difficult subjects like the wartime famines that british policies helped to create in bengal. this is the legendary toho studios, fronted by a statue of their most famous star, godzilla. i'm here to meet harada masato, who is cutting his latest film, to ask him about his previous film, for shochiku studios, most of the films we have been looking at have been about civilians or soldiers. but this one tries to grapple with the responsibility of the top leaders who were ruling japan at the end of world ii.

and emperor hirohito's decision in 1945 thatjapan had to surrender. harada explained that one of the reasons he wanted to tell the story afresh was because of his worry that shinzo abe's government wants radically to transform japan's constitution. article nine of the constitution says that japan will forever renounce war and the use of force to settle international disputes. shinzo abe and his supporters consider that a humiliation forced onjapan by the victors. it is a dangerous way that japan is heading. and shinzo abe's regime and administration, i am afraid about. why did the making a film about 1945 might address those issues? well, it is clearly telling how

difficult it is to abandon the army once we had this organisation. the emperor had to come out and to speak out and it made such tremendous effort for everyone in the cabinet to finish the war, to end the war, and to abandon the army to save the nation. and ifjapan moves that way again, to form a new type of army, i feel fear of what we're doing, that we're going to harm's way. some feel it is an unnecessarily anxious view of the current japanese government. to bring about the surrender, hirohito had to face down resistance at the top of his government. and harada says portraying

the emperor on screen today also involved taboos. while in preproduction, i checked about the safety of making this film and asked mr hando who wrote the book, and he asked some right—wingers and checked the situation, and maybe it is safe to show the emperor in that way, but to betray the family feud among the emperor's family, nobody tested that water yet. maybe japan, like britain, cannot leave world war ii behind, even though it is 70 years ago. there are so many interesting stories and plots not being exposed yet. injapan, like i said before,

there are so many taboos, you cannot do this and do that and it existed — and it seems like now is the time to show some of those hidden truth. at the end of the walk the emperor was living in a secluded palace estate beyond this bridge, nijubashi. he then had to cross another bridge, away from a warlike japan that invaded large parts of asia to a new country of peace and prosperity. but the legacy has never really faded. the relationship with china has remained formal and cool. that bridge has never really been crossed. both countries are still fighting one another on screen. both countries are still mourning the losses of more than seven decades ago. but they are doing so in relative isolation from one another.

if the two countries are to overcome the enormous chasm between them, they will need to learn more about their histories. and perhaps filmmakers can make that crossing a little easier. as we close out of the month of june, there won't be much change, and this is very indicative of the rest of the country, this picture from norfolk, it was very hot. 28 degrees in london and cardiff and a bit cooler in belfast and cooler still in edinburgh. as we go to sunday there will be subtle changes, the week weather front introducing

showers in the north west and the south west we might have some thundery downpours at the end of the day, with the wind direction changing across england and wales to a south easterly the humidity will increase and the 30 degrees will feel pretty hot. as we move out of sunday we run the risk of thundery downpours being a nuisance, but they will be isolated. but they will be heavy and thundery. that is how we go into the first week ofjuly, little change in the story, mostly dry and sunny, but it looks like there's a chance a few showers, so let's have a look in more detail, the area of low pressure moving through the bay of biscay and the heat and humidity might trigger some sharp thundery downpours, but they will be fairly isolated, just a scattering threatening on monday, and in the far north—west will feed in more cloud with a westerly

breeze, so a bit fresher in the far north of scotland on monday. mid—teens possibly. but high 20s up to 30 further south, and the like south—easterly breeze keeps the humidity going in central and southern parts of england. subtle but it will make it feel a bit more oppressive out there. by day and night. hardly a cloud in the sky on tuesday, a good deal of dry weather, just the threat again of a few sharp showers reaching the channel isles and maybe south west england. highs likely of 28. not much change as we go into wednesday. 0r thursday. dry and settled and pretty hot. further ahead it looks like we might have some subtle changes, the area of low pressure drifting away, allowing this high pressure to build from the

south west, which basically means it quietens things down, so the risk of the thundery downpours eases off. in the thundery downpours eases off. in the weekend, the drywall weather to the weekend, the drywall weather to the south, and things freshening up in the north. a bit more in the way of cloud here. thursday, more cloud and those commerce macro struggling in the far north of scotland, but further south dry and the risk of thundery downpours —— those temperatures struggling. a bit more cloud in the extreme north—west with the risk of a few showers. further south again, it is all about the sunshine and the heat. 27 the expected high. looking further ahead, little change in the forecast, mainly dry and very warm at times with a slim chance of thundery showers. take care. is that.