Dear Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda,
After the disasters of March 11 occurred, I was reminded of Akira Kurosawa's 1990 movie, "Dreams." The film includes one episode, "Mount Fuji in Red," that depicts explosions at a nuclear power plant near Mount Fuji that actually cause the mountain to erupt. Swarms of people evacuate. The next day the only people left are the Kurosawa character, a mother and her children, and a businessman presumably from the "nuclear village." The episode ends with the Kurosawa character trying in vain to protect the mother and her children from the poison in the air.
Scholars and critics have noted the film's allusions to Kurosawa's autobiographical work, "Something Like an Autobiography." This isn't surprising given that the film is supposed to be based on his actual dreams. Some of the similarities are obvious, others aren't. In "Mount Fuji in Red," I think Kurosawa made a number of subtle allusions to his own life.