There are many films, fiction and nonfiction, about the Battle of Okinawa, a conflict that, from April to June 1945, claimed an estimated 240,000 lives, including U.S. and Japanese military, and Okinawan civilians.
Many in the latter group had been drafted into home defense or labor units, the most famous being the Himeyuri Student Nurse Corps, 222 teen girls who served as nurses behind the lines. Of this number 123 died, most by suicide to avoid capture.
The focus of "Boy Soldiers: The Secret War in Okinawa," a documentary co-directed by Chie Mikami and Hanayo Oya, is on the "hidden war" of spies and guerrilla fighters. Unlike the Himeyuri girls, who have previously been the subject of tear-jerking movies, this lesser-known side of the battle has been ignored by the local entertainment industry.