At the end of the Second World War, imperial Japanese fanaticism seals the fate of an island's inhabitants and its garrison, through a massacre, interrupting the love between a soldier and a fisherman's daughter.
The daughter survives, but the other survivor Taro- a soldier cut off from all communication- continues to serve the emperor for another thirty years.
Taro is regularly 'inspected' by his former military inspector Yamada, who exploits the situation to entertain former Japanese officers, nostalgic of Imperial Japan, by luring visitors to the island through his War Veterans Association.
For the sadistic pleasure of the former Japanese officers, Yamada organises "inspections" during which the new recruits must prove their devotion to the emperor by sacrificing their lives.
During his service, it has been estimated that he killed about thirty people, including American soldiers and local police militia.