Synopsis

This work is the complete drama edition of the special NHK program Simulation: Defeat in the Summer of Showa 16, which originally aired in August 2025. Set in April 1941, eight months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the story takes place at the Total War Research Institute, a think tank formed by Japan’s brightest elite minds. After conducting a comprehensive war simulation, the researchers conclude that Japan would suffer an overwhelming defeat against the United States. However, their warning is ignored, and Japan presses forward into a war it has no chance of winning.