| Karafuto 1945 Natsu Hyōsetsu no Mon | |
| Director: | Mitsuo Murayama |
| Starring: | Terumi Niki Yumiko Fujita Kawai Okada Keiko Torii Hiromi Kurita |
| Music: | Seiji Yokoyama |
| Runtime: | 120 minutes |
| Country: | Japan |
| Language: | Japanese |
| Budget: | 500 million yen |
, also called Gate of Ice, is a 1974 Japanese film based on the Soviet Union's invasion of Karafuto during the Soviet–Japanese War near the end of World War II. The movie is set in Maoka (present day Kholmsk), and the story is based on the deaths of nine women who worked in the postal telegraph office in the city. Twelve women worked in the office, and on August 20, 1945, nine of them committed suicide.[1]
The film is set in Karafuto after the radio broadcast of the Imperial Rescript on the Termination of the War. On August 15, 1945, Soviet forces invaded Karafuto. The Japanese population began to evacuate while remaining Imperial Japanese Army personnel, heavily outnumbered, slowed the Soviet advance for as long as they were able. The Soviets engaged in widespread kidnapping, rape, and murder of any civilians who were unable to escape. On August 20, the postal telegraph office in Maoka suspended operations and nine of the twelve telephone operators committed suicide by taking potassium cyanide to avoid capture by Soviet troops.[2]
Despite the film's release in many nations, including the Soviet Union, Moscow argued that the film defamed the Soviet Union and the Soviet people and would only make people more hostile towards the USSR.[3] The movie was eventually banned in the Soviet Union after two weeks' distribution in Hokkaidō and western Kyūshū. On August 25, 2008, a Japanese television drama was aired called Kiri no Hi, which was based on the same historical events. However, the television drama caused less of a political uproar in Russia than Karafuto 1945 Summer Hyosetsu no Mon, due to the movie's insistence that it was a work of "fiction" and because it did not focus on the Red Army's crimes and brutality but instead talked about a wish for world peace.
On July 17, 2010, when the film was almost 36 years old, it was released in various theatres worldwide.[3] [4]