The film begins with footage from
Asahi Shimbun's special expedition to the
Yamato wreckage in 1999. The narrative then shifts to the present on 6 April 2005, where a woman, Makiko Uchida, is visiting the
Yamato Museum in
Kure, Hiroshima. She is looking for a boat to take her to the site where the
Yamato sank, to honor the crew on the 60th anniversary of the ship's last battle. Katsumi Kamio, a Yamato survivor who is now a fisherman, agrees to take her after he discovers she was an adopted daughter of
Petty Officer First Class Mamoru Uchida, a fellow crewman and close friend who he thought went down with the ship, and was confirmed to be deceased a year ago. As Kamio, Makiko, and his teenage apprentice, Atsushi, travel to the site on his fishing boat, the narrative shifts between the present and Kamio's memories of his service as an
air defense crewman aboard the warship during the
Second World War. In the spring of 1944, Kamio and other cadets, many of whom are only teenagers, are assigned to the
Yamato and are subjected to harsh training and discipline at the hands of Petty Officers Uchida, Moriwaki, and Karaki, who had served on the vessel since its launch in 1941. In October 1944, the
Yamato sails as part of a large Japanese fleet to engage American forces at the
Battle of Leyte Gulf. During the battle, the
Yamato sustains several hits, killing or injuring several crew.
Yamato and the surviving ships return to Japan for repairs, while Uchida (who lost his left eye in the battle) is sent to a hospital to recover. In March 1945, the crew hear rumors of a planned mission against the expected
invasion of Okinawa and are given a few days of
shore leave. During this time, Kamio returns home and learns that his mother died protecting his girlfriend, Taeko Nozaki, during an air raid on Kure. Taeko confesses her love for Kamio when he explains that he must go to Okinawa and gives him a special amulet for protection. Uchida uses the shore leave to escape the hospital and rejoin the crew. Meanwhile,
IJN representative Vice-Admiral
Ryūnosuke Kusaka arrives and briefs the admiral-in-charge of
Yamato, Vice-Admiral
Seiichi Itō, and the other senior officers, of the details of
Operation Ten-Go. It will almost certainly be a suicide mission - and with no air cover, the entire Japanese force will be extremely vulnerable to Allied attacks, making it unlikely that they will even reach Okinawa. Fights break out among the crew as some believe the mission is futile, but an officer convinces them that the
Yamato, as Japan's last operational battleship, must make every effort to defend the nation. On the morning of April 7, the
Yamato and its escorts assume battle stations after
Task Force 58 detects it on the way to Okinawa and sends its strike planes to intercept. The crew opens fire with their anti-aircraft weapons as the planes appear. However, the sheer number of US aircraft overwhelm the defenses and the
Yamato takes heavy damage from multiple bombs and torpedo hits. Kamio, Uchida, and Moriwaki continue to man a portside
AA battery after strafing runs and bomb strikes kill much of the crew, including Karaki. After being told the ship is crippled and sinking, Vice-Admiral
Seiichi Itō and Captain
Kōsaku Aruga give the order to abandon ship, although both choose to stay behind. Uchida and Moriwaki throw Kamio overboard despite his wish to stay with them to the end. The radioman attempts to call for support but water starts flooding the ship, which eventually capsizes and explodes after its aft magazine detonates. The
Yamato's remaining escorts start rescuing the survivors, but Kamio fails to save his friend Tetsuya Nishi despite promising his mother that he would look after him. Moriwaki ties Kamio to be hoisted aboard a rescue vessel and swims away to drown himself. The film flashes forward to the present day; the old Kamio has a
heart attack, but Makiko and Atsushi revive him. He also discusses what happened to him during the war's final months. He recounts that after the sinking, he went and told Nishi's mother that her son had died "a hero's death." Kamio expresses his grief that, despite risking his life in battle, he was ultimately unable to protect anyone he loved - Taeko died of radiation poisoning after the
atomic bombing of Hiroshima, where she had been conscripted to work at a munitions plant. However, she was able to see him before she died and suggested
Asukamaru as the name for his boat. They arrive at the sinking coordinates the following day, where they hold a small ceremony. Makiko scatters Uchida's ashes and Kamio gives her a dagger that Uchida asked him to keep during the battle. The dagger was Uchida's most prized possession; Admiral
Isoroku Yamamoto gave it to him when the
Yamato was his flagship. The three head back to Japan after the ceremony. The end credits show Makiko laying flowers at a memorial for those who died in the battle. ==Cast==