Forgive – Don’t Forget

During Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II, numerous swords were confiscated by American officers and shipped to the States. The Japanese sword, while once a symbol of wartime aggression, is also embedded in Japan’s rich history and spiritual heritage. In order to better understand the past and build a bridge between cultures in the present, the project follows an American filmmaker’s attempt to return one of these surrendered swords to its original owner.

At its core, Forgive – Don’t Forget is about the connection between cultures and the importance of remembrance. The vehicle for this story is the personal journey of filmmaker Paul Ufema, who is attempting to return a family heirloom to its rightful owner. At the end of World War II, Paul’s grandfather brought back the surrendered sword of a Japanese naval officer where it remained in Paul’s family for seventy years. He often wondered who the original owner was and what would happen if the sword ever went back to Japan. Would the owner or his surviving family members even want the sword back? What would trying to return the sword mean, both to the families involved and in a broader cultural context? With nothing more than a faded wooden name tag as a starting point, Paul embarks on an adventure that takes him across the world and introduces him to a fascinating cultural heritage.