Japan, 1944. 22-year-old Hiroo Onoda, who has been trained for intelligence work, discovers a philosophy that contradicts the official line: no suicide; stay alive regardless of the circumstances; the goal is more vital than anything else. Sent to Lubang, a small Philippine island where the Americans are going to land, this task will be to wage guerilla warfare until the Japanese troops return. The Empire will capitulate shortly thereafter, and Onoda 10,000 days later.