Not having any luck with google because my memories are too vague. A lone aged man spends his time burying or in some other way memorializing the Japanese dead of WWII. Lots of scenes of him walking along rocky beaches. It was rather famous, and moving. I can’t remember anything else!
Purple sunset maybe? Lots of flashbacks from an old soldier memorializing .
that’s not it, though it looks interesting. I felt sure it was Japanese.
Here is the IMDB link to that film. The description is brief but there is a viewer review further down that makes this sound like the film you are remembering.
Link fixed: The Burmese Harp (1956 film) - Wikipedia
SDMB &^%$! always puts the close-parentheses on the wrong side of the URL link.