You Only Live Twice (film) manned spacecraft disappear mysteriously in orbit. With each nation blaming the other amidst the Cold War, Bond travels secretly to a remote Japanese island to find the perpetrators and comes face to face with Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE. The film reveals the appearance of Blofeld, who was previously a partially unseen character. SPECTRE is working for the government of an unnamed Asian power, implied to be the People's Republic of China, to provoke war between the superpowers. During the filming in Japan, it was announced that Sean Connery would retire from the role of Bond, but after
You Only Live Twice (film) is detained while Bird One is launched; Bond is taken into the control room where he meets Blofeld face-to-face for the first time. Bird One closes in on the American space capsule, and United States forces prepare to launch a nuclear attack on the USSR. Meanwhile, the Japanese ninjas approach the base's entrance, but are detected and fired upon. Bond manages to open the hatch, letting in the ninjas. During the ensuing battle, Bond fights his way to the control room, kills Blofeld's bodyguard Hans by flipping his body into the piranha pool, and activates Bird One's self-destruct before it