Complex and disturbing anti-Japanese propaganda film produced to spur the sale of U.S. war bonds. CONTENT ADVISORY: Explicit racism and extreme violence.

Prepared for the 7th War Loan, 1945.

Ken Smith sez: This World War II film operates on a number of very strange conceptual levels. A caucasian actor -- made to look Japanese -- sits behind a desk and tells us that Americans have many misconceptions about the Japanese people (for example, that a Japanese actor would willingly play this role). "We don't have big teeth and thick glasses," he hisses through his taped-back cheeks. He then proceeds to show us what Japan and the Japanese are REALLY like.

"You think you can defeat us by wiping out a few, inexpensive lives," he snickers. "We are not like you!" As we are shown what the narrator claims is captured Japanese war footage, we are told that that the Japanese people are brutally "realistic," and willing to sacrifice everything for their ultimate goal -- "to win the war."

The narrator mocks Americans as being too soft -- a nation of dreamers. "We think you're stupid!" he snorts. "You can destroy Japan's cities with your bombs, but you cannot destroy its heart!"

Were the producers of this film trying to create an American version of Japanese propaganda? Or were they told to create something that would justify (at least in the public's mind) America's anticipated bloody invasion of Japan? Whatever its makers' intentions, My Japan stands as a unique -- and decidedly racist -- film.



My Japan, one of the most unusual documentary films ever made, dares to question America's invincibility. But I wonder whether in fact it's the unheralded first film of the atomic age. Is it too far out to imagine that its real purpose was to desensitize Americans to the horrors of the A-bomb? By citing American weaknesses and vulnerabilities and seeming to praise Japanese patriotism, strength and resolve, it challenges Americans to support a strategy of total war. Its stealthy assertion: that the Japanese military machine will not be broken without an unprecedented effort. It supports this assertion by presenting highly charged and emotional images with an bogus "insider" narration that is at once deceptive and inflammatory.

My Japan is constructed largely from newsreel film, combat photography and captured Japanese images. To most of us today, it all looks pretty much like old black-and-white stock footage. What we don't remember is the power that many of its images used to carry in the public mind. During World War II, images of the Japanese siege of Nanking, China were often used to inflame anti-Japanese passions. Shots of the attack on Pearl Harbor fulfilled the same function; at the war's outset they were embargoed by American authorities, who feared the consequences of showing images of an America caught unawares and defeated. When it later became possible to recontextualize Pearl Harbor as a focus of anger and popular vengeance, the shots were seen over and over again. Unlike many other World War II propaganda films, My Japan shows actual atrocities -- executions, beheaded heads and bodies, the stumps of severed limbs. The mobilization of all of these inflammatory images, and more, supports the idea that this film advocates total war against Japan.

"So...you are the enemy...". How many films begin so provocatively? War creates, and then is sustained by, two levels of enemies. One, the actual military opponent on the battlefield, constructs itself. The other level of enemy, the dehumanized "Other," is a creation of our own minds, often aided by propaganda. Constructing an enemy is a sophisticated effort that employs crude tactics: ignorance, oversimplification, and simplistic appeals to patriotism. And patriotism itself often draws strength from the existence of a constructed enemy. Wartime media show the pervasiveness of this process; the evidence is on this disc in the Archives section under "Constructing an Enemy." Advertisements similar to those shown in that supplement were deemed too sensitive to include in Life magazine's recent reprints of some 1945 issues. A review of Gulf War news coverage will show, however, that this process is still in fashion.

It's understandable, whether or not justifiable, that warring nations divide the world into allies and enemies. But the "enemy" as pictured in My Japan is more than simply an opposing army. "You cannot destroy Japan," says the narrator in his ersatz accent, "because you cannot destroy the Japanese people." And the Japanese people are, in the film's twisted way, pictured as an inhuman race, without compassion, and described as tireless, fanatical workers who lack the desire and capacity for leisure and enjoyment. "They work longer hours than you do, twice as long, quite often. Why not? They're not working for the clock. They're working to win the war." But these characterizations of an enemy are not based on any kind of reality. Rather, they are created in relation to some supposed American weaknesses: "How we suffer when you do not have a full tank of gasoline. How devastated we are at the sight of you jammed into pleasure trains. How we tremble when you have to wait to get into the movies, restaurants and nightclubs....You are a nation of bargain-hunters." Our anger at finding ourselves too materialistic and selfish is invoked so that it can be turned against the enemy of the moment.

My Japan adopts the pretense that the "Japanese" narrator is confiding in us, telling us secrets, exposing the true nature of his society. "Captured Japanese film" is invoked, furthering the "insider" feeling. It pretends to be a critique of popular consciousness, to deconstruct a myth. "How sad to disillusion you...and how easy, easy because you do not know the Japanese, you only think you do, and you're wrong."

"We are Japan -- a mountain, a spiderweb, a flame that feeds on hate of you." My Japan charges the Japanese with atrocious conduct, but is itself charged with viciousness and brutality, both in the images it presents and in the way it's edited. Its producers (whose identities are unknown) were skilled polemicists, geniuses who, in their own way, were as evilly minded as the killers represented in the footage.

Ultimately, My Japan sets the stage for total war. It implies that nothing less will be sufficient to defeat an enemy like Japan. And this is the argument that was invoked to support the decision to drop the atomic bomb; an argument that resurfaced in summer 1995 around an exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution recalling the bomber Enola Gay. We cannot know whether My Japan's producers were privy to the secrets of the Manhattan Project, but we can assert that propagandists bear as much responsibility as generals.





[The War Finance Division of the U.S. Treasury Department presents:]

[The Japanese viewpoint . . . Japanese doctrine . . . with captured Japanese film. This is the way the enemy looks at the war . . . thinks it . . . fights it . . . to him, this is - ]

[My Japan. bonsai gong gongs Orientalism main titles graphic design typography mythology racism makeup racial stereotypes Caucasians Asian Americans accents flowers]

"So, you are the enemy. Ha ha.

Oh, I am not supposed to laugh. You've heard that the Japanese do not show their feelings. Nor do I have big teeth and thick glasses. How sad to disillusion you and how easy. Easy because you do not know the Japanese. You only think you do and you're wrong. Let me show you how wrong you are.

This is Japan. My Japan. It is lovely. [aerials aerial scenes farms terraces fields agriculture scenics peasants rice paddies oxen animals hats umbrellas water windmills raking boats paddling rowing]

Here breezes soft and fragrant whisper the story of the moon goddess to feathery little pine trees. Here dainty bridges hover over tiny streams like hummingbirds over flowers. [temples shrines gardens]

Here sacred fish ripple pools of water, cold and clear as winter sunshine. [carp goldfish women traditional costumes traditional dress geishas smiling gender roles kimonos feeding fish]

Here, too, stands Fujiyama - a holy mountain reaching down to the boiling center of the Earth and soaring up to touch the stars commanding us to fulfill our certain destiny to rule." [Mount Fujiyama volcanoes women hairdos waves sea oceans snow wind ridges bubbles geothermal energy heat waves beaches ocean Manifest Destiny]

Banzai. Banzai. Banzai." [American flags desecration Stars and Stripes flags inflammatory images Japanese flags cheering Japanese soldiers Imperial Japanese Army]

"Yes, my Japan is lovely is it not? This, too, is my Japan. The frame around the picture - the hard backbone of the graceful bamboo tree. [boats water lilies cherry blossoms cities streets lanes signs stores lanterns bridges cities buildings]

Flimsy buildings made of paper and wood. One vast torch waiting to burn at the drop of an incendiary bomb? Look again. Neither fire nor earthquake can level our cities. You're finding that out, are you not? [railroads trains glass windows modernism modern architecture]

Nor do your bombings particularly impress us. London was bombed. Did England die? Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama - drop your bombs. You cannot destroy Japan by turning cities into blackened rubble, by wiping out a few inexpensive lives. You're finding that out, too, are you not? [aerials bombardment rubble damage explosions war fires bombers airplanes wreckage]

You cannot destroy Japan because you cannot destroy its heart - the Japanese people. [Constructivism avant-garde photography bridges railroads trolleys trolley cars streetcars cities wipes masses crowds soldiers women children peasants farmers]

You say you can and the methods you propose amuse us. You say you can destroy us by starving us out. You forget that we are not like you. We have no soft bellies crying for beefsteaks and butter and candy. We live well on simple food, easy to get. Starve us? It is easier to starve a fish in the ocean. [rice paddies Great Buddha Buddhism Kamakura Shrines ships harbors shipping agriculture fields food production plowing oxen]

You say you can destroy us by making sacrifices. How we suffer when you do not have a full tank of gasoline. How devastated we are at the sight of you jammed into pleasure trains. How we tremble when you have to wait to get into movies, restaurants, nightclubs. Sacrifices? What a delightful and foolish sense of humor you have. [irony Americana consumerism materialism money spoiled department stores clothing models mannikins shopping spending waste wasting profligacy Reno, Nevada main streets Jockeys Ball banners automobiles wealth richness affluence parking lots abundance Pennsylvania Station, New York City railroads travelers leisure recreation theaters bars taverns drinks alcohol bartenders gambling wheel of fortune wheels of fortune games of chance shaking cocktails martinis]

Or do you really take yourself seriously? We don't. We think you're stupid - an admirable quality for an enemy to have. [Miami Beach, Florida beaches vacations lounging]

You say you can destroy us by outworking us. Ha ha. You must forgive me. This is one of the most amusing ideas of all. [logging factories industry smokestacks chemical industry tanks pipes smoke molten steel industry pigs girders rolling mills ladles sparks pouring]

You have not met our workers, have you? Meet them now and see why I laugh. [Made in Japan automobile industry cars manufacturing exports assembly lines women workers war mobilization war effort]

They work longer hours than you do - twice as long quite often. Why not? They're not working by the clock. They're working to win the war. [welding sparks goggles tanks]

They do not make as much money as you do. Well, they are not working to make money, they are working to win war. They work every day of every week. Is this so strange? They are not working to get days off, they are working to win the war. [soldiers artillery manufacturing industry workers agriculture farmers bombs armaments arms industry]

And they stand for hours in long lines to buy these. Japanese war bonds. Turn them in later? Again, you show your stupidity by assuming that we are like you. We hold our bonds to win the war. [patriotism]

You say you can destroy us by outfighting us. You cannot. You cannot outfight us because the path ahead of you lies straight up the steep and rocky mountain of Japan and it is slippery with blood - your blood. [statues sculpture public art war memorials smoke relief maps Japan geography waves seas seacoasts coastlines]

You are a nation of bargain hunters. You will not be willing to pay the full price of victory: in pain, in work, in money, in lives. [war deaths casualties injuries]

Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima - you boast of them as major victories; to you they are. To us they are minor defeats - the loss of island outposts. [shelling bullets audio explosions invasions charges beachheads Pacific War combat fighting]

You Americans are fond of saying 'look at the score.' Very well, look at it. You sent your finest troops against these outposts. They died by the thousands. Here they are massacred, slaughtered. [fires flamethrowers combat danger tanks shooting killing rifles death flames]

But you took the islands, you say. Yes, we expected you to. That is why we garrisoned them with second-rate troops. The best of your lives for the worst of ours. We, too, know a thing or two about bargains. [surrendering surrenders prisoners of war prisoners-of-war POWs]

You have not yet faced the best of our armies. You have faced only ten percent of our worst. Our first-line fighters, millions of them, wait for you on battlegrounds of our own choosing - wait across vast waters which thin out your supply lines and weaken your fighting strength before you even reach us. [military parades soldiers reviewing troops troops on review commanders generals officers marching rifles bayonets uniforms]

They wait in my Japan, in China, in Burma. In all the other half of the world - our half. And they laugh at you because you are so wrong about them. [animation globes rising sun sentries]

They have reached full strength, you say. There are no more replacements. Listen well. More men, many more, enter our armies every day, month in and month out, than we lose in casualties. [basic training cadets youth teenagers soldiers students military training]

They are ignorant little savages you say. Ignorant? Ninety percent of our armies can read and write. Can you say the same for your own? [ship models teachers classes students studying pointers blackboards chalkboards literacy]

Little? Whole divisions of our first-line fighters, our real army, are big men - the kind you describe as six-footers. Savages? No, merely realists, who face facts. [soldiers marching parades flags]

It is a fact that the strong rule the weak, so we rule the weak. It is a fact that the strong remain strong only if they exercise their strength. So we exercise our strength. [bombing Japanese war atrocities Shanghai, China Chinese people victims displaced persons bombing refugees exercises rhythmic mass exercises physical conditioning flags children shootings executions prisoners capital punishment killing]

It is a fact that the lower the birth rate among the weak, the less potential danger for us in the future. So we control the birthrate. It is a fact that prisoners taken become a liability, after they are drained dry of useful information. So we either transform the liability into an asset - labor for our rice fields and factories - or we write off the liability completely. [children dead babies dead bodies Japanese war atrocities prisoners of war POWs slave labor dead bodies corpses cadavers inflammatory images severed heads decapitation]

For further details you might speak to those of you who were so long our guests in the Philippines - those who still live. [prisoners of war POWs death march of Bataan amputation amputees stumps severed limbs]

It is a fact that human lives are cheap. Unlike you, we have no cowardly illusions about their value, so we spend lives freely - yours and ours. Freely did I say? I am too modest - lavishly is more accurate. [cynicism wounded casualties stretchers surgery surgeons operating rooms hospitals wounds artillery cannons corpses dead bodies killing death]

I refer you to what my Japan told you early in the war. We are prepared to spend ten million lives to defeat you. How many are you willing to spend?

Think well before you answer, and remember what you paid to dig a few thousand of us out of caves on Iwo Jima - only a few thousand. And there are seventy million of us left waiting for you - seventy million who have planned for decades to destroy you, who await eagerly and passionately the sacred honor of dying to halt you, who will stop at nothing, nothing to crush you. Seventy million people, if you will, to be dug out of caves. [animation rally rallies waving fanaticism flags nationalism combat islands maps Japan geopolitics casualties warnings total war wipes patriotism]

Japanese caves? You give no one but yourselves credit for the ability to hold aces up the sleeves, do you? There are caves in China - a China so near to us; a China we control. [waves coastlines oceans water seas seacoasts]

Should you edge uncomfortably close to our home island, it would be simple to move across the narrow sea of Japan, would it not? A move of only a hundred-odd miles. [maps geography Manchuria China]

Already we have much of our industry there. And then, imagine, if you have the nerve, what it would be to dig seventy million of us out of buildings, gullies, caves, mountains in a country as large as your own. [marching troops]

Imagine even trying to pursue us into such a vast spider web. You have seen a fly trapped and attacked by the spider. Come close and you will die in the same way - bled white. [tanks]

No, we have not even begun to hurt you, nor you us. Our war has not even started. We know this because we know the heart of Japan. You do not.

We are not Germany - a walnut easily eaten once the shell is cracked. We are Japan. A mountain, a spider web, a flame that feeds on hate of you. Let the game begin. We gamble only once for all time and the stakes are all or nothing. [animation spider web Satan soldiers salutes saluting tentacles globes tendrils Pearl Harbor inflammatory images burning ships destruction bombardiers bombing bombs bombers]

Perhaps I disturb you with my harsh picture of what lies ahead. So feast instead on this, the beauty of my Japan. [Mount Fujiyama mountains scenics]

It is more to your taste for a world of make-believe rather than one of realities. No, I must not disturb you. I must not awaken you. Your dreaming is pleasant and useful to us. For you dream of victory rather than work for it. You talk total war rather than fight one. You smugly expect peace at bargain rates instead of on our terms. [scenics beauty shots lakes rivers water trees nature bridges temples shrines women geishas]

By all means come to my Japan if you dare. And welcome, it is beautiful here, as beautiful as the sight of your blood on our bayonets. [water reflections smiling soldiers menace jeopardy danger Japanese characters]

[Remember - what you have just seen and heard is what the Japanese believe . . . .]

[Buy war bonds. The mighty seventh 7th war loan.]

[Produced for the War Finance Division, U.S. Treasury Department. The End.]



<BR>

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comment Reviews

Reviewer: krocronos - favorite favorite favorite favorite - December 12, 2016

Subject: No long reviews needed This film had its time an place. Very informative. They attacked Pearl Harbor like cowards so they got treated as such. It was unfortunate that Japan aligned itself with Hitler. - December 12, 2016No long reviews needed

Reviewer: ERD - favorite favorite favorite favorite - June 27, 2015

Subject: "My Japan" obsolete after atom bomb A film propaganda film like this was not needed after the Atomic bombs were dropped on Japan.According to historic information I have researched, it was not positive the Japanese were ready to surrender so quickly. If the atomic bombs had not been dropped. Probably 250,000 more American soldiers could have died. - June 27, 2015"My Japan" obsolete after atom bomb

Reviewer: mercenarygrip - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - July 28, 2013

Subject: We were at WAR! Those of you (Morpheus et al) who are "appalled" or "shocked" at this need to remember that we were at war with an empire that had every intention of destroying us & our way of life. War isn't nice, you don't worry about your enemy's feelings, or their sensibilities. Really, get over yourself & remember the time & context in which this was made. - July 28, 2013We were at WAR!

Reviewer: Milcron - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - December 26, 2011

Subject: Good propaganda film, we were at war. Morpheus et. al. : Get over it. Read history and stop with the knee-jerk BS. Just because it was "propaganda" doesn't mean it wasn't mostly factual. About our attitudes and theirs. - December 26, 2011Good propaganda film, we were at war.

Reviewer: Vance Capley - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - August 30, 2011

Subject: Fantastic window into American history... Yes it's propaganda, but it was the times and this is a fantastic window into America's WW2 past - August 30, 2011Fantastic window into American history...

Reviewer: USABG58 - favorite favorite favorite - July 29, 2011

Subject: Both sides guilty Wikipedia "Japanese war crimes" and read all of it. Consider had bad Japan was. You are already very much aware of U.S. war crimes against the Japanese-- how we tortured, killed, etc. AND dropped the bomb and did relocation camps. So...-what?- -what's that you say?!- We didn't equal the Japanese in the torture-area? Oh, OK. We just dropped the bomb and did relocation? Not exactly? Oh, sounds like a complicated comparison. Maybe, "Both side guilty" describe the situation, then? - July 29, 2011Both sides guilty

Reviewer: sg10 - favorite - February 28, 2011

Subject: bad film Pathetic propaganda. - February 28, 2011bad film

Reviewer: Pleonic - favorite favorite favorite favorite - February 27, 2011

Subject: Sociological Document Thanks to Prelinger and the Archive for preserving this window into the American mindset during this unparalleled fight to the death. It's difficult to watch, but it was a difficult time to go through. - February 27, 2011Sociological Document

Reviewer: batatari - favorite - February 27, 2011

Subject: my japan sells war bonds This is simply an effort to sell war bonds.,use ing captured footage to make a point the usa needs money for the war effort. But it makes the japanese look like a yellow horde attempting take over the world like in countless movies and books. preying on the public's fear. - February 27, 2011my japan sells war bonds

Reviewer: MorpheusOne - favorite favorite favorite - January 21, 2011

Subject: I feel sorry for anyone who buys into this garbage.. While I would perhaps, in some sense, agree with the rightwing nut-jobs that have already commented that dropping the bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima were plenty justified, specifically, to end the war and ultimately bring about peace, albeit an intensely uneasy peace; the intense hatred that this short film was obviously meant to increase, set fire to, and instill in the viewing audience of the day itself permeates with an intense bigotry that anyone with a working brain can not deny!



This film is not a cognitive & freethinking being, with it's own thoughts, opinions, and ideology/ies. But, it is very much a representative of the hatred that it spews forth... It in principle is the exact same thing as the confederate flag! How anyone can believe, and furthermore express, some developmentally stunted, politically and socially ignorant, bloated and putrid bag of hot air is something that never ceases to amaze me...



Those that say that this film is not racist express their own form of racism as they defend this piece of pro-racist, pro-xenophobic, propaganda. I can perhaps not recommend highly enough that anyone with such a point of view do a gut check on their sense of right and wrong. If you find that you have none, or if you find that it is so warped that it is beyond redemption, then it is unfortunately apparent that you should cut off and/or out your sexual organs so that you will not contaminate the rest of the human race; it just IS the right thing to do!



And for cryin' out loud, do it right, use a chainsaw!! - January 21, 2011I feel sorry for anyone who buys into this garbage..

Reviewer: Okii onara - favorite favorite favorite favorite - September 17, 2010

Subject: A lesser known historical sidebar Many of the reviewers of "My Japan" have alluded to the two nuclear attacks as the defining cause of Japan's surrender. Perhaps so, historians differ, but the American planners of the final invasion, "Operation Downfall," plotted without the surety of knowing if the bombs would actually work as hoped.



Concurrently, the Japanese counter-invasion plan, "Operation Ketsugo," called for an organized homeland army of seven million, supported by as many as twelve million partially trained but equally impassioned civilian milita forces. Of these almost twenty million Japanese, four million were positioned in well prepared defensive positions within sixty miles of the selected invasion beaches of southern Kyushu. All in all, a fearsome force.



American casuality estimates covering the initial invasion and one month thereafter ranged from a little less than 200,000 to a high of one million with the accepted consensus being approximately 600,000. Fatality estimates were placed at twenty percent of all of these totals.



Without assurance of nuclear success, what new weapon might the Americans employ to oversome the expected scope of Japanese defense? The answer, certainly never well advertised, lie in chemical agents. Quite obviously, in mid 1945 the 1916-1917 agony of gas warfare at Passchendale and Ypres remained a hideous memory to the populations of all the Allied nations. Nevertheless, in secrecy accelerated production of VX, Serin and other nerve agents commenced and a vast inventory of the less deadly sulfur mustard gases was readied for deployment.



The unexpected end of hostilities posed a significant disposal problem for these chemical agents. An immediate destruction effort was complicated by the onset of the Cold War which suggested there may ultimately be a new enemy for their use. The bombs, miles, shells and rockets containing the gaseous horrors went into protected bunkers on far off Johnston Island and several remote rural sites in the United States.



Perhaps we have seen the light. Through treaty with Russia, successor to the Soviet Union, massive and mutual chemical agent disposal programs started in the first decade of the 21st Century. This week as I drove serenely along I-84 on the shore of the mighty Columbia River from small Hermiston, Oregon toward Portland I once again viewed the hundreds upon hundreds of turf-covered, low-lying dark bunkers buried in the grounds of the Umatilla Army Depot.



If we can believe the forecasts of the US Army Corps of Engineers and the firm with the federal contract for the destruction work, all of the most lethal nerve agents have been destroyed and weapons containing the sulfur mustard compounds are due for total descruction by 2014. So far no leaks, no deaths and no major labor injuries. Similar claims are made for the Russian stockpiles.



A touch of local gallows humor in far eastern Oregon is that that location represents the purest form of democratic freedom of choice. One can select his/her preference ... asphyxiation from the gases at Umatilla or radiation from the residual ground leaching of plutonium at the decommissioned nuclear production complex at Hanford, Washington, twenty miles north.



Onward and upward! - September 17, 2010A lesser known historical sidebar

Reviewer: Ranzerox - favorite - July 28, 2010

Subject: Gullible and so lead astray!!! I cant believe in this day and age so many Americans still fall for the propaganda you are fed each and every day....pearl harbour was a set up, to sway public opinion to enter the war....its common knowledge that the USA was selling arms to the nazi's and the allies at the same time...and still the mighty $$ is the cause of US foreign policy. I would imagine the 'supreme' nation of America could long predict enemy approaching...just as they could see planes flying off course long before a crash. it amazes me how a 'primitive ' middle easterner could hide in a cave in Afghanistan when USA can look up everyone elses ass from space.

TOTAL PROPAGANDA!!!! - July 28, 2010Gullible and so lead astray!!!

Reviewer: doowopbob - favorite - April 17, 2010

Subject: ....What A Phony.... ....Piece Of Crap...Narrator Is Not Japanese..Peter Lorre Was'nt Mr. Moto..Either...Another Lame Government Film..Wake Up..Fools.. - April 17, 2010....What A Phony....

Reviewer: BenWisgay - - February 23, 2010

Subject: Awesome



add me on msn cyclonebmw@ This has got to be the best thing evar cos it like wargasmicadd me on msn cyclonebmw@ hotmail.com BenWisgay -- February 23, 2010Awesome

Reviewer: donwert - favorite favorite favorite favorite - February 1, 2010

Subject: My Japan This is an interesting period piece. It was apparently made in the late spring/early summer of 1945 to prepare Americans for the anticipated

invasion of the Japanese home islands, which was scheduled for November, 1945. One gathers that the script writers reflected government concern that American war fervor might be waning in the wake of Germany's surrender and the devastation

of Japanese cities. The message: the invasion of Japan proper will be a bloody affair, so be ready. It will be like 1000 Iwo Jimas. This fear

is what underlay the decision to drop the atom bombs. It is not hard to understand why.



What's also interesting are the posts. Looks like every right-wing yahoo with a tin foil hat has weighed in. - February 1, 2010My Japan

Reviewer: MikeManners - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - January 10, 2010

Subject: My Japan - The Truth You Do Not Want To Face! I have to laugh at you Liberal Pinheads who moan and weep over the supposed "racism" of this movie. Pathetic.



Fat Man and Little Boy solved the "Japanese Problem" outlined in this War Bonds Drive Film. There was NO other way to deal with a Demonic and Sadistic Enemy.



While the narrator is a tad corny - the Religoious and Political extremism portrayed in this movie is EXACTLY what the Japanese felt in their hearts. They were SERIOUS about what they fought for.





The Japanese felt that their Emperor was DIVINE and the only true "Son of Heaven" - a sort of God Man. They felt it their honor bound duty to bring by FORCE all of the "inferior races" of the world into total subjection to the "Son of Heaven".





We are facing the same thing today with Radical Islamic Fascism. Like the Japanese of WW2 the Islamic Sadists will DIE to bring about a world Islamic State. They are NOT afraid to die to bring about their world view into existence.



Unfortunately we lack the Testicular Fortitude of our Great Grandparents who dealt with the Japanese in the only means that was effective. It is too bad that our Kenyan President of the USA lacks the guts to NUKE Mecca and Medina. - January 10, 2010My Japan - The Truth You Do Not Want To Face!

Reviewer: babysprite - favorite favorite favorite favorite - September 19, 2009

Subject: realistic and disturbing The fighting in Okinawa, Saipan, the Phillipines and Iwo Jima was of such a marked savagery that concerned civilian and military leaders the American people should be forewarned of the expected carnage what might have an invasion of the home islands of the Empire of Japan. babysprite -- September 19, 2009realistic and disturbing

Reviewer: bhikku - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - September 19, 2009

Subject: I agree, this is a good movie I'm writing a thesis on American racism towards Japan but this movie doesn't really fit. The aim of this movie is really just to show how serious the Japanese were about war and the extent of their modernization, and to extinguish racist American "dreaming" of a medieval country with "stupid little savages". The caricature who narrates the film is a little silly but not substantive. bhikku -- September 19, 2009I agree, this is a good movie

Reviewer: Bizr Pix - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - September 18, 2009

Subject: Tokyo Roy Wow. Where to start?



Until 'My Japan', I had never seen an American WWII propaganda film that took this type of approach to shake up the audience. Its clever use of selected footage while listening to the "Japanese" narrator's "Japanese" point of view was designed to promote hatred, boost American enlistment, validate bombing in Japan and increase war funding in one fell swoop.



Then I started reading the posts. While I wasn't shocked as to the volume of posts, I was appalled to see the apparent animosity that a 40s piece was still able to effectively bring to the surface. I observed that the majority of the posters were more interested in berating one another than contributing something pertaining to this film, turning it into a political shouting match. Worse still, I'm not sure some viewers knew the Japanese monologue in 'My Japan' was written by Americans. Pretty sad stuff indeed. Almost as sad as Japanese guy's accent. Apparently he didn't pass YellowFace 101. Didn't he know he was supposed to substitute R's for L's and vice versa instead of using W's? "Kill the Amewicans, Kill the Amewicans..."



I would be interested in knowing how many theaters showed this particular WWII short, and what reaction(s) it provoked. - September 18, 2009Tokyo Roy

Reviewer: bizzyditch - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - August 18, 2009

Subject: It's amazing... how many people watching this don't GET it.



This movie used captured footage from Japan, including pictures of dead babies, massacred prisoners (including one picture that has a decapitated head!), and American POWs who were relentlessly tortured, maimed and killed.



The only thing about this that was remotely cheesy was the Japanese commentator's makeup; the accent could've sounded a bit less Charlie Chan-ish, too.



But it's like a free for all otherwise, this stupid notion that this film is "racist." WHAT is racist about it??



We were at WAR with Japan after Pearl Harbor. The projections of how many americans and japanese civilians would have to die if we island-hopped over YEARS to the Japanese mainland were staggering. Any of these people remotely familiar with the rape of Nanking? The Bataan Death March?



The dopes who think this movie is "racist" are absolutely ignorant of the Japan of the Emperor. They made Islamic terrorists look almost reasonable!



I give the movie five stars for the Japan footage and for how well it put forward its positions that were based in FACT. The vast majority of the info for this movie (which, btw, was a War Bond fundraiser) were TRUE.



There is no other conclusion one could draw, unless one is hopelessly ignorant, or pushing a very predictable political agenda. - August 18, 2009It's amazing...

Reviewer: DanzaSlap - favorite favorite favorite favorite - July 7, 2009

Subject: In rgards to the A-bomb... ...was there not rhetoric coming from Japan that said that every man, woman, and child would fight any invasion force? They asserted that these Japanese citizens would be fighting from each and every home, working to kill any enemy army. Therefore, all citizens of Japan were treated as combatants, based on explicit threats from the Japanese government.



You can't use rhetoric as Japan did and then claim foul when these women and children are dragged into the fighting. - July 7, 2009In rgards to the A-bomb...

Reviewer: see_thats what i mean - - April 1, 2009

Subject: ah i get it now the strongest country in the world? not too sure about that.



i must admit though, it takes some guts to fly ten billion foot up in the air and drop an A-Bomb on a bunch of children.



the dumbest? now there's a thought. - April 1, 2009ah i get it now

Reviewer: fdsayre - favorite favorite favorite favorite - December 7, 2008

Subject: Sure thing yapooza Except Japan regarding the invasion and occupation of China or the Soviets regarding the same of Eastern Europe. I'm not even American and your historical blindness and obvious hatred of the United States insults even me. - December 7, 2008Sure thing yapooza

Reviewer: yapooza - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - September 9, 2008

Subject: "They want Peace? But then we dont get to try these babys out..." No amount of wordplay or statistic juggling can ever justify the atrocities commited by the US in the bombing of civillians and children.



Atrocities were being commited all over the globe during this period, yes war is barbaric.



However nobody has the audacity or sheer inhumanity to even attempt defending such events except the blind nationalists of America.

They parrot statistics and talk of hypothetical lives saved as a result of dropping the atomic bombs. Of course any normal person finds such self-righteous justification to be disgusting, immoral and quite pychopathic in nature.



Remember, soldiers sign up to fight and to die for their countries, unarmed women and children do not. - September 9, 2008"They want Peace? But then we dont get to try these babys out..."

Reviewer: sxh1 - - July 27, 2008

Subject: Resolve I watched this film and one theme kept resonating in my mind. This short was obviously intended to increase the resolve of the American public for further casualties, and perhaps buy a war bond to boot. How strong is American resolve for war today? Apparently, some amping up of our resolve was necessary for WWII but I'm very concerned for our will to fight in the MTV generation. Vietnam obviously weakened our taste for war, to the point where Saddam Hussein was willing to take us on in Gulf War I because he truly believed the US public had no will to fight (he was quoted saying that). After the Iraqi War bogged down, as is the wont generally with complete takeover of any country larger than Grenada, it was simply stunning how quickly many in the American public wanted out (thus proving Saddam's instincts right, albeit he was off on the timing). It appears, unlike the old days, our attention span for war is all too brief. I found the "Japanese" narrator's comments on American softness more relevant today than when this film was made. - July 27, 2008Resolve

Reviewer: Maximara - favorite favorite favorite favorite - November 23, 2007

Subject: Preparation for Operation Downfall The more I watch of this the more I think that is was done more to prepare the public for the causalities of Operation Downfall than to sale bonds despite the fact that it was made by the Treasury.



Many have called the film racist but compared to some of Capra's work (especially Know Your Enemy-Japan) it is surprisingly even handed. It shows the planned invasion of Japan (Operation Downfall) is not going to be easy.



It compares the Japanese people to the English in that destroying the capital did not kill the country. There is even a scene showing kids training to be soldiers-echoing Hitler's use of 12 year old boys in defense of Berlin. It even talks about the US not willing to pay what it will cost in lives to win the war.



No, the more you view this film the more it becomes obvious that this was intended to prepare the US public for the huge causality rates (1 million on the US side alone) that were expected. - November 23, 2007Preparation for Operation Downfall

Reviewer: theschizoidman - favorite favorite favorite - November 3, 2007

Subject: What is disturbing about this short? I've lived in Japan for 15 years, and much of what this story says is true even today. Of course you have to update it, but the points expressed, that Japan is not weak, and that Japan is not made of paper and fragile, and that Japan is not going to just lay down and die are all correct.



The point of the short was to show that Japan is stronger than most Americans and her allies were thinking at that time. Is Japan not a global power economically and militarily? Japan has the largest military in Asia, yes, including China and Korea.



Don't give in to the easy and tempting trap of calling old films propaganda. Compared with the MTV/Moore/Gore stuff that calls itself documentary, these government shorts are flawless!



BTW, not a month goes by when nationalist black trucks w/ rising sun flags and loudspeakers and imperial uniformed men aren't making a day-long protest at Tokyo or Shinjuku station.



It is no coincidence that the rest of Asia feels no anger toward the U.S. and use of the atomic bomb. It is no coinicidence that each year as Japan mourns its dead in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that the rest of Asia does not drown out the crying with cries of anger toward Japan. (the western press never reports that part, of course.)



If those who label this as untrue are serious they need to study history A LOT more, and that goes for whoever wrote the caption. Study Bataan where Japanese soldiers practiced katana skills on prisoners for fun, Study Okinawa, where Japanese civilians were forced to commit suicide or face the bayonette of the Japanese military. Study Harbin where Chinese civilians were experimented on, limbs amputated and sewn back on different people or in different places, where animal limbs were sewn on to replace their own, where humans stripped naked and hosed down w/ cold water in sub zero weather then watched as their own limbs, frozen solid, were shattered like glass when 'doctors' struck them with hammers. Study Nanjing, where tens of thousands were 'recruited' to serve as prostitutes, slaves, targets, biological guinnea pigs, Study the Comfort Women of Korea, of China, of Singapore, of the Phillipines, Study how even to this day, November 2, 2007, the more than 10, 000 korean slaves held in Hiroshima who were also killed along with the Japanese are not permitted to have their names listed along with Japanese dead. In fact, no mention of them is permitted within the city limits.



How disturbing is this short now? - November 3, 2007What is disturbing about this short?

Reviewer: Colebebop - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - October 7, 2007

Subject: Unbelievable Most of the people who whine and pontificate constantly about how evil the United States is do so only because they erroneously believe that it gives them a sense of omnipotence and a measure of self righteousness. And of course, it is fashionable to do so...



None of the silly, half-baked horse hockey like Adhish puts forth in his post can be substantiated in any way, shape or form. At best, it is nothing more than obtuse opinion that is anchored in a psychological longing to be recognized as an authority on something... anything - a "guru" complex. I would suggest that before anyone gets tempted to write such bilge that they first obtain concrete evidence to back up their views... not third-hand hearsay they picked up from MTV or Britney Spears.



The world is what it is. You can lie on your back and kick your feet, scream and cry like a baby and human nature will never change. Those of you who think they are the high voice of right and reason when they talk conspiracy theory and other anti U.S. crap don't realize how cheap words are. Back up your gripes with genuine evidence... and if you can prove your case, have the courage of your convictions and follow it up with REAL action... or keep your teeth closed.



This movie served it's purpose when it was made and there is nothing that can be done about. - October 7, 2007Unbelievable

Reviewer: du2vye - favorite favorite favorite favorite - July 12, 2007

Subject: Wow This film is so blatantly telling the public how they should be thinking that it's hilarious! And it's sad when compared to the spoon fed messages were now getting for half the world - muslims, jews, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexicans, on and on and on... Haven't we learned anything? - July 12, 2007Wow

Reviewer: Adhish - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - May 12, 2007

Subject: StunnedandAmazed... your narrow-mindedness is appalling... Actually, AlexJonesLemming is quite astute about the war.



The Japanese did indeed agree BEFORE the a-bombs were dropping to surrender... on the condition that they could keep their emperor.



The emperor himself was their god, but still just a figurehead. But the U.S. wanted an UNCONDITIONAL surrender... How much would it have cost the U.S. to agree? Not much... in fact, it would have saved them 2 a-bombs and a lot of lives.



The a-bomb was indeed dropped as a means of intimidating the Soviet Union. Truman had just come in as president, and, uninformed about Roosevelt's ongoing funding to the development of the a-bomb, had to be quickly briefed on the project and the implications of its use. Thus, when it came to crunch time, there were several options: demonstrate the bomb to the Japanese in America or in the jungles of Japan, warn the Japanese before using it, attack only military bases, attack civilian centers, use both bombs, use one bomb, etc. Eventually, Truman (the uneducated hick he was) decided to use it. And it did indeed intimidate the Soviet Union. They started to work frantically on developing their own shortly afterwards.



And remember Potsdam, where Truman had just been informed of the success of Trinity? He was bragging to Stalin about it. If that's not intimidation, I don't know what is.



Why wouldn't American industrialists finance Nazis? If they support the enemy secretly, the U.S. has more need to join the war, and the eventual effect is heavy reliance on American industry in the war effort.



But Rockefeller actually supported Nazis because of their euthanasia/sterilization of the elderly campaign.



I haven't heard about the last point, about U.S. leaders knowing about Pearl Harbor before it happened, but it sounds very likely. The U.S. needed an excuse to break out of its isolationist shell and Pearl Harbor was the perfect excuse. After all, wars stimulate rapid industrial growth, as well as medical growth. Penicillin was used copiously during the war, and promoted more research and eventually nobel-prize winning discoveries and inventions related to it.



StunnedandAmazed, you illustrate your obvious lack of knowledge of historiography when you cite simply one source for all of your conservative beliefs, and demonstrate how you allow yourself to be indoctrinated by a single viewpoint. You treat books as propaganda yourself, ironically enough.



All of the facts that AlexJonesLemming stated are compiled from various sources, National Archives, several primary sources and secondary sources, data, declassified CIA documents, etc. In other words, a wide variety of sources.



~ Adhish - May 12, 2007StunnedandAmazed... your narrow-mindedness is appalling...

Reviewer: StunnedAndAmazed - favorite favorite favorite - April 3, 2007

Subject: Racism in WWII If you look at the most brutal, inhuman aspects of WWII, I do not see anyone can help but recognize how huge a factor racism was in making it that way. We viewed Japanese as an inferior race in which everyone wore glasses as thick as coke bottle bottoms, had buck teeth, technically inept etc. etc.

The Japanese on the other hand felt the were superior to all other races, after all they were the only people on the planet who had a living deity for a ruler.

The Japanese military actually made a conscious decision indoctrinate their troops in this way as a way after WWI. During their military expansion between the wars they saw this as the best way to maintain the very highest level of discipline and obedience. There was the Emperor, then their officers, then their NCOs then the enlisted men. It was not at all unusual for an NCO to beat an enlisted man viciously for even very minor infractions. All Non-Japanese persons were lower in the pecking order than the average Japanese soldier, so they felt perfectly justified do what ever they wanted to with them without a thought of remorse.



The same level of racial hatred existed on the eastern front in Europe as well.



There is no doubt that we backed Japan in a corner with our embargo of oil and steel. They did not even have the resources to run a peace time economy, much less feed a massive war machine, but we were not willing to accept their occupation of China and Manchuria, and they felt like we were trying to deny the right of Asians to govern Asia.



It still amazes me though; 62 years after the war ended how we can all look at, and study the history of that conflict and come up with so many different conclusions to the whys and wherefores of what took place and where is right and wrong?



I have a book to recommend to any of you who would care to read it. It’s called Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire by Richard B. Frank. It’s an analysis of the last 6 month of the Pacific war.



As for me, my opinion is that if we had not dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki there would not be much of a Japanese people left. If the US had had to invade Japan and fight the type of battles that we fought on Peleliu, Iwo Jima and Okinawa there would have been wholesale slaughter of the Japanese people and the ones that were not killed by US weapons would have most likely fallen victim to the starvation.



I highly recommend this book to you especially AlexJonesLemming. I have no idea where you got your facts, but I doubt any of it would hold up to scrutiny.



StunnedAndAmazed - April 3, 2007Racism in WWII

Reviewer: prop - favorite favorite favorite favorite - January 8, 2007

Subject: We never learn... The reasons behind Japan's expansion include the country's insatiable appetite for natural resources including steel & petroleom products due to it's massive industrialization. While it's methods may have been wrong, the fuse was lit with the U.S.'s embargo of the items mentioned above. The inciderary bombings of Tokyo & Yokohama killed far more people than the Atomic Bombs & had a greater effect, much earlier. Of course, I'm only second hand info... My mom used to cremate bodies ( "colatteral damage" ) on the roadside with corrugated roofing in Yokohama. By the way, they don't burn, they're suffocated by the lack of Oxygen. Industrialization & insatiable appetite. Hmmm. Sounds like China... Wait, the US! We never learn. - January 8, 2007We never learn...

Reviewer: Tom Mulroney - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - July 17, 2006

Subject: Very Interesting Piece of History Very effective I am sure given the tenor of the times in which it was produced. It's easy to look back on it and see how over the top it is, but on the other hand, if one attempts to place oneself during those momentous, harrowing and pivotal times, it probably seemed very accurate and real as to how people were feeling. I for one am glad the war concluded as it did without the loss of God knows how many more American lives. Japan got what it asked for. - July 17, 2006Very Interesting Piece of History

Reviewer: AlexJonesLemming - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - July 11, 2006

Subject: More History Certainly the Japanese imperialists were capable of the same ruthlessness as any imperialists, including the USA.



But facts behind the war:

1. The Japanese WERE 90% thru negotiations for peace. They had had several cities scorched and only wanted to keep their symbolic Emperor. A *nearly* unconditional surrender. If totally unconditional was so important, they probably would have gone there ... no choice.



2. The A-bomb was dropped as a psyop against Russia, and like all wars, against ALL of us, against Americans too.



3. US Elite ruling class HEAVILY financed Hitler, to the point that the National Socialists would never have come to power without the help and direction of Rockefeller, et. al. This et. al. includes people like Allen Dulles, Under Sec of State at one point, NY investment attorney, and future CIA director. It also includes one of his partners, George Herbert Walker, and Walker's son-in-law Prescott Bush in the role of "go-fer" for a Nazi money-laundering operation.



4. US leaders ABSOLUTELY KNEW about the pending Japanese attack, down to the hour. This is not a Left Wing fantasy. As a matter of fact, I first heard it on a Libertarian talk show, PhilipDru, by a friendly Birchite, G. Edward Griffin. - July 11, 2006More History

Reviewer: neutralist - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - May 27, 2006

Subject: The war against Japan from the US perspective

Most poeple will judge the film to be either racist/propagandist or the other extreme of absolutely correct in portrayal of the Japanese war machine. I am forced to agree that both sides are probably correct from my viewpoint.

The Japanese treated all the peoples that they conquered brutally (

This sort of conduct perhaps was necessary to win the war but should not be looked upon as either savory or as an ideal. This film was like the war should perhaps be viewed as an necessary evil. After seeing this movie, I agree that it is truly a masterpiece of propaganda for good and ill.Most poeple will judge the film to be either racist/propagandist or the other extreme of absolutely correct in portrayal of the Japanese war machine. I am forced to agree that both sides are probably correct from my viewpoint.The Japanese treated all the peoples that they conquered brutally ( e.g . Rape of Nanking, comfort women, hideous biological experiments on prisoners of war and innocent civilians, and general rape, mutilation, humiliation and cannabilism). Most of this are documented by various organisations but ware generally ignored by Westerners. On the other hand, in order to fight such evil (at the time), usually the protagonist (in this case, the US) would have to resort to levels at least approaching that evil (internment camps/Japanese as subhumans: "...the Jap is a short myophic, buck-toothed runt...")This sort of conduct perhaps was necessary to win the war but should not be looked upon as either savory or as an ideal. This film was like the war should perhaps be viewed as an necessary evil. - May 27, 2006The war against Japan from the US perspective

Reviewer: Delineate - favorite favorite favorite favorite - May 5, 2006

Subject: Interesting Snap-shot



What I thought was interesting was the white guy pretending to be a smarmy Japanese antagonist. Similar to the Tokyo Rose character the Japanese used to try and de-moralize our troops in the field. I thought the presentation was humorous.



Another point, off topic, that I would like to bring up is this:



Every post I read in this thread, posted by self-proclaimed mavens of intellect, consistently use the same, weak, ad homonym tactic by using words



Their talking points all seem to be parroted from one person to the other with no real original thought, offered solution, or useful information.



And these people profess to be "progressive?"



Food for thought. As a graphic designer I found this film to be an interesting snap-shot of history and the way our government used marketing during WWII. A seemingly necessary campaign to sell war bonds regardless of the tactic. I will not go into an arguement on the politics of this film due to the time period it was produced, although some have tried to parallel 1945 with 2006. I will not.What I thought was interesting was the white guy pretending to be a smarmy Japanese antagonist. Similar to the Tokyo Rose character the Japanese used to try and de-moralize our troops in the field. I thought the presentation was humorous.Another point, off topic, that I would like to bring up is this:Every post I read in this thread, posted by self-proclaimed mavens of intellect, consistently use the same, weak, ad homonym tactic by using words i.e ., red state, redneck, hillbilly, neo-con, etc., to convey some kind of all-knowing superiority over those of us that do not fall within their political or ideological view.Their talking points all seem to be parroted from one person to the other with no real original thought, offered solution, or useful information.And these people profess to be "progressive?"Food for thought. - May 5, 2006Interesting Snap-shot

Reviewer: SnowmanF - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - April 20, 2006

Subject: Where would I begin... I could sincerely write a decent sized book in response to this and the often times inane comments written here, but, where to begin?



Rather than make people cringe at posting such a long story, I'll try to make a few points only...



I'll preface this by making my position clear: I have no side, I have friend in both the US and Japan and would hold myself to be one of the few who is really non-partisan in this case.



1. This was propoganda and people have to see it for what it is. Its also made a long time ago! You'd think people would know this since its dated, but, from some of the comments I begin to wonder. Every body did this kind of stuff. The British made some equally bad stuff about Germans, and vice versa, in both WW's. [see also point 3]



2. World perceptions of Japan.

Nowadays we see Japan as a big economy. According to usual measures it was the second largest until Europe started calling itself a single economy and took 1st place from the US. Back then, despite all that had happened, most people including governments perceived Japan as no more threat than say Thailand or Fiji. I believe this was a very big problem for the American government of the day... hence this particular film. We often like to "bag" american governments for their failure to perceive or learn from history but, for once, they got it right, in that sense. Its interesting to note that earlier in 1904 another then "self proclimed" world leader made the same mistake. I'm not going to say who [see point 4] but, they thought they'd boost citizen morale by kicking ass on this "little pretender" only to get their own kicked instead. Suffice to say that within less than two decades those leaders were all gone and mostly executed [that might give it away].



3. The ultimate question about the nature of war.

This is the real question in fact and it is probably the explanation as to why most comments and indeed reviewers themselves appear polarized. Lets look at history again. Not that much earlier, in historical terms, European wars were fought to rules. I mean can you believe all these people lining up to fight as if it was a game, all waiting for the agreed time to start! At some point war took a change and peple realized that to lose meant more than just losing a fight. WWI introduced the masses to some appalling modern war things, not the least because it was so much in the new media. Anyway, to get to the point before I make this a min-essay... is anything justified in war since losing can mean losing more than just a bit of territory? If not, where DO we draw the line? AS I said before, I beleive this is what polarizes opinions and people.



4. For goodness sake people, if you dont have any hitorical knowledge, do some reading before posting knee-jerk reactions! It would also help to think first too! :) There are so many ridiculous comments here I would need pages to address them all.



5. Okay I'll try to stop with this one.

One of the worst errors on both sides is the conclusion that the acts of goverments, whoevers, reflects the acts, ideas, thoughts... etc of the people. With all the acces we have to knowledge nowadays which people then did not, you would think we would know better than to still believe that nonsense. For example, and this is just an example I'm not taking sides as it applies equally to all, the remarks about the Japanese PEOPLE are inane. Back then they had very little say in what was done for both reasons of law [fear of arrest] and perception [brainwashing by propoganda and limited access to knowledge]. Even today, the government there continues to edit history so most ordinary people dont even know a fraction of what we know about the historical events. Again I could do another essay on that one but I wont.



I better stop here or I'm gonna need a blog for this subject, haha!



Regards



SnowmanF - April 20, 2006Where would I begin...

Reviewer: Max Grody - favorite favorite favorite favorite - April 12, 2006

Subject: What great stuff... If this was current, I would ask myself why I would be watching this, or what the point is.



But, as a look back, its totally fascinating.



Figures the dumb lib below would equate it to conservatism. They make anything into a political statement.



Though this guy is obviously an American, and probably white, it's a great play on the Japanese, and an actual view point of many non-Americans at the time. From what we portrayed abroad, most of the world thought Americans were sluggish, ignorant playboys, because those who visited abroad were rich boys with little drive. In the American backbone were the earnest, moral, hard working average Joe that rolled over on europe and Asia with the help of the American industrialist. We were then, as always, very under estimated. An understandable perception, though.



This film makes no pretense, it states what it is up front - a government film about how Japanese thought of us. And it was true. Just read histories about Japan in the war. Sure, not all thought it, but it was the public perception at the time. So while propaganda, it isn't that far off. I've seen far worse. - April 12, 2006What great stuff...

Reviewer: MichelleLynn - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - April 5, 2006

Subject: Sounds A Lot Like Conservative Americans Today Isn't that the attitude of Con-Ams too, then and now? "We are sooo better than you. Everyone else is stupid & evil, but we're the good guys."



I think the dead babies, executions, headless torso shots mixed in with White American soldiers who lost limbs was especially effective. So was the "We live & dedicate our lives to kill Americans" crap. Our government today has painted the entire Middle-East as terrorists who live to kill Americans. Ain't it funny how some things never change?



For those who didn't quite catch the racism in this, what exactly were you hoping for? Racial slurs and such? I guess you were really disappointed then.



As a bleeding-heart liberal, I propose we round up all the cons, drop them off on a deserted island somewhere with boxes full of guns and bibles. We'll check back in a couple years to see if there are any survivors left. - April 5, 2006Sounds A Lot Like Conservative Americans Today

Reviewer: MikeD2000 - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - November 30, 2005

Subject: Good footage. Bad reviews. Excellent archive and footage. I don't understand why offhand the site considered it 'racist' or why that is even relevant to call out. The 'Japanese' narrator seemed more like poor acting to me, but that was the style of the day (poor acting that is). Also, why is it even important to call that out? It is an historical look at a war time film. Seems like too many people are trained like rats to worry about what is racist and what isn't. It is what it is and people will decide for themselves how they view it. - November 30, 2005Good footage. Bad reviews.

Reviewer: BleedingHeartLiberal - favorite favorite favorite - November 29, 2005

Subject: McCarthy Was Trash He really should have been fried. I love it when these redneck hillbillies use the term 'bleeding heart liberal'. They apply it to anyone with half a brain that doesn't belive all the crap the administration tries to feed us with. These are the same clowns that actually brainwash their children into believing in god and jesus christ. I cannot imagine how people could be so damned stupid. Well, time to clean the barrel of my bleeding heart liberal .357 - November 29, 2005McCarthy Was Trash

Reviewer: TexasTechie - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - November 23, 2005

Subject: One of the better War Films - My Japan Excellent for it's genre. I see some more critical reviews and wish to remind the viewer that this is/was total war. It was the Japanese in the unprovoked attack on the US. I see some Monday morning quarter-backing arguing against the use of cinema in this fashion. But there was no TV, FM radio, satelittes or internet. A message had to be conveyed and this was one way to do it. We have somehow, elevated, ourselves to be above a unified message or unified effort to win a war. This film is a throw-back, granted, but it should remind us that there is nothing wrong with despising an enemy. It is meant to portray the enemy in a bad light. We are not supposed to give them "equal time" to state their case. They are murderers and thugs. Enjoy the film for what it is/was. A great view on a ruthless enemy. - November 23, 2005One of the better War Films - My Japan

Reviewer: jonta - favorite favorite - November 4, 2005

Subject: Beware Governments Worst fake Japanese accent EVER!



Like this and many other propaganda films, the lesson to be learned here is that all government propaganda should be looked at as suspect. The Japanese government is guilty of duping its own people during WWII for the benefit of those in power. Even now the Japanese government is trying to suppress history by editing textbooks and striking historical records.



We Americans should consider this and look at our own government with equal skepticism.



This is why a free and independent press is essential to democracy and human rights. Someone needs to be able to watch over government action without fear of retribution or starvation. Support your independent news sources. - November 4, 2005Beware Governments

Reviewer: Koganite - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - November 1, 2005

Subject: An interesting method of war propaganda



A few things I would like to point out:



1. This was a great example



2. This is a departure from the common propaganda tactic of the time, including strategies still used today by the US and other countries. Usually the method isglook at these inhuman monsters, they savage and



3. On the subject of making Japan look perfectly capable, they also made the country itself look perfectly functional and civilized (at least domestically.) Especially in anti-German propaganda, the imagery usually made the enemy country look like an establishing shot of George Orwellfs 1984. Japan was under an authoritarian government at the time, but they didnft really depict the nation as internally very bad, or at least not as bad as the Germans. Why do you suppose that is?



These are what caught my attention. I'm not even going to touch on who did what then or now. My interests are purely in the how and why of media and propaganda. This piece is very atypical for the time, both in propaganda method and a little bit in its production. I highly recommend this to anyone who has an interest in American propaganda. As a media studies student, I think this video was fascinating. It was a very broad departure from typical American WWII propaganda methods. I wonder how well it worked for the war bond effort?A few things I would like to point out:1. This was a great example ofgyellow-face.h Just as it was used in minstrelsy and blackface, a common tactic of Hollywood in the 40s and 50fs was to use white actors painted up and trained togsound Asian. This was done for many reasons, sometimes it was because many studios/crews/actors refused to work with minorities, or sometimes they were worried about the audience reaction. My question is, since this was claimed to begcaptured Japanese footageh and a realgview of what they think,h why didn't they use an actual Asian actor? There had to have been an Asian in America who disliked the Japanese and was willing to do it. It would have added a much deeper level of authenticity to drive the point home. Any thoughts on what their motivation to use a Caucasian actor might have been?2. This is a departure from the common propaganda tactic of the time, including strategies still used today by the US and other countries. Usually the method isglook at these inhuman monsters, they savage and mindless.h This reel takes a very different strategy. It's more of a taunt than anything. To me it sounds likeglook how capable and ready we Japanese are. Just try and fight us.h I personally think they used this strategy because the goal was to sell war bonds and not recruit fighters. They needed to make the Japanese look perfectly capable to establish that we were not being thegpolice of the world,h but that the Japanese were fighting to win, and thus the public needs to buy war bonds to counter. Anyone else have any ideas about why they took this route?3. On the subject of making Japan look perfectly capable, they also made the country itself look perfectly functional and civilized (at least domestically.) Especially in anti-German propaganda, the imagery usually made the enemy country look like an establishing shot of George Orwellfs 1984. Japan was under an authoritarian government at the time, but they didnft really depict the nation as internally very bad, or at least not as bad as the Germans. Why do you suppose that is?These are what caught my attention. I'm not even going to touch on who did what then or now. My interests are purely in the how and why of media and propaganda. This piece is very atypical for the time, both in propaganda method and a little bit in its production. I highly recommend this to anyone who has an interest in American propaganda. - November 1, 2005An interesting method of war propaganda

Reviewer: sp_audio - favorite favorite favorite - October 31, 2005

Subject: malarky What's up with the warning about this film? This is history, like it or not, not some KKK recruiting film. Let us not forget who created this film, along with many more during WWII - yes its those bleeding heart liberals in HOLLYWOOD. The same ones that McCarthy went after in the 50's, and who many liberals hold up as icons of public morality even to this day. I think its time to WAKE UP people. Even during WWII, people didn't believe all this muck, it was entertainment played before and after a feature film. NO ONE is as blind as you think they are ... we are not sheep out here!!!! - October 31, 2005malarky

Reviewer: Ja30fitz - favorite favorite - July 30, 2005

Subject: Not as good as I thought it would be I honestly found this film to be repetitive and boring. It wasn't as good as I expected it would be- but see it for yourself, you may enjoy it... - July 30, 2005Not as good as I thought it would be

Reviewer: MeinGolem - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - July 18, 2005

Subject: Hardly Racist I thought this was a very interesting film. It takes a huge departure from the typical anti-Japanese propaganda, depicting the "Japs" or "Nips" as buck toothed and spectacle clad. The narrator instantly dismisses this notion.



In fact, I have trouble seeing how this is called racist at all. Keep in mind a couple of things. First, the government's motivation to appeal to the public so was a genuine fear and appal of the Japanese government and citizenry. This is all after a 10+ year pattern of terrible attrocities, conquest, and horrifying POW treatment. While the film can certainly not speak for every man, woman, and child that lived in Japan, its implication that /all/ citizens work so hard and hate Americans so much is hyperbole, not racism. Many object to the choice of narrator. Remember that cinema at this early point didn't care so much for accurate casting. It wasn't uncommon for Italians to play Arabs and put on similarly cheesey accents. The context and message make it clear that this is a scripted event. The choice was considered "close enough" at the time, and demonstrates historical trends, not racial bigotry. The film also makes no presumption or statement upon the attitudes, feelings, or actions of those of Japanese descent living in America.



That said, I thought this was an interesting film. Some points were obviously exagerated for influence, and I wonder how they must have seemed to a contemporary viewer. There are a few disturbing frames, such as execution shots and decapitated heads. The line about Japanese waiting for hours in line to buy war bonds came off as a bit heavy handed.



Finally, I must address the review that stated that though the Japanese government commanded cruelty and genocide, the true crime is for us to submit to a hasty generalization of the Japanese. I'm forced to disagree; the true crime is genocide. I hope this was fecetious. - July 18, 2005Hardly Racist

Reviewer: cmfb - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - June 21, 2005

Subject: Very Interesting This has got to be the best comments board I've seen here on Prelinger.



It's good to read some of these comments below and be reminded of why Dubya got back into office. The fact that these eggheads still exist just stuns me. Out there in the nowhere lands of the red states, where humans can't congregate in numbers large enough to form a genuine understanding of world events, these backwoods sentiments still rule... thanks for the reminder. - June 21, 2005Very Interesting

Reviewer: 40_insane_Frogs - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - June 17, 2005

Subject: So much to be learnt from the past... This was a very disturbing film and it clearly points out the dreadful nature of propaganda. At best it (other movies of its ilk) should serve as a sure wake-up call to not only Post 9/11 Americans but to everyone in the world.



As a South African, Im well aware of race-based propaganda as its insidious use under Apartheid South Africa was frequent and used to great effect against black South Africans, and to entrench stereotypes amongst the various ethnic groups. - June 17, 2005So much to be learnt from the past...

Reviewer: garlic frog - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - May 26, 2005

Subject: it works where can i buy some of those war bonds, folks?..

Propaganda can only be regarded as such. - May 26, 2005it works

Reviewer: Frinkiac7 - favorite - May 22, 2005

Subject: All you need to know about the Japanese (aka the enemy) How many fingers do pseudo-japanese men have?

Hey isnt that the bridge that Monet painted, how they moved it from France to Japan I'd like to know.

The very mountains of the earth itself command all Japanese to rule. I wonder why they havent yet - May 22, 2005All you need to know about the Japanese (aka the enemy)

Reviewer: Rebo Valence - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - April 17, 2005

Subject: Chilling It's strange - you'd expect from the introduction, with the obvious caucasian man made up to look Japanese, that this will be an utter rascist crapfest, along the lines of "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips". But his first lines are to laugh at the prominent American stereotype of the time depicting the Japanese as buck-toothed, glasses sporting sub-humans. What we get instead is a look at people who are quite human - and an enemy that was more than willing to throw away their lives in the belief of divinity of their imperial government. Instead, this film attempts to gear the populace up for the reality of a Japanese land invasion. The only staged piece of film is the introduction - the rest is actual footage from WWII, being narrated with a rather bad Japanese accent. Much of what you see here is actually true, sadly. The atrocities in Japanese POW camps are well documented. The extreme, terrifying loyalty they felt to their government as it moved forward in it's conquest is also sadly true (just ask the Chinese or the Koreans). As this was filmed before the infamous Hiroshima and Nagasaki incidents, the reality at the time that many Americans faced was a bloody war on the Japanese mainland. The narrator rightfully points out that the soldiers could hide anywhere and attack at any time - as soldiers making landfall on occupied territories in the Pacific learned.



The only part that made me laugh from cheesiness was the perky fanfare playing encouraging you to buy war bonds after the film has been scaring you to death.



People watching this with closed eyes, or even using it as an excuse for their own prejudices are sadly ignorant of the truths this film portrays of some of the most uncertain hours of WWII. While we are now allies with Japan, back then they were a feared enemy. Pick up a history book and you'll find the same sentiments echoed, only without the goofy narration to convince today's viewers that it was an exaggerated propaganda piece. Imperial Japan was a fearsome force during WWII, and today even the Japanese have openly denounced their government at the time (though sadly they have yet to apologize for their actions in Asia.)



The film tells you "This is what ALL Japanese think." An exaggeration, yes. But so iron-handed was their Imperial government that it didn't matter what it's people thought - even their own religion was part of the state. To them, it wasn't the emperor, but the kami making the decrees (part of the reason why so many Japanese are now atheists).



Yes, the US has comitted atrocities in wars. That does not mean other countries get a free pass in history because they give us anime and pocky. The world must examined with realistic eyes - both the positives and the darkest parts of history. - April 17, 2005Chilling

Reviewer: mjwise - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - April 10, 2005

Subject: Not as racist as advertised Sure, the narrator is a (not very well) made-up caucasian man speaking with an affected accent, but I find it considerably less offensive, than, say, Mickey Rooney's portrayal of the Japanese landlord in Breakfast at Tiffany's, which is actually more what I expected out of this film at first. It actually does debunk the sillier, outdated notions of Japan, that no doubt still existed in many people's minds and show the militaristic mindset that did by an large exist in imperial Japanese government.



This film was clearly intended to drum up confidence for what was then thought to be an almost certain bloody battle on mainland Japan. There's no hint of the Manhattan Project here, folks. And who knows how bloody and totally destructive such an invasion would have been, on both sides. Thankfully, we never had to find out.



I find it amusing (and a source of consternation) that so many people here find the horrible, realistic war images shown here racist and too violent or whatever, yet they also decry it whenever propaganda films pretty up war into a big patriotic jingoistic happy fun time of glory. And these terrible images may well have played out in the case that the invasion had gone forward. And the film is almost prophetic in its vision of asymmetric and guerilla warfare ("...to dig millions of us out of caves, gullies, buildings, mountains") that played out in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq in the decades that followed.



Folks, just lower the gain on your hypersensitivity meters for a little bit when you watch it. Racist? Sure, it's a war film. Propaganda? You bet -- that's what it was designed to be. But actually more honest than most I've seen, willing to tell its intended audience what could have well happened without the a-bomb. - April 10, 2005Not as racist as advertised

Reviewer: Karma Hawk - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - April 9, 2005

Subject: the definitive propaganda film This is an EXTREMELY RACIST, movie that is narated by what is obviouly an american actor pretending to be Japanese, that alone would seem extremely hokey in any other movie, but here we are bombarded by so many images of explosions, people being shot and other war atrocities that it is almost effetive. It is important to note that this film was made simply to anger up Americans, this is not a film explaining anything with rational thought instead it's a film that will leave a dark stain on U.S history. It gets 5 stars, not for camp or cheese or even humor, it gets 5 stars because for what it does it does extremely effective. This is a very hard film to watch but a notable piece of history. so only watch it if you can handle it. - April 9, 2005the definitive propaganda film

Reviewer: hart noecker - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - February 2, 2005

Subject: riga4me The thing that makes me feel good about RIGA4ME is knowing that, eventually, everyone has to die. - February 2, 2005riga4me

Reviewer: robot23 - favorite favorite favorite favorite - February 2, 2005

Subject: must see good example of how the establishment brainwashes the fearful ignorant masses into commiting atrocities. - February 2, 2005must see

Reviewer: DJ Drugless - favorite favorite - January 17, 2005

Subject: Nobody Wins In War The USA was not immunme to its share of attrocities in WW2. Since 9-11 America is prone to persecute anyone who thinks or looks different than the "typical" whitebread John Q. Public. This is the kind of attitude that allowed Hitler to come to power. There is no room for ANY kind of "isms" in the twenty first century. If we don't learn from our history, we are doomed to repeat it. - January 17, 2005Nobody Wins In War

Reviewer: RESS - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - January 15, 2005

Subject: ... Buy War Bonds - January 15, 2005...

Reviewer: Desert Tumbleweed - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - January 11, 2005

Subject: Oh.....Welcome to Mai Japan.... This film is a must see, it is both brilliant and captures the mindset of the Japanses During World War II. - January 11, 2005Oh.....Welcome to Mai Japan....

Reviewer: riga4me - favorite - January 11, 2005

Subject: Remember the rape of Nanking When the bomb dropped, it didn't kill enough of those Japs. Remember how they treated our POW's? I thought not. You liberals still have your heads up your ass. As for the Japs they still will not admitt to the rape of Nanking. So go and buy a fucking Toyota and stick it you your ass. If that doesn't do for you, let me know where you live and we can have a one on one.

Semper Fi - January 11, 2005Remember the rape of Nanking

Reviewer: riga4me - favorite - January 11, 2005

Subject: Remember the rape of Nanking When the bomb dropped, it didn't kill enough of those Japs. Remember how they treated our POW's? I thought not. You liberals still have your heads up your ass. As for the Japs they still will not admitt to the rape of Nanking. So go and buy a fucking Toyota and stick it you your ass. If that doesn't do for you, let me know where you live and we can have a one on one.

Semper Fi - January 11, 2005Remember the rape of Nanking

Reviewer: georgeWbush - favorite favorite favorite - December 30, 2004

Subject: please spare us your redneck sentiments that japanese were american too seem too elude mr "historians for truth". that japanese were interned in concentration camps along the west coast you have no notion of.



also you seem to forget the 522nd field artillery battalion.



you complain about liberal americabashers yet you are the prime cause for such sentiments.



historian? dont make me laugh. - December 30, 2004please spare us your redneck sentiments

Reviewer: Historian's for the Truth - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - December 6, 2004

Subject: America Hating Libs have made it here, too..... Fact is the film is dead-on accurate regarding the mindset of Japanese during the war.



Read kokutai no hongi, shimmin no michi or any other militarist Japanese propoganda.



(I agree though, the comments directed towards Americans in this film are indeed quite racist.) Historian's for the Truth -- December 6, 2004America Hating Libs have made it here, too.....

Reviewer: MediaWhore - favorite favorite favorite favorite - December 1, 2004

Subject: Turning Japanese Gotta love the Japanese narrator of this film with his thick accent. This film was cleverly made where we are led to view WWII through the eyes of the Japanese(no pun intended). We see just how powerfull their army really is and how their people are willing to give many more sacrifices and go to much more extremes to win this war. We Americans are left to feel as if whatever we are currently doing to win this war (planting victory gardens, conserving gas, etc..) is not enough. That is percisely the point of the film and we see a war bonds announcement at the end encouraging Americans to donate even more. It should be noted that this film is extremely graphic in parts and dismembered bodies are pointedly shown. Toward the end of the film our Japanese narrator announces "By all means come visit Japan, if you dare, after all it is beautifull here. As beautifull as the sight of your blood on our bayonets!". - December 1, 2004Turning Japanese

Reviewer: Korhend - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - November 15, 2004

Subject: Motivating This film works, too well. It really gives faith in the japanese war machine, so much so that I laughed out loud when I saw the war bonds ad at the end. - November 15, 2004Motivating

Reviewer: Dead$y - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - July 15, 2004

Subject: cold-blooded hindsight If you watch this film and are cognizant of its appeal to pathos through occasional illogic, then cheers to you. however, there is a definite danger in imposing our modern sensibilities upon such material. The Japanese leadership at the time was capable of cruelty and genocide, but the true crime is for us to believe the hasty generalization that "all them sandal wearin' goldfish tenders" were (or are)the same. (please read the above quote with an affected bucolic accent...insert 'dueling banjos' in the background if desired) - July 15, 2004cold-blooded hindsight

Reviewer: esalkin - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - May 31, 2004

Subject: Review of the Reviews





Now for a little history lesson.



For 20 years the people of America had been watching the "Japs" ("Japs" is to "Japaneese" what "Nazi" is to "German.") rape and pillage their way across Asia. Then while still at "peace" with the US they wipped out our entire Pacific Fleet leaving the West Coast undefended.

These people were scared. Were their little girls to be next to raped with a "Jap" bayonnette? Were their sons and brothers to be executed? Their Grandparents used for target practice? It had happened all across Asia and now they were headed to the US. Those people were scared beyond anything you can even imagine. Don't believe me? See:



If you can get beyond the PC "America is evil" point of view for just a few minutes. Look at the film again through their eyes.



My point is not that this film is right, clearly there are many flaws and outright errors in the facts, fears and conclusions. My point is that unless welearn something about our own flaws, the film has taught us nothing.







B.T.W. One of my best friends growing up was half Japaneese. I have the greatest respect for good people regardless of their nationality and no respect for anyone who thinks they are better or more deserving than anyone else. It is amazing how many of these reviews slam the people of WWII America without having a clue. They paint with the same broad brush the film employs, have the same "I'm better than them" attitude, and cry about the filimmaker's failure to consider the cultural differences while expecting the filmmakers to think with 21st century mind. Oh, the words and subjects may change but the intollerance never does.Now for a little history lesson.For 20 years the people of America had been watching the "Japs" ("Japs" is to "Japaneese" what "Nazi" is to "German.") rape and pillage their way across Asia. Then while still at "peace" with the US they wipped out our entire Pacific Fleet leaving the West Coast undefended.These people were scared. Were their little girls to be next to raped with a "Jap" bayonnette? Were their sons and brothers to be executed? Their Grandparents used for target practice? It had happened all across Asia and now they were headed to the US. Those people were scared beyond anything you can even imagine. Don't believe me? See: http://www.tribo.org/nanking/ and remember the Japaneese people have NEVER even though about apologizing for anything their troops did.If you can get beyond the PC "America is evil" point of view for just a few minutes. Look at the film again through their eyes.My point is not that this film is right, clearly there are many flaws and outright errors in the facts, fears and conclusions. My point is that unless welearn something about our own flaws, the film has taught us nothing.B.T.W. One of my best friends growing up was half Japaneese. I have the greatest respect for good people regardless of their nationality and no respect for anyone who thinks they are better or more deserving than anyone else. - May 31, 2004Review of the Reviews

Reviewer: spaceboycain - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - May 23, 2004

Subject: must see So much has been written about this film already, that just the reactions that have expressed on this site are a testiment to the importance of viewing this. To add my two cents... I think it's important to remember that there were many Japanese-Americans living in the US while these films were being shown... many families who had been citizens for generations... many had never even been to Japan and could not speak Japanese. I wonder what they thought about this film? Oh, that's right... they wouldn't have seen it because they were locked behind barbed-wire in interment camps at the time. - May 23, 2004must see

Reviewer: Government_human - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - March 27, 2004

Subject: Love Japan They love you!! This is typical for propaganda film. I have seen Japanese WW2 propaganda films, that are anti- American, and they are similar to the American anti-Japanese films. They point out the same negative defects of the other group just the same. One of the Japanese one I have seen were similar to this. But they had a fat, bald, lazy looking American man as an anamation. It was just as humor as this fake Japanese man (Did I say Japanese, I mean white).

I love anything with pshyclogical mind control. It is the same now as it was then. I mean it is humorous to see people 60 years later on this site were convinced by this film. Like I have always said experence and education is the key.

Just remember next time you put the Japanese down, you might as well pitch your Car and throw your TV out the window. Most modern day American companies use Japanese techonlogy. Look at cars. Your Ford Focus is modeled in mind with the ever so popular Japanese lines. Compact, using as little as possible to get the most horsepower.



I have a lot of respect for these people. I spent a whole year with one living in my house. She was not only cute, innocent and cartoon loving girl. But she was one of the most intelligent and hard working persons I have ever met. I think she was a great influence on me. I never noticed how lazy I was till I lived with a Japanese girl. - March 27, 2004Love Japan They love you!!

Reviewer: moderator - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - March 18, 2004

Subject: Those Crazy Japs Everyone needs to keep in mind the historical context of this film. At Pearl Harbor, the Japanese attacked the US in a huge gamble that they ultimately lost. This film was made while we were fighting those unprovoked agressors for the express purpose of selling war bonds...of course its going to be racist and inaccurate! Particularly amusing is the message at the end: "Remember: this it what ALL the Japanese think." Right. And what was up with that burning devil thing? Anyway, after the A bombs were dropped, (which could have probably been avoided but nevertheless beats the hell out of a land invasion in terms of casualties on both sides)Japan, with US help, mended its ways to become one of the most successful countries of the modern era. Any country that goes from a virtual state of feudalism to produce Toyotas, Nintindo, Sony, and packaged sushi in just 200 years is okay by me. Sure, your economy is the recession right now, but apart from that, you guys rock. Japan, I salute you! - March 18, 2004Those Crazy Japs

Reviewer: trafalgar - favorite favorite favorite favorite - March 12, 2004

Subject: Wow OK, I know there's a warning about the violence and racism, but in case you're in doubt, there are dead bodies, decapitated heads, AND a pair of men being executed onscreen. And then there's the laughably fake Japanese narrator...

Having said that, this is one of the most amazing examples of propaganda I've ever seen, and must have had people crapping their pants in 1945.

Equally amazing are the reactions in this forum. It's so easy to watch these films and think that people must have been incredibly unsophisticated to take them seriously. And here we are in 2004 with people supporting an American propaganda film about Japanese propaganda films as an accurate depiction of the Japanese? Huh?

It just shows how susceptible we ALL are to manipulation. Yes, it's more subtle now, but in 50 or 60 years, it'll be just as laughable.

See you in hell... - March 12, 2004Wow

Reviewer: L.Milne - favorite favorite favorite favorite - March 10, 2004

Subject: This is heartbreaking... ..and by that i don't just mean the film. Through all my browsing through deluded, manipulative propaganda in the Prelinger archive, I have always been encouraged both by the rationalism and intelligence of reviewers. People willing to look at the grotesqueries on all sides of our human history. But here... this was deeply, bitterly painful to me. Here I find my contemporaries spouting narrow-minded, unfeeling jingoism, and propogating terrible distortions of the truth to a degree far worse than even the most rancid of WW2 propaganda films.

I find it depressing; I thought we had learnt from the errors of our history's darkest age. But it seems not. - March 10, 2004This is heartbreaking...

Reviewer: Prince Woody - favorite favorite favorite favorite favorite - March 3, 2004

Subject: YES Mr Bigshot

so i wont mention anythign about america killing BBC employees.

And as for the "we crushed" them, u crushed them using einsteins technology, and to clear up, you werent the first to start producing it, a russian theorist called azahr started work on the first a bomb but it was a 24k bomb and america used a 4k bomb, which left russia witha 24k bomb to dispose of. they dropped it in the south pacific and it exploded with enough force to destroy most of scotland and leave radiation in britan. the aircraft barely survived the test.

if america is "THE most powerful country in the world and that is the bottom line." why didnt u just send the nation to storm japan and take it on foot surely the most powerfull army in the world could do something like that.

we were being bombarded with shells the size of minis by sie germans, it was us on the front line, sure u sent backup but it wasnt ur country being

its people like you that make me sick you think youve done all the hard work when you did jack, its liek when u play games online liek CS for example you see a guy and are involved ina massive gun fight with him, and you both run out of ammo, and ur frantically trying to stab each other with ur knives, you say to ur team " sweet one more stab and heas dead" and some punk jumps round the corner and blows him away witha shotgun. GUTTED all that hard work and he gets the glory. not even a "fair play to you tom, you did well" or anything, its "sweet im the best i kick all ur asses" complete and utter son of a mother of a daughter of a unvcle of a mother of a son of a beech.

"Well, I say no GOOK comes even close to the strongest or even the weakest American for that matter" yeah the strongest american must be able to lift at least 20 burgers in one sitting i rekon.

PHWOOR can u feel the power?



i must apologise for my poor spelling and grammar.





"America are THE most powerful country in the world and that is the bottom line. "

who told you that ??



MMMYYYAAARRRRRRRRRRR

eggy food "America are THE most powerful country in the world and that is the bottom line. " if this be true why did you ask for our help in iraq? the search for sadam was a world wide terrorist thing that we should all have been aware of, but the british should have takena leaf from ur book and let u do all the hard work before we stepped in. and i just had to laugh at the situation when they found sadam "hes lucky he popped his head up i was just about to throw a granade in" funniest thing i had herd in ages. you see a hole, ypu throw a granade in it, kill everyone inside, cause all the earth ontop to cave in possibly consuming half ur team mates in the proces knoking over a few trees that smash ur face in. but hey thats the typical american way, not throw ina smoke granade and flush them out, oh no, that just wouldnt be feasable now would it. ive been in battle ( none of the big ones tho) and i know its hard to tell the difference from demonstrators and john simpsons interpretorso i wont mention anythign about america killing BBC employees.And as for the "we crushed" them, u crushed them using einsteins technology, and to clear up, you werent the first to start producing it, a russian theorist called azahr started work on the first a bomb but it was a 24k bomb and america used a 4k bomb, which left russia witha 24k bomb to dispose of. they dropped it in the south pacific and it exploded with enough force to destroy most of scotland and leave radiation in britan. the aircraft barely survived the test.if america is "THE most powerful country in the world and that is the bottom line." why didnt u just send the nation to storm japan and take it on foot surely the most powerfull army in the world could do something like that.we were being bombarded with shells the size of minis by sie germans, it was us on the front line, sure u sent backup but it wasnt ur country being stomped.you had it easy in world war 2 in my opinion and that my fired has made you weak, you think your amazing but really ur just pathetic weak minded obese semi human beings !!!its people like you that make me sick you think youve done all the hard work when you did jack, its liek when u play games online liek CS for example you see a guy and are involved ina massive gun fight with him, and you both run out of ammo, and ur frantically trying to stab each other with ur knives, you say to ur team " sweet one more stab and heas dead" and some punk jumps round the corner and blows him away witha shotgun. GUTTED all that hard work and he gets the glory. not even a "fair play to you tom, you did well" or anything, its "sweet im the best i kick all ur asses" complete and utter son of a mother of a daughter of a unvcle of a mother of a son of a beech."Well, I say no GOOK comes even close to the strongest or even the weakest American for that matter" yeah the strongest american m