Japan's War Documentary in Color

This is an incredible documentary, not just because it is in color, but because it shows the things that were going on in Japan at that time and the cultural maneuvering that the government used to get the people behind the war. It also shows the sadness that the war caused the people living in Japan, along with how vicious the Japanese soldiers could be in places like Nanking. Another really good thing about this documentary is how many first-person views are given from diaries and such.

The narrator says that, before WWII, Japan had a deep-seated fear of Western domination. The narrator points how the Wall Street crash had an effect on Japan. Assassinations and attempt at political coups turned the tide towards militarism.

At 12 minutes into the film they start talking about the Japanese presence in China and about the taking of Manchuria, renaming it Manchuko. They also discuss the Rape of Nanking, Japan's alliance with Germany and Italy and also how Japan had to call up more and more men since the conquest of China was not going as they had planned.

The film also covers Japanese atrocities and the use of kamikaze. They hit over 400 ships and killed over 5,000 Allied sailors. The total number of kamikaze deaths was over 4000. Then on the battle of Okinawa it says that 20,000 civilians were conscripted to fight in the battle. 200,000 Japanese were killed in the battle. Over 12,000 Americans died. Around as quarter of the civilians were also killed.

Then the documentary goes into the bombing of Japan itself. The surrender and the liberation of prisoner of war camps are also discussed. It even goes on to cover the return of the Japanese soldiers after the surrender.

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