Japanese People in 1930's 1940's

[Aragorn243]

Looking for some insight on what the Japanese people and culture was like in the period leading up to WWII.

I've obviously watched a lot of war movies that seem to depict them as very serious, obedient, loyal to the Emperor and with a somewhat strict system of not necessarily a caste system but something along those lines.

I just watched a movie the other evening called "The Great War of Archimedes" The main character is very disrespectful of others, makes light of life and Japan and seems to be the complete opposite of what I've seen in other films. The other important historical figures also seem more "human" than strict adherents of procedures and regulations.

This movie was made in Japan with Japanese actors so I would expect it to be accurate. They put a ton of detail into being period correct and had some incredible special effects which my eye couldn't tear apart of the Battleships Nagato and Yamato along with various carrier aircraft.

The main character just seemed out of character. That being said, I really liked the movie. Now wondering if it is a true story or a fanciful creation.

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[HOOKED ON HISTORY]

I do not have an answer to the interesting question but I did see something on the History channel a while back that had a lot of early color footage filmed buy American tourists in the 20s & 30s that was very interesting. I cannot recall the title to save my life. I may have taped it if so I will get back with the title.

[StratA]

Looking for some insight on what the Japanese people and culture was like in the period leading up to WWII.

I've obviously watched a lot of war movies that seem to depict them as very serious, obedient, loyal to the Emperor and with a somewhat strict system of not necessarily a caste system but something along those lines.

I just watched a movie the other evening called "The Great War of Archimedes" The main character is very disrespectful of others, makes light of life and Japan and seems to be the complete opposite of what I've seen in other films. The other important historical figures also seem more "human" than strict adherents of procedures and regulations.

This movie was made in Japan with Japanese actors so I would expect it to be accurate. They put a ton of detail into being period correct and had some incredible special effects which my eye couldn't tear apart of the Battleships Nagato and Yamato along with various carrier aircraft.

The main character just seemed out of character. That being said, I really liked the movie. Now wondering if it is a true story or a fanciful creation.

Without immediately diving into dense academic work you could start with the relevant material by Herbert Bix, Mark Peattie, and John Dower. You'll find each of these authors to be eminently readable and, if you so choose, can chase down additional material by mining their references. You'll also find that these three have produced analysis that will link areas I gather you'd be interested in. I can give you the names of specific volumes to start with but Google is probably faster than I can type.

---------- Post added at 06:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:44 PM ----------

Looking for some insight on what the Japanese people and culture was like in the period leading up to WWII.

I've obviously watched a lot of war movies that seem to depict them as very serious, obedient, loyal to the Emperor and with a somewhat strict system of not necessarily a caste system but something along those lines.

I just watched a movie the other evening called "The Great War of Archimedes" The main character is very disrespectful of others, makes light of life and Japan and seems to be the complete opposite of what I've seen in other films. The other important historical figures also seem more "human" than strict adherents of procedures and regulations.

This movie was made in Japan with Japanese actors so I would expect it to be accurate. They put a ton of detail into being period correct and had some incredible special effects which my eye couldn't tear apart of the Battleships Nagato and Yamato along with various carrier aircraft.

The main character just seemed out of character. That being said, I really liked the movie. Now wondering if it is a true story or a fanciful creation.

I neglected to add John Toland's the rising sun to my previous list. The 1st quarter or so (depending on edition) will give some insight as well.

[Fushigi Ojisan]

Look up the manga "Showa: A History of Japan" by Shigeru Mizuki, it's made up of four volumes:

1926-1939
1939-1944
1944-1953
1953-1989

Mizuki also did a book based on his war experience

[Aragorn243]

Research indicates the movie is a complete fabrication, never happened. Just a story line so the main character probably has a lot of the modern in him rather than being period correct. Somewhat disappointing. The premise of the movie is two battling factions in the Navy, the battleship boys and the carrier boys battling it out for money to build their ships. The battleship boys submitted a ridiculously low budget to build the Yamato and the carrier boys find a mathematical genius to prove it's a false figure. This quirky anti-military former student genius is given the rank of Lt Commander in the navy and has two weeks to prove it without being given any real information as it's "secret".

So while I again like the movie and it has great visualizations, it isn't real and probably does not depict the culture at the time.

[Bob Womack]

James Brady's book, Flags of Our Fathers, goes into the Japanese civilian mind of the time. I've gotten little glimpses from my brother's former mother-in-law who was a young woman who lived in Hiroshima. She was one of the millions of civilians who were being trained with a spear to oppose the Americans to the death if they invaded the mother country. She was something of a rebel, a quiet rebel, because the culture simply didn't allow over rebels. Her story was that even as a child she didn't believe the Shinto view of the world and didn't practice ancestor veneration in her heart. She went out at night, looked up at the stars, and thought, "there has to be a God who made all this." Something tugged at her. So, she quietly rejected Shintoism and prayed to whoever that God was but went through the Shinto forms to keep peace with her family and community. She survived the Hiroshima explosion at the end of the war. Because the populace were being taught to resist to death, she came away feeling that it was absolutely imperative that the U.S. drop the bombs because without them it was her belief that occupation would have been a bloodbath. When the U.S. occupied Japan, she met and fell in love with a U.S. Air Force Sargent. She married him and followed him to the U.S. He became an alcoholic and she continued her search for the God of heaven on her own. She eventually met God through study of the Bible. It is an interesting tale.

Bob

[Surpmil]

Are you looking for movies and videos or books?

[Aragorn243]

All I'm looking for is individual opinions based on what others have seen. This is really pretty low priority with me and while I appreciate the reference book recommendations, I'd rather have a one paragraph cliff note version. I know what Americans were like in the 40's, just no real concept of what the Japanese were like other than military movies which may or may not be accurate. I have a couple of books written by Japanese soldiers that seem to reinforce the standard movie version with quite a bit less fanaticism. This particular movie just seems pretty far out of whack and I'm starting to believe it really is out of whack. The main character in this particular movie could be best compared to a genius Jar Jar Binks.

[Eaglelord17]

Japan was in a ton of chaos in the 20s and leading into the 30s when the military factions completely took over. Assassinations, infighting, the slow decline of civilian control to military control, it was not a stable time.

May 15 Incident - Wikipedia

[Aragorn243]

That's pretty crazy stuff. Maybe the movie isn't that far off.