PBS Documentaries: Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire

Also available from the PBS website is a three part documentary series on Meiji era Japan, already somewhat suspect from it's title--secrets, memoirs--the incense images of the Orientalized experienced. The previews of the episodes including extra information from the program may be found here.

So far I have only watched two minutes of the first episode's opening, and I am worried, because the first piece of narration is (paraphrased) "The Japanese have rituals found in not other country around the globe. The things they do are unimaginable, and it may be said that Japan is the reverse of the world of Europe," as the heavy ring of a Buddhist bell rings out against a foreground of sharply dressed men marching down a street lined with bowed heads, followed by the evocative shot of a geisha applying her makeup.

In the first three minutes.

Supposedly, one of the main contributers to this series is a former Fulbright scholar, working (at the time of airing, 2004) an anticipated book about cultural exchange between Japan and America. I need to track down the rest of the episodes, but I am wary of the discourse within this one.

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Links obtained! Youtube is a great resource for somewhat public domain film.





It's mis-labeled, but this is the referred-to documentary on Tokugawa Japan.

PBS Documentaries: Japan's About-Face

Only aired less then half a year ago, Japan's About-Face is an agressively titled documentary about the current shift in Japan's Self-Defense Force, the Military that cannot be called a Military (as one of the speakers in the show puts it.) PBS has the entire program, including additional material, online on the companion website here.

A rather well done program in the general, it's worth noting that when talking about Japan's miltary in WWII and following up on the results, they mention rather obliquely that (paraphrasing) "by the end of the war, Tokyo was burned to the ground" without mentioning that this was due to American firebombings of Tokyo, leaving a free association between the burning of Tokyo and the Japanese military as connected events in a way that is not exactly the actual connection--a sort of cause-effect that is slightly different then the actual sort of potential cause-effect argument they could attempt here. I need to view this again to more properly start analyzing the sort of argument that is made here, though there is also an emphasis ont he contradiction of the SDF, what they do, the constitution, and how politics are trying to get around the constitution without actively changing Article 9. There's also some interesting interviews with peace activists marching in reaction to the proposal of removing Art 9.

Banned Cartoons 1 : Japan

Here are several interesting links to videos I thought everyone might find interest:

"Banned Cartoons" on Youtube are plentiful, but poorly organized. Here's some I found focusing on Japan, shown from 1942 to 1944.

You're a Sap, Mr. Jap!, 1942 : Pop Eye leads the naval fight against Japanese Troops



The title for this cartoon is based on a war song from 1941, which I found the lyrics for here. If you click through, you can see the cover for the record is bright orange, with a huge Uncle Sam 'punishing' a tiny man who I assume is supposed to be Japanese like a young, naughty child.


Tokio Jokio, 1943 : Bugs Bunny leads us on a tour of "Corrupt Japan"



Stereotype minefield! They combine stereotypes of China, Japan, and general Oriental Incense Images (which is the only shorthand I can think of) to present a corrupt, backstabbing and inable Japan.

Commando Duck, 1944: Donald Duck is sent to wipe out Japanese troops (watch out for the crocadiles)



This one is the most interesting of the bunch. It's one of the last (note the colour) and the ideology going on is more complex because it's become more subtle--the Japanese are used as a point of humour, less then a focus, and Donald Duck is an 'unwilling soldier', unlike every other earlier film. They combine scenery from stereotyped deep jungle Africa and the Grand Canyon to create a backdrop for Japanese aggression.

There are plenty more about the War in general that mention Japan as part of the axis but do not focus on Japan, and Germany. The German cartoons seem to be more sympathetic towards the people of Germany and focus on Nazi-ism as evil, while the Japanese films lump all of Japan into one boat for the most part as far as I have seen.