History ~ Japan's War In Color : WW2 From the Japanese Side
 

World War Two is usually seen as a black & white war. But even in the 1930s color film was available and researchers have uncovered color footage of World War Two in japanese archive. Combined with historical data and personal letters, the result is Japan's War In Color, a documentary on Japan's implication in World War Two, with never seen before footage.

The war seen from the Japanese point of view, in colors. Two part video found on Youtube. I hope you enjoy this rare item.

Part 1. Japan's expansion in China, rising conflict with Western Powers




Part 2. The Axis, the Pacific War

Great videos, thanks for posting them. IMO they should have waited for another decade before they attacked the US, before the European powers had time to recover but after Japan had time to build up its military in their pacific territories.

The US oil embargo would have stifled the Japanese war machine long before that.

i don't know lots of things about WW2 in japan..can you give me more information please? :)

Start here : http://www.japanforum.com/forum/gene...tora-tora.html

Then step here : http://www.japanforum.com/forum/gene...lls-japan.html

I'll make more threads devoted to the Pacific War. It was a very important time of Japan's history which is vital to know if one is to get an understanding of the influences that shaped modern Japan. So if you're interested, keep your eyes open for my World War 2 history threads threads.

thank you it's very interesting!! and it's very interesting to see differents movies we can see how each country show events

The sad part is how the populace meekly sat by and allowed themselves to be dragged into this catastrophe, especially most of the senior officers of the Imperial Fleet who displayed serious reservations about a war with the United States. The Navy had to keep Admiral Yamamoto at sea to protect him from being killed by Army hotheads who saw him as a pro-Western toad.

Emperor Hirohito was guilty due to his silence during the course of the war even when it became obvious that defeat was eventual, had he stood up and opened his mouth, even risked his life to demand an end to the conflict he would have been seen as a saint, a martyr against madness but he chose to keep silent.

The color footage is amazing and poetic in its timeless sorrow, I cried when they talked about having to kill the animals at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, the child who wrote her letter begging the Zoo Keepers not to kill her favorite elephant, Miss Harra.

It's one thing to speak of the war from outside Japan, it's another thing to actually stand at the places of history like Yamamoto's command cave at Yokosuka or the spot where Douglas MacArthur touched down at Atsugi Naval Air Station or the many ruined battlements overlooking the expected landings of the never attempted Operation Olympic or Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Damn,I can't open those sites and can't see the movies...

WOW! :eek: My History class was seriously inadequate! Thankyou!

Heres one of my favorite quotes from Admiral Yamamoto:
"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass." - Admiral Yamamoto, 1941

You're welcome. You know the Admiral lived a decade in the United States as a Naval Attache to the Japanese counsel General? He attended Harvard and went cross country with friends from the U.S. Naval Accadamy.

He was regarded as a fine poker player and performed stunts like standing on his head over a chair while totally drunk. He loved to gamble constantly, wagering street races, track meets and bar brawls.

Of course the Admiral was missing a few fingers, he lost them at the Battle of Tsushima Strait during the Ruso/japanese war.

He once responded to a fellow officer who claimed Japan could easily over run America because her ethnic diversity would cause more infighting. He said he passed by a car that had broken down on the side of a road. There was a black family in the car and the man had no spare nor money to get one. A white man stopped to fix the man's tire and a chinese man living near by offered the family water and food. "Be carefull how you insult your adversary my friend, Americans may look chaotic because they lack the advantage of our one-race people but if the situation demands? They will be demons in battle.

The Yamamoto family still lived in the same house in Kamakura and in 1986 while I was based on the USS Midway I had the crazy idea of simply knocking on their door and asking if I could take pictures. Insted one of his Grandson's allowed me inside and let me hold one of his service swords, which was a great treat. Yamamoto was never an enemy of America but he was a dedicated officer of the Imperial Navy and though there were rumors he wanted to resign over the planning for Pearl Harbor, honor and duty to the people held him to his service till death.

You couldn't ask for a more divoted servant in uniform than that man.

I have read quite a few books about the Pacific war and was horrified by the cruelty.

I feel that history must not be allowed to die. Prevention and knowledge might
mean that past mistakes will not be repeated.


I do have books from the japanese side-- My trying to understand, but still have much to learn.

WAR is terrible. Better avoided. Things that nations and their People can do to others-- is terrible.

I have a copy of SENSO which is a collection of letters that were sent to the ASAHI SHIMBUM. Collected in the eighties, so a long time after the war but it is quite revealing.

I have learnt so much that I had been totally ignorant about.

dannavy85 and Avary_Ninja very informative and from a great point of view instead of the usual mind brain washing. Nice to see decent threads pop up. I learned a few things from the video that i had not previously known.

It's down, damn, looked really interesting!