Japan's War in Color

[Armistead]

Can't believe I missed this, but amazing doc and gives some interesting insight. The original color film is amazing.

[Stealhead]

Few people realize that several hundred Japanese-Americans got stuck in Japan when the war broke out.

For example the "Tokyo Rose" which was actually several different women but the one that got punished (most unjustly) was Iva Toguri D'Aquino a US citizen she got charged with treason but it was later learned that key witnesses out right lied during the case and she got pardoned by President Ford.

Some Japanese-Amrican men stuck in Japan during the war wound up working at prison camps in Japan (they had no choice in the matter) they helped POWS as they could and often helped sabotage the projects that used forced labor usually loading docks and mines as did some Japanese nationals.The trick was the sabotage had to appear to have been an accident.This was very risky because the Japanese-Americans workers got watched very closely.

Another thing that you will not hear of WWII is that some American POW where traitors and openly collaborated with the Japanese and would inform on other prisoners sometimes resulting in executions.In most camps the commanding officer(highest ranking Allied POW not the Japanese CO) maintained a list of all the traitors and also of all the Japanese that helped the Americans.None of the American collaborators where ever punished.

Another unknown but not uncommon occurrence was Japanese civilians handing POWs small amounts of rice or dry beans to eat though fences and other openings.It had to be a very small amount because the POW had to be able to hide the food in his mouth to avoid the attention of guards(getting caught would result in a very severe beating at minimum usually in the face so as to make eating rather painful.The downside is when you came to fence you had no way knowing if person on the other side was kind or cruel so in stead of a small amount of food you might instead get spat upon.

Of course a Japanese POW would be treated well if he made it to an MP unit which was not always a guarantee depending the the attitude of the soldiers assigned to escort him to the rear.Warfare tends to bring out the worst in people despite the conventions that may or may not be signed.

Once the B-29s started fire bombing Japan in late 1944 the morale of the typical Japanese citizen plummeted many factories has a very hard time because workers refused to go to work.In the book Silent Victory the author states that a more focused blockade via submarine combined with the B-29 fire bombing would have caused Japan to capitulate without needing to use the A-bombs or invading.I feel that this is true.After one raid on B-29 fire bombing raid on Tokyo which may have killed 120,000 people out right around 1 million residents where rendered homeless that was actually more devastating than the Nagasaki bombing.

One last dirty secret is Japanese unit Unit 731 who performed some very nasty biological and chemical experiments on Chinese nationals and also American POWs.But what they knew was just too valuable to the US war department and the members of Unit 731 did not get punished at all and in fact their research was used to help develop the US biological and chemical weapons programs.

[Jimbuna]

Seen something similar but not quite as good as this...ta for sharing

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by Stealhead

but the one that got punished (most unjustly) was Iva Toguri D'Aquino a US citizen she got charged with treason but it was later learned that key witnesses out right lied during the case and she got pardoned by President Ford.

yeah, that case is not a shining example in American History.

[Bubblehead1980]

Originally Posted by Armistead

Can't believe I missed this, but amazing doc and gives some interesting insight. The original color film is amazing.

Great footage.Thanks for sharing.

[WernherVonTrapp]

I purchased this Documentary on DVD, (I think) two or three years ago. Very interesting indeed.

[Wolferz]

The entire war for Japan was like the blind leading the blind. a glaring trait of a militaristic government bent on conquest. Those poor people paid for it dearly.