Ocean God Soldier

First, the description of the film from Mediaplay.com:

Produced in 1942 both to explain why Japan's military had swept though the South Pacific and to inspire the youth of the country to arms, this film follows the life of Japanese youngsters through their school days to their employment on the world's battefields. Nearly all the characters are animals, and when these Japanese warrior animal youths deploy throughout the Pacific, indigenous animals enthusastically assist them while they learn of the liberation to found in the service of the Greater Japanese Co-Prosperity Sphere. Ethnic charictures of caucasians abound, sometimes inspired by German depictions of Jews, while the continental United States gets mentioned as next on Japan's list of conquests. Of particular historical interest is the comical rendering of British General Percival's surrender of Singapore to General Yamashita, as well as an account of the 1619 fall of Jakarata to the Dutch told in terms to justify the expulsion of the Dutch from Indonesia by the Japanese. Perhaps its greatest value as a historical document however is its psychological insight into a particular difference between Japanese and Allied fighting men - while the jungle may have been unfamiliar and filled with awe and fear for Allied soldiers fighting in one, for Japanese soldiers it was a friendly and hospitable environment that they were quite comfortable in. This film in no small measure documents this sense of self assurance, and it stands as an example of exactly how this psychological comfort was propagandized into the psyche of the nation. (1942, Black & White, 1:13). Media Outlet.com

This is one of the rare pieces of Japanese propaganda that I've been able to get my hands on. This is an animated film called Ocean God Soldier and is about the Japanese Co-Prosperity Sphere idea of World War II time where the Japanese wanted to bring other nations under their control by claiming it would free those nations from the control of imperial nations like England, Holland and the United States. It also paints a picture of the people in the 'freed' countries welcoming the Japanese forces and benefiting by coming under Japanese control. Note: the film is old and is not in good condition, so some parts are dark and hard to see.

Most of the beings are depicted as animals. The film is in Japanese and there are no subtitles, so I'll have to interpret what is going on the best I can.

The film opens with students going to a shrine in a rural area. Then there's something about a bunch of animals all together. I have no idea what they are talking about. Later a young animal takes its brothers? Hat and loses it in a fast-running stream. A bird tells the animals what's happened and they all set off to rescue the kid who is now in the water himself. The kid gets rescued.

Then a group of animals buildings some kind of airplane airport complete with hangers. Some Japanese planes land. The Japanese crews are greeted warmly by the natives (I think I'm interpreting this correctly.)

By the way, this is almost a musical as there are numerous songs. The natives receive instruction in the Japanese language. Then the soldiers/sailors gets letters and packages from home. One plane takes photos and the workers put them together. Then they plan an attack on the Allied base. The parachutes are folded and the fliers get ready.

Bento boxes (lunch box meals) are prepared.

The Dutch sail a ship to Indonesia. The captain of the ship talks to one of the natives while his sailors prepare their ship for firing its weapons. Then they run up a pirate flag and open fire. Then it's back to the present time when the Japanese airplanes are taking off to attack the area under colonial control.

The planes encounter a rainstorm which finally clears. Then the paratroopers begin their jumping from the planes. The Japanese win, of course, and the British troops surrender.



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