Our Job in Japan (1945)
- Directed by
- Frank Capra
- Genre
- propaganda film
- Country
- United States
- Runtime
- 17 min
- Elsewhere
- IMDb
The catalogue in 3D
The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.
How it feels
This training film explains to American soldiers how Japanese military leaders used religion and education to control the population. It describes the challenge of turning Japan into a peaceful democracy after World War II.
educationalmatter-of-factpropagandisticwartimeanalyticalserious
What happens
Our Job in Japan was a United States military training film made in 1945, shortly after World War II. It is the companion to the more famous Your Job In Germany. The film was aimed at American troops about to go to Japan to participate in the 1945–1952 Allied occupation, and presents the problem of turning the militarist state into a peaceful democracy. The film focused on the Japanese military officials who had used the traditional religion of Shinto, as well as the educational system, to take over power, control the populace, and wage aggressive war. No personal credits are given by the titles for Our Job in Japan. Theodor S. Geisel, better known by his pen name Dr. Seuss, wrote the film, and Elmo Williams edited it. Both men were working as part of a military film production unit headed by Frank Capra. At the time, the film was considered sympathetic to the Japanese, and its distribution was apparently suppressed by Douglas MacArthur in his capacity as the overall commander of the Allied forces occupying Japan. A detailed discussion of the film has been given by John W. Dower in his book, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II. Our Job in Japan was the basis for the longer, commercially released film Design for Death (1947). (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
More like this
Know Your Enemy: Japan (1945)
Intelligence and the Japanese Civilian (1945)
War Comes to America (1945)
Design for Death (1947)
My Japan (1945)
Appointment in Tokyo (1945)
Two Down and One to Go (1945)
The Last Bomb (1945)- More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.