[KineJapan] question re. Japan's war in color

[Adrian Wood]

Dear Roger and Yiman Wang,

 

I write as the Archive Producer of this project and the originator of the
'in Colour' concept. My apologies to those subscribers for the length of
this reply.

 

My colleague David Batty was the producer of this 2-part series that was a
TWI co-production with NHK. It was the successor to several series including
'Britain at war in Colour', there were more before and after and are listed
accurately on IMDb.

 

The concept began in 1991 or so but was not picked up by broadcasters until
TWI proposed it to Carlton TV in the UK in late 1997.

 

Exhaustive searches were made in every country, including Russia, to locate
colour material. I either did this myself or oversaw specialist research
teams for the projects until I left TWI in 2004. The key people who should
be acknowledged for this are Viktor Belyakov in Moscow and Polly Pettit in
Washington, DC. This is not meant in any way to underplay the countless
others who found astonishing material for all the productions.

 

The specific project you ask about came about only because of my insistence
that colour film must have been available in Japan in the 1930s and
therefore [some] must survive. 

 

One individual at NHK should be mentioned for his work on archival film over
many years and he supported me tirelessly in my endeavours. Masao Ogasawara
was my opposite number at NHK and oversaw the work of a team of specialist
researchers there.

 

That work would not have been possible without the support of many from the
academic community in Japan and the USA such as Markus Nornes and Aaron
Gerow. 

 

Fumiaki Itakura's paper on the use and development of colour film in Japan
was crucial in my providing evidence of the existence of material. Supported
by the discovery of fragments of home movies in Kyoto, NHK then re-examined
the materials [they had] collected over many years. This had been assumed to
have been B/W because of its age but on examination was found to be
Kodachrome.

 

On the specific of footage in Manchuria, for those who watch the
documentary, the actuality footage of the Japanese Army there comes from the
only known surviving fragment of the film 'Senninbari'. [Here the 2009 draft
stopped] This is held in the collection of Gosfilmofund in the outskirts of
Moscow.

 

To answer a question posed by Roger, Soviet-filmed footage of occupied Japan
(using captured German Agfa stock, if my memory does not fail me) is shared
between Gosfilmofund and the Russian State Archive for Film and
Photo-Documents or at least it was twenty years or so ago. Part of it was
used in this series to complement that shot by the other Allied occupying
forces.

 

I would be happy to answer any questions this reply to the questions below
prompts or indeed any others.

 

In sadness and regret, may Roger rest in peace,

 

Adrian Wood

 

 

 

From: owner-KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
[mailto:owner-KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu] On Behalf Of Roger Macy
Sent: 02 October 2009 01:54
To: KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
Subject: Re: question re. Japan's war in color

 

Dear Yiman Wang,

I was hoping that someone could you refer you to a proper critique of this
film, but here's a few points.

It was produced by a British TV company, Carlton, and was a follow-on from
successful series called 'Britain at War in Colour

http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/series/34028 and

http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/series/32015

 

There's a commercially available DVD of the film that mentions colour
restoration.

 

On the film and on the DVD I could se no credits for director,
script-writer, script-editor or translator, but in the world of British TV
documentaries, the 'producer' is the author, David Batty.

 

Considering the constraints, which include assuming the audience have no
prior knowledge of any Japanese history and only using available colour
footage, the film turns out to be a moving testimony to the tragedy of the
war and the tragedy of military adventurism.  I can't imagine it was ever
intended to be shown in Japan.  I mean: would it be the same film if all the
Japanese witnesses suddenly spoke fluently and the westerners all had twee
exotic accents ?

The most glaring gaps to my mind were the total absence of Korea, and of
Russia, apart from a shot of Stalin at Potsdam.  The emperor's speech
claiming thousands of years without defeat is left unchallenged, despite
Japan having received major pastings from the Soviet Union in the thirties,
that were partly responsible for turning Japan south.  The catastrophic
losses in Manchuria in the week preceding the bombings of Horoshima and
Nagasaki are also an unevent.  Is there no Soviet colour footage of the
period, or didn't they look for it?  I see that Batty did a book of the
film, whose index is on Amazon, and there are a number of references there
to Russia, so it could be looked into.

Because 'Japan' became the home islands as a result of Potsdam, it gives a
posteriori historians the means to ignore the effect of war, colonialism and
repatriation on the greater Japan, whereas liberated prisoners-of-war were
filmed in colour.

 

But you may be able to correct me, Yiman, at least on reception.  Where are
you and where did you see the film ?

Roger

 

----- Original Message ----- 

From: "YW" < <mailto:hahumiaomiao at aim.com> hahumiaomiao at aim.com>

To: < <mailto:KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>
KineJapan at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu>

Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2009 4:04 AM

Subject: question re. Japan's war in color

 

> Dear all,
> 
> I wonder if people here can help me with the documentary, Japan's War in 
> Color.  It's built on WWII footages shot in color.  Does anybody know 
> the kind of color technique(s) being used, who shot the footages, why 
> they were shot in color, and finally, why they have remained unseen for 
> so long, and how they were discovered.  And have the Japanese filmmakers 
> done anything with these footages?
> 
> Any comments and leads will be deeply appreciated.
> 
> Thank you!
> 
> Yiman Wang

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