Tag: NEWSREELS

Southern half of Sakhalin had been a part of Japanese territory since early 20th century, and many Japanese relocated from the main islands to seek profitable opportunities. At the same time, these settlers craved for entertainment from the country they had left behind. Movies were particularly in high demand, and there was at least one theater in each settlement. Shikuka (or Shisuka, Polonysk today) was one of those towns along the Soviet border, with a population of 30,000 (in 1941). Koji Takii, a reporter from Kinema Junpo, visited the town in 1939 to document the movie business in the town. …

Akira Yamamoto (1932 – 1999), a sociologist, recalls his experience during his kindergarten days in 1937. In the playground of elementary school in my neighborhood, I saw many newsreels in the screenings sponsored by a newspaper agency. Up on the screen, I saw the train packed with soldiers were sent off with cheers of ‘Banzai, Banzai’. Cargo vessels traveling through China Sea, soldiers holding guns advancing over a river, those soldiers charging to castle wall … and they took the castle, put up our flag and yelling ‘Banzai’… I saw these newsreels among the crowd packed in the playground. Sometimes …