Japan WWII Anime: Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors

Once again, I'd like to present for your pleasure and interest a Japanese World War II cartoon. I showed a clip from this cartoon in Holy Sh*t! World War Two Japanese Propaganda Anime of the Attack on Pearl Harbor. That was a very popular blog post, so I searched and found an entire feature length cartoon.

The cartoon is not nearly as bloody and gutsy as American anime at the time, but you can sense the subtleties of the Japanese mindset and just how "dark" a society Japan really was at the time (I still think, in many ways, Japan is a very "dark" country... But that's a post for another time).


The cartoon is Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors. In Japanese: 桃太郎 海の神兵（ももたろう うみのしんぺい）"Momotaro Umi no shinpei." Interestingly, there's an entire Wikipedia entry in English no less (saves me a lot of work!)


Wikipedia says:

Momotarō: Umi no Shinpei (桃太郎 海の神兵, lit. Momotaro's Gods-Blessed Sea Warriors or Momotaro, Sacred Sailors) is the first Japanese feature-length animated film.[3] It was directed by Mitsuyo Seo, who was ordered to make a propaganda film for the war by the Japanese Naval Ministry. Shochiku Moving Picture Laboratory shot the 74-minute film in 1944 and screened it on April 12, 1945. It is a sequel to Momotarō no Umiwashi, a 37-minute film released in 1943 by the same director. It is black and white.

Plot: After completing naval training, a bear cub, a monkey, a pheasant, and a puppy say goodbye to their families. Like the prior film, the movie features the "Peach Boy" character of Japanese folklore. The film is about the surprise maneuver on Sulawesi island, depicting parachute troops' actions. The monkey, puppy and bear cub are the ones that become parachute jumpers while the pheasant becomes a pilot. The whole movie also depicts the Japanese "liberation of Asia", as proclaimed by the Government at the time.

There are some musical scenes. Of note is The Song of AIUEO (アイウエオの歌AIUEO no Uta), a scene where Japanese soldiers teach local animals how to speak.

Background: The Naval Ministry previously showed Seo Fantasia, a 1940 Disney film. Inspired by this, Seo tried to give dreams to children, as well as to instill the hope for peace, just as he did in the prequel movie, Momotaro's Sea Eagles.

The Song of AIUEO (アイウエオの歌 AIUEO no Uta) is famous for being given a homage in the series Kimba the White Lion (ジャングル大帝 Janguru Taitei) by Osamu Tezuka (Tezuka watched the film in April 1945. He later said that he was moved to tears by the movie's hints of dreams and hopes, hidden under the appearance of war propaganda).

For a long time, the film was presumed to have been confiscated and burnt by the American occupation. However, a negative copy of the film was found in Shochiku's Ofuna warehouse in 1983 and was re released in 1984. A reproduced movie was later screened and the VHS package is now available in Japan.

So, without further ado, here is the cartoon Momotaro's Divine Sea Warriors in it's entirety (parts 1/9 to 9/9). I placed them all here for your convenience so you wouldn't have to search for them.


If you just want to get the gist of the film, I suggest watching the first part and the very last part... The lunacy of war. Why do we do this?

By the way, the foreign soldiers in the final scene are British and not Americans... But the very last scene where the Japanese kids are jumping out of a tree onto a map of the USA drawn on the ground is, quite, well, "interesting." 

The US Expected Pearl Harbor! Here's Proof!

The other day, I blogged about the Japanese women's soccer team winning the World Cup. In that article, I made a mock newspaper headline that parodied the newspaper headlines right after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.


While I suck at Photoshop, from some of the stuff I see coming out of other internet sites, overall, I guess I am not soooo bad. I made my mock up in less than 20 minutes.... (Pat myself on the back!)


Here it is again:

Well, at least I thought it was funny!


But, a strange thing happened while I was searching for a suitable newspaper to alter for the World Cup... I  came upon this newspaper headline which surprised me. It is dated November 30, 1941.  

CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LARGER VIEW

This is the Hilo Hawaii Sunday paper stating that "Japan May Strike Over Weekend"!!!??? Since that is the Sunday version, "the weekend" would mean "this coming weekend." That would be December 6 or 7, 1941. That is exactly one week before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Wait a minute, folks! How would a local newspaper know this... Or is this just gossip that "everyone knew anyway? That's too bizarre!... 

Or is it?

Or is this just another clustef*ck episode in US government re-writing history? Like the BS story that the so-called Civil War was about freeing the slaves? Or that the war on Iraq was to bring those people democracy? Yeah, if you believe this stuff, I have some prime Afghani oil pipelines to sell you

You draw your own conclusions as to what this means.... I think, "Surprise attack, my a*s!"

This topic about whether or not FDR knew about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor comes up every December. The definitive book about it is Robert Stinnett's "Day of Deceit." 

Revisionist historians have been stating for years that FDR and the US government goaded Japan into war so that they could join in the fight. I think, considering US imperialist policies - even simply judging since 2001 - tend to support this thesis.....

This newspaper front cover certainly does.

War! Japanese Destroy US Defense for 2nd Time in 66 Years!

The headline read:

WAR!

SECOND PEARL HARBOUR!

War!? Again? I had to find out more. I clicked the link at the It's a Wonderful Rife Blog. It said:

Japan Wins Women's World Cup of Soccer

Women's World Cup soccer final between the USA and Japan in Frankfurt, Germany, July 17, 2011. The game started off with a flurry of USA activity, hard strikes and bad luck and some fine tending by the Japanese goalie.... (snip) 

The result - a Japanese tying goal. I believe it was at the 84th minute. For two minutes after that, Japan pressured the USA driving forward like they were attacking Pearl Harbour (what - too soon for that joke?)... but the Americans held them off and starting pressure on their own... Japan was good to hold off the USA. At the end of 90 minutes (plus 2 minutes of extra time), Japan and the USA played..... 

Read more at the: It's a Wonderful Rife Blog. I see from the URL that good old Andrew who runs the Wonderful Rife blog was getting ready to be the first blogger in the world to post about Japan's loss by looking at the URL title: http://wonderfulrife.blogspot.com/2011/07/japan-loses-at-womens-world-cup-of.html?

See? That's dedication from a blogger for you! The guy is getting ready to post as the game is going on! 


Take that old school media!

Actually, I had no idea that this game was even going on and had no idea that Japan was in the finals. I was at a restaurant Sports-Bar type of place and was wondering why it was so crowded. Maybe it was because of this game. I don't really pay too much attention to stuff like this. I left way before the game started.


I don't like crowded places.

If anyone cares, here's what I think of this professional sports stuff in general as I wrote in "Confessions of a Pro Wrestling Announcer" (Yes. I really was a professional wresting announcer):

People pay big money to go watch pro-wrestling; it's a spectacle. But I'll tell you what, it's no more or less fixed or a spectacle than any other professional sport; It's no more or less fixed than any other "game."

My dear sister-in-law wrote a congratulatory note on Facebook to congratulating me on the win by Japan at the "big game". "What big game?" I thought. She said she didn't know I wasn't a soccer fan. I wrote back:

Generally speaking I hate all professional sports (Olympics too) as they are all too nationalistic and involved with money.

If I want to see real sports I go watch kids play. They truly play for the love of the sport and really cry when they lose.

Oh but going to a pro game and eating hotdogs and drinking beer can be fun too because that is an event. Watching on TV is just a game... Boring... Nothing to care about. Just a game... I also don't like how people sometimes get pissed off if "their team" loses. Who cares? If Japan (or USA) wins, it doesn't make me better or enrich my life. It's just big money entertainment. 

I could see someone owning, say, McDonald's stock getting excited and yelling if they "win" and their stock goes up. But what "stock" goes up if some team wins or loses?

See? People who really like sports think I am no fun. They are right. I think pro sports are Bread and Circuses for the masses. Wikipedia describes it well:

the phrase has become an adjective to describe a populace that no longer values civic virtues and the public life. To many across the political spectrum, left and right, it connotes the triviality and frivolity that characterized the Roman Empire prior to its decline.

But, in my way twisted mind, there is one reason that I am happy whenever the Japanese women's team wins. I love it that, in a such a male dominated society, that it is the ladies team that often wins in the world arena! 


So I'm glad the ladies team won! Go ladies!... Whatever team you are on and whatever country you are from!


NOTE: Forgive the cheesy newspaper front page I made. It's a complete ripoff of a newspaper that I was told about when Germany defeated France in the World Cup. That one said something along the lines of "Blitzkrieg! German Forces Crush French Defense for Second Time in 60 Years!" Chuckle! Sports can be fun as long as people don't take this stuff seriously. As you can see, I don't take them seriously at all! 


UPDATE! The Japanese men's Olympics and national teams always fly first-class. But they never win. The girl's teams, on the other hand, win - yet they always fly economy class. This time, after winning, the girl's team coach and players were begging to fly back at least Business class! Now that you know this sexist BS, ask me why I always want the Japanese men's teams to lose and the women's teams to win! Read more on how the world champs are treated like second-class citizens at  Nikkan Gendai 


Thanks to Michele Rogers!