Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows Allied attempts to 're-educate’ the Japanese population and transform Japan into a peaceful democratic state after the Second World War. Street scenes show occupation forces mingling with civilians. In a library there are new textbooks about democracy, and the narrator says that 'existing textbooks have been revised’, 'fairy stories … eliminated’, and newspapers reduced to one sheet so more textbooks can be printed. There are girls and boys in classrooms, and a playground scene is contrasted with pre-War military-style exercises.

Educational value points

• The clip focuses on the comprehensive re-education program designed to transform what the clip calls an 'ultranationalistic’ society into a peace-loving democracy. The clip is part of a propaganda film made to reassure Australian audiences that Japanese militarism would not re-emerge after the War. Many Australians had died during hostilities with the Japanese and they had witnessed the effects of Japanese militarism on returning Australian prisoners of war.

• This clip promotes the Allied effort to use education to transform militaristic Japanese society into an egalitarian democracy. All textbooks, curriculum and teaching personnel came under the education division of the Supreme Command of the Allied Powers, which introduced reforms such as free compulsory co-education, new textbooks about democracy and replacing military training in the playground with children’s games.

• The confident language of the commentary reflects the film’s aim to depict 1940s Western democracy, science, education and society as superior. The narrator describes the new textbooks as presenting the world’s ‘fundamental truths’, in contrast to pre-War Japanese education, which is described as ‘false doctrines’ and ‘fairy stories’. The narrator implies that the education program can deliver not only peace but an 'improved’, fairer society.

• Image and sound are used to communicate the propagandist message that the new generation of Japanese children will differ from their parents. Images of happy children in a classroom and a playground, and an upbeat music track and children singing reinforce this message. In contrast a gong and more sombre music introduce images associated with the past militarism of Japan.

• As illustrated in the clip the Allies concentrated much of their efforts on teaching primary-school children in the belief that this was where the basic teaching of democracy could have the greatest effect in order to create real societal change over time. As part of this objective teachers with ‘militaristic and nationalistic’ tendencies were dismissed as having no part to play in the new education system.

• Some of the Japanese civilian population of 1948 are seen but their situation is not explored. Unemployment was high, many people were impoverished and food was scarce. Several of the men in the clip, including one of the shoe-shiners, wear army fatigue hats. Little was done for returned Japanese soldiers. Many tried to make a living performing menial tasks such as shoe-shining. Tokyo had also sustained extensive firebombing but no evidence of that is shown.

This clip shows Allied attempts to 're-educate’ the Japanese population and transform Japan into a peaceful democratic state after the Second World War. Street scenes show occupation forces mingling with civilians. There are girls and boys in classrooms, and a playground scene is contrasted with pre-War military-style exercises.

Narrator Japan is working — for what? Her conquerors, under American direction, have set out to transform a people who lived for years under a military dictatorship, into a democracy.

The foundation of the whole plan is re-education. A library representative of the world’s knowledge of fundamental truths has been selected. Upon the facts there contained, new textbooks have been compiled and the fairy stories taught as the evolution of the land have been eliminated.

The Supreme Command of Allied Powers’ Education Division co-opted Japanese printing plants for the biggest mass printing job ever done in Nippon. Newspapers voluntarily restricted their size to one sheet and subscribed the newsprint saved to the re-educational program. Rotary presses have so far turned out 130 million books. Existing textbooks have been revised and the ultranationalistic material removed.

Upon the plastic minds of children in the primary grades, the greatest impact can be made. The lessons learned now will remain for life in the mass sense. Individuals there will always be who seek to tread new paths, but the basic teachings of democracy will sink deep with time, provided always that the influences the child meets in its home life are not hostile.

The secondary schools for boys were formerly the happy hunting grounds for Japanese militarists. Military drill was insisted upon during every recreation period. The new system provides for equal opportunity for girls, and, for the first time, there is co-education, a radical idea for Japan, which has always regarded the female of the species as inferior.

The Japanese school playground today is a playground. It’s devoted to the things healthy-minded youngsters like to do.

In sharp contrast was the schoolground of pre-war years. Then it was a cradle of militarism, devoted to the false doctrines of those who believed that Japan’s destiny was to one day rule the world.