75 Films & TV Shows Set In Japan During The 1940s
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Barefoot Gen Part 3: Battle of Hiroshima
Hiroshima Prefecture The 1940sSecond live action "Barefoot Gen" sequel.
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Pica-Don
Hiroshima Prefecture The 1940sOn August 6th, 1945, Little Boy was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. — An animation documentary describing the tragic consequences of the A-bomb explosion in Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945. The flash of the A-bomb, 100 times brighter than the sun, is called "PICA", and the enormous shock wave which came right after the flash is called "DON". At the time this film was completed, it was the very first attempt in the world to deal with such a sensitive subject of Hiroshima using animation media.
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MacArthur
🇯🇵 Japan 🇵🇭 Philippines 🇰🇷 South Korea The 1950s The 1940sThe film portrays MacArthur's (Gregory Peck) life from 1942, before the Battle of Bataan, to 1952, the time after he had been removed from his Korean War command by President Truman (Ed Flanders) for insubordination, and is recounted in flashback as he visits West Point.
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Barefoot Gen: Explosion of Tears
Hiroshima Prefecture The 1940sFirst live action "Barefoot Gen" sequel.
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Barefoot Gen
Hiroshima Prefecture The 1940sFirst live action adaptation of Keiji Nakazawa's manga.
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Under the Flag of the Rising Sun
Tokyo Prefecture 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea The 1970s The 1950s The 1940sA war widow determined to clear the name of her disgraced husband, who was court-martialed for desertion and executed. Official records have been destroyed, and the ministry that distributes benefits continues to deny her a pension. Twenty-six years after the war, she seeks out four survivors of her husband's garrison. Each tells a dramatically different story about her husband's conduct, but she is determined to learn the truth.
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Welcome to the Club
Hiroshima Prefecture The 1940sThe picture that insults everyone regardless of race, creed or color! — An Army morale officer hits racism when he tries to put singers in an officers club in 1945 Hiroshima.
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Tora! Tora! Tora!
Hawaii District of Columbia Tokyo Prefecture The 1930s The 1940sThe incredible attack on Pearl Harbor. — In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code words use by the lead Japanese pilot to indicate they had surprised the Americans, covers the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which plunged America into the Second World War.
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Frankenstein vs. Baragon
🇩🇪 Germany Shiga Prefecture Osaka Prefecture Hiroshima Prefecture Gunma Prefecture The 1960s The 1940sA fearsome kaijin? A mad new antagonistic kaiju? A golden entertainment epic of Japan-U.S. collaboration! — During WWII, Germans obtain the immortal heart of Frankenstein's monster and transport it to Japan to prevent it being seized by the Allies. Kept in a Hiroshima laboratory, it is seeming lost when the United States destroys the city with the atomic bomb. Years later a wild boy is discovered wandering the streets of the city alone, born of the immortal heart.
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Bridge to the Sun
Tokyo Prefecture The 1940s The 1930sTheir love was a bridge between two worlds! — Tells the true story of Gwen Terasaki, who falls in love with, then marries a Japanese diplomat. When war breaks out they find animosity and trouble from both sides.
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Hiroshima Mon Amour
Hiroshima Prefecture The 1940sFrom the measureless depths of a woman's emotions... — The deep conversation between a Japanese architect and a French actress forms the basis of this celebrated French film, considered one of the vanguard productions of the French New Wave. Set in Hiroshima after the end of World War II, the couple -- lovers turned friends -- recount, over many hours, previous romances and life experiences. The two intertwine their stories about the past with pondering the devastation wrought by the atomic bomb dropped on the city.
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The Teahouse of the August Moon
Okinawa Prefecture The 1940sAll The Riotous Fun Of The Prize-Winning Stage Comedy! — An Okinawan translator introduces U.S. occupation forces to the joys of local life.
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Joe Butterfly
Tokyo Prefecture The 1940sThe Uproarious Saga of Those Hilarious Heroes Who Took Tokyo in a Storm of Laughter with their Riotous Operation Kimono! — The staff of "Yank" magazine are among the first American troops into Tokyo after the Japanese surrender. Their mission: produce an issue of the magazine...in three days. To accomplish the seeming impossible, they reluctantly enlist the aid of black marketeer and arch-conniver Joe Butterfly, who sets them up in a palatial private mansion, complete with lovely daughter -- strictly against regulations. How much trouble can our heroes talk their way out of?
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Times of Joy and Sorrow
Mie Prefecture Hokkaido Prefecture The 1980s The 1940sThe story of the trials and tribulations of a lighthouse keeper and his wife.
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Twenty-Four Eyes
🇯🇵 Japan The 1940s The 1930s The 1920sSchoolteacher Hisako Oishi struggles to imbue her students with a positive view of the world despite the fact that war is looming.
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Above and Beyond
Hiroshima Prefecture The 1940sThe love story behind the billion dollar secret! — The story of Colonel Paul Tibbets, the pilot that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Although unaware of the full potential of this new weapon, he knows that it can do tremendously more damage than any other weapon used before, and that the death toll resulting from it will be huge. He is reluctant to be the person who will end so many lives, but as time goes on, the pressure upon him only increase.
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Children of Hiroshima
Hiroshima Prefecture The 1940sShows the devastation caused by the atomic bomb, and by use of a fictional storyline, portrays the struggle of the ordinary Japanese people in dealing with the aftermath.
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The Beginning or the End
Hiroshima Prefecture The 1940sThe research, development, and deployment of the first atomic bomb, as well as the bombing of Hiroshima, are detailed in this docudrama.
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No Regrets for Our Youth
Tokyo Prefecture Kyoto Prefecture The 1940s The 1930sYukie, the well-bred daughter of a university professor, is shocked when her father is relieved of his post for his political teachings during a purge of anti-militarism in pre-war Kyoto. Years go by as she is courted by two of her father's former students; one a fiery leftist, the other more moderate and equable.
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Blood on the Sun
🇯🇵 Japan The 1940sHaving a wonderful time In Tokyo! — Nick Condon, an American journalist in 1945 Tokyo, publishes the Japanese master plan for world domination. Reaction from the understandably upset Japanese provides the action, but this is overshadowed by the propaganda of the time.
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Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo
California Tokyo Prefecture The 1940sHeart-Warming Romance . . . Ripped from the Heart! — In the wake of Pearl Harbor, a young lieutenant leaves his expectant wife to volunteer for a secret bombing mission which will take the war to the Japanese homeland.
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The Purple Heart
Tokyo Prefecture The 1940sAn EPIC SAGE of RAW COURAGE! — This is the story of the crew of a downed bomber, captured after a run over Tokyo, early in the war. Relates the hardships the men endure while in captivity, and their final humiliation: being tried and convicted as war criminals.
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Destination Tokyo
Tokyo Prefecture The 1940sExplosive ! . . . And As Big As The Broad Pacific ! — During World War II, Captain Cassidy and his crew of submariners are ordered into Tokyo Bay on a secret mission. They are to gather information in advance of the planned bombing of Tokyo. Along the way, the crew learn about each other as they face the enemy and some of them lose their lives.
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Bombardier
New Mexico Aichi Prefecture The 1940sSee the bombing of Tokyo before your very eyes — A documentary/drama about the training of bombardiers during WWII. Major Chick Davis proves to the U.S. Army the superiority of high altitude precision bombing, and establishes a school for bombardiers. Training is followed in semi-documentary style, with personal dramas in subplots. The climax is a spectacular, if somewhat jingoistic, battle sequence.
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Behind the Rising Sun
🇯🇵 Japan 🇨🇳 China The 1930s The 1940sThe year's most timely story. — A Japanese publisher urges his American-educated son to side with the Axis.