entertainment

Filming underway for movie on Japanese-American units in WWII

18 Comments

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

18 Comments
Login to comment

I sincerely hope this gets shown here as well! Be nice for the Japanese to learn that not all "Japanese" were fanatics and that there were literally thousands of Japanese against Japan.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Some of the men who served in the 442nd stayed on Okinawa and worked for the U.S. Military after the war. I had the pleasure of knowing some of them and they were all good guys with some great stories to tell. They had a building on Camp Kinser that was designated for their use only and they used it for meetings and different events.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Wondering the extent that this production is a remake of the 1951 film (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9LFT_lX-Z8) with the same title.

Or as it says, would the modern one focus on people living in Hawaii around 1941?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

While I am a U.S. citizen by birth, I have no great respect for what the U.S. has done in war. Dropping atomic bombs on civilians is not my idea of a civilized nations idea of warfare....even if the other side started it. (two wrongs do not make a right)

-8 ( +5 / -13 )

"Dropping atomic bombs on civilians is not my idea of a civilized nations idea of warfare."

All the major powers bombed civilians. Before Peal Harbor, Japanese bombers ripped into downtown Singapore and Chinese cities, and it was never a moral issue for the Japanese. Only when bombers fly over Japan did they start seeing it as a moral issue.

7 ( +12 / -5 )

Some Japanese also enlisted to fight in Europe as well. I hope to see this movie, and am glad it is being produced by Hollywood, as not only the Japanese but Americans need to know more about it as well. A lot of Japanese volunteered to get out of the camps they were relocated to at the height of paranoia after Pearl Harbor.

Anyway, I look forward to it.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

The 1951 "Go For Broke" movie is in the public domain and can be viewed online at https://archive.org/details/go_for_broke_ACM#

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Smith,

I believe all Japanese-Americans fought in Europe because the military thought if they were fighting against Japan they'd be shot by US soldiers. Except for translators. Former US Senator Daniel Inouye was a member of the 4442nd and lost his arm in Italy, I believe.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

While I am a U.S. citizen by birth, I have no great respect for what the U.S. has done in war. Dropping atomic bombs on civilians is not my idea of a civilized nations idea of warfare....even if the other side started it. (two wrongs do not make a right)

mt9334: By ending the war so quickly in August 1945, the U.S. kept the Soviet Union out of mainland Japan.

What would Japan be like today if the Soviets had been able to take more than the Kuriles which they still possess?

Do you have any ancestors that were part of the U.S. forces that were going to take part in Operation Downfall, the mainland invasion of Japan?

How many of the millions of American, British, Canadian, Aussie, NZ and French servicemen would've died?

And how many Japanese would've died between the military and the millions of conscripts being readied in 1945?

Probably many more than Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined.

Harry Truman made the right decision, especially after what happened on Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Good luck to producers. Americans are more interested on paying ticket money to star wars and star something's.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

As another commentor pointed out, this film be a remake of a film made much earlier. That one was very good, btw.

I have in-laws who were interred at Manzanar, but refused to return to Japan, another in-law who served in the 442nd Regiment, and other in-laws who were repatrioted to Japan in exchange for Allied civilian prisoners. At least no one starved to death at the American interment camps. Of Americans who were taken prisoner by the Japanese, about 50% were starved and beaten to death. I talked with a Catholic priest who was taken prisoner in Korea and exchanged to the USA after six months. His health was permanently ruined due to the starvation diet he was put on. In Java, 40,000 Dutch civilian prisoners were intentionally starved to death by the occupying Japanese Army.

We also had an ex-kamikaze pilot working at my place of employment. He landed his plane, and then got out and surrendered. He was given asylum, since to return to Japan would have meant almost certain death. I read that about 10% of kamikaze pilots refused to kill themselves, and that that is why the Japanese Air Force took to welding shut their cockpits.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Good. This is a story that needs to be told and retold. In addition to those Japanese-Americans who served in the 100th and 442nd , thousands served in Military Intelligence as interpreters and interrogators. Many served while their families were being interned in camps in the western U.S.

George Takei stared in the Broadway play called “Allegiance” which is about a family that were interned. The film of the play will be shown in theaters on February 19th the anniversary of Executive order 9066 that President Roosevelt signed that resulted in Japanese living in the U.S. and their citizen children being interned.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@JeffLee,

You wrote, "All the major powers bombed civilians."____So? Do you not see the fallacy of, "Everyone has done it, so I will do it too?"

" Before Peal Harbor, Japanese bombers ripped into downtown Singapore and Chinese cities, and it was never a moral issue for the Japanese. "____See above.

"Only when bombers fly over Japan did they start seeing it as a moral issue."_____I am claiming it is a moral issue that has existed since the dawn of time.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

At least no one starved to death at the American interment camps.

You seem to miss the point when the US interned their own citizens.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=archive+japanese+units+in+europe

(youtube): archive japanese units in europe

Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team WWII Army Navy Screen Magazine

Go For Broke! (Restored, 1951) Japanese-Americans fight for their country in WW2 - An Academy-Award-nominated feature film ...

Preface to US WWII informational film: "Know Your Enemy - Japan" (it's more of a disclaimer than a preface, as the rest of the film is about Japanese in Japan, not in US military units):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvcE9D3mn0Q

In the last 100 years a small number of Japanese have come to the United States. Under our law their children, born in this country, are citizens. They have been educated in our schools and speak our language, and a great many of them share our love of freedom and our willingness to die for it.

In Europe a regiment formed of these Americans of Japanese descent, called Nisei, distinguished itself for gallantry against the Nazis. The story of these brave men who, however much they resemble our enemies in physical appearance, have proved their right to American citizenship on the battlefields of Europe, has been told in other informational films. Their story symbolizes the loyal contribution of Americans of Japanese descent in all theaters of war.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@Patrick Hattman,

However one would choose to respond to all of your questions one thing is certain.....all responses would be conjecture. I can no more predict the future than I can predict what "would've happened" under different circumstances in history.

I suggest you read up on "Historians' Fallacies : Toward a Logic of Historical Thought by David Hackett Fischer ", for a detailed discussion regarding this sort of fallacy.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

"Do you not see the fallacy of, "Everyone has done it, so I will do it too?"

No, I see the "fallacy" of deliberately omitting context in a way that distorts one's view on history. A broad perspective is a wonderful thing -- and the enemy of the revisionist.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

mt: You wrote, "All the major powers bombed civilians."____So? Do you not see the fallacy of, "Everyone has done it, so I will do it too?"

It's not that. Why hamstring your war effort and eschew efficient tactics the enemy initiated and is engaging wholeheartedly in? The Axis practiced civilian bombing and total war and scorched earth policies. The Japanese bombed Chongqing, and specifically targeted residential areas, for five years before the US even entered the war.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites