Blessing on our nation and all her people. With the humility never to take for granted their selflessness in the face of givetation in danger and us grace to draw inspiration from the heroes of pearl harbor, as we face the challenges and dangers of our own time. Liberty,hearts to love and guide our bodies, minds, and souls towards the true and lasting peace that is the fruit of moral strength and righteous courage. Greater love has no one than this, the one laid down his life for his friends. Always weys, always, remember pearl harbor. When we cry to thee for those in peril on the sea. Amen. This december in braille seven marks the 75th anniversary of the japanese attack on pearl harbor this december 7 marks the 75th anniversary of the attack on pearl harbor. Up next on reel america, know your enemy, japan. An hourlong u. S. Army film directed by frank capra. The film portrays japan as a nation is determined to rule the world through military conquest. The production began in 1942, but there were several delays and revisions, and it was not released until august 1945, too late to encourage soldiers and the American Public to make sacrifices for the war effort. This contains many graphic scenes of war and racially insensitive language some viewers may find disturbing. Banzai. Banzai. [chanting] [indiscernible] [chanting] narrator we shall never completely understand the japanese mind, but then they dont understand ours either. Otherwise there never would have been a pearl harbor. But we must try to understand japan because we have become locked in the closest of all relationships, war. Whether we like it or not, we and the japanese are going to be at very close range for a very long time. So lets see what kind of people these japanese really are, what they believe in, what they want, and how they get it. And if this tale begins to get a little fantastic, bear with us, we are dealing with a fantastic people. First, lets examine a typical japanese soldier. His average height is five feet three inches. His average weight, 117 pounds. He and his brother soldiers are as much alike as photographic prints off the same negative. His pay is ¥10 or about 2. 36 a month. His personal equipment is simple but practical. Is bullet is supplied with ammunition. The load he carries weighs about 60 pounds, more than half his weight. His uniform is ill fitting, his appearance unsoldierly, even comic according to western standards, and though he may lack precision, but he is hard, he is able. He knows his job. His endurance is phenomenal. He would just as soon go over a mountain as around it. He lives off rice, rice and fish, or occasionally rice and meat, but often on rice alone, and he is proud of it. He is prouder still of the fact that to be a soldier is the highest human achievement in japan. He has been trained to be a soldier almost from birth, and he has the belief that japanese are descendents of gods and destined to rule the earth and all who live on it. To this end, treachery, brutality, rape and torture all are justified and used against nonjapanese. Narrator in combat, his single aim is to close with the enemy in handtohand fighting. He believes in the attack itself there is some mystic quality by which greater numbers bearing superior numbers can be vanquished. In his mind, there is usually no question of choice between death and surrender. To him, death in battle is the attainment of an ideal. Where his flag leads, he follows in a blind emotional rush. For his flag not only represents its country, it is also the image of his god of gods. His flag is the image of the rising sun. And the rising sun is the symbol of the emperor. To the japanese, their emperor is the most holy of holies. Their visible god. He is also their political leader, the natural and supernatural, religion and politics all done up in a oneman package, entrusted to one man, the powers of the president of the United States, the Prime Minister of great britain, the premier of soviet russian, and mixed in the pope, the archbishop of canterbury, the head of the Russian Orthodox church, then top it all with the Divine Authority of our own son of god, and you will begin to understand what hirohito means to the japanese, why they call him the god emperor. Four to the japanese, hirohito is a direct descendent of the sun, and what is so high, so mighty, so brilliant as the sun. Accordingly, no one can stand above or look down upon the emperor. When he passes through the streets, all windows above the first floor must be tightly shuttered. The train to tokyo from anywhere in japan is the up train to tokyo because the emperor lives there. Nor can the emperor be imitated in any way. Only his automobile may be moon colored. Not even his tailor may touch the person of the emperor, for who would lay hands upon the sun . If you are japanese, it would hurt your eyes to look at hirohito, just as it would hurt your eyes to look at the blazing sun. Nor would anyone dream of handling his uncovered picture. If you are japanese, it would when hirohitos face appeared on the front cover of an american magazine, the japanese government filed an official protest with the american state department. Whatever takes place in japan, it is he, the god emperor, that causes it. From him, all things emanate, and in him all things subsist. He makes the japanese rice grow, he makes japanese soldiers conquer the world. In his name, they bring to other people justice, enlightenment, truth, whole prosperity, and peace. The year 1940 was the holy year in japan. The nation celebrated the 2600th anniversary of its founding by the first god emperor, jimmu. [chanting] narrator if you are japanese, you believe that jimmu was the grandson of prince ninigi, who was the son of the sun goddess, ameterasu, as she said to her princes, go down and rule over luxuriant reed plains. So he descended from heaven to the land of reed plains. He took the daughter of the mountain deity. She bore him a son. The son married a daughter, the goddess of the sea, and they also had a son. Exactly 2600 years ago, jimmu proclaimed himself emperor over all the islands, saying let us extend our capital until it covers the Eight Corners of the world under one roof. In this way, the japanese empire was created. Hirohito is the 120th descendent of the sun goddess, and since the beginning, the emperors of gods have mingled their flesh with mortal flesh, it follows all japanese are cousins in divinity. The soldier and the wrestler, the wrestler and the priest. The woman in the rice fields. The factory worker, the geisha girl, the businessman, the diplomat, the fisherman off california, all are members of one family whose blood is superior to the blood of any other race on earth because it is mixed with the liquid sunshine of the gods, and whats more, they believe it. And being of divine origin, all their acts fall into a divine path called the way of the gods or shinto, which brings us to the National Religion of japan, shintoism. Narrator now shintoism will not be easy to understand, but since it is the heart, brain, and soul of the nation and dictates all japanese actions for the living and for the dead, it is important that we try to understand it. According to shinto, the population of japan is one side heaven, the emperor, 9 million minor gods, 75 million living people, and billions upon billions of ghosts, the spirits of all japanese who have died in the past. These spirits stand watch over all japan, follow their soldiers into battle and serenely float around in every japanese house, where guests are frequently introduced to them. They are so near, the living merely have to clap their hands to call their attention. They are fed choice food and incense is burned for them. Each living japanese is merely a link in this endless chain of ghosts. He is identical with them except for the unimportant fact that he breathes and can be seen. Each living japanese knows he is constantly surrounded by these spirits who guard him and watch over him to see that he obeys the emperor and follows the way of the gods. To watch over special japanese activities, there is a host of minor gods. The volcano is a god. The lightning. There is a god of the silkworm, of god of the night wind. These pearl divers have a god. And annually, they hold a ceremony for him. These farmers have a rice god to whom they offer prayers for a good harvest. These scarecrows are all gods of one kind or another. There are over 100,000 shinto shrines in which these local gods and spirits are worshiped. For the living japanese, shinto decrees that all their actions must imitate the way of the gods who handled chopsticks thusly, arrange flowers thusly, drink tea thusly, worship the emperor thusly, enter a room thusly, greet an acquaintance thusly. Now on the surface, shinto seems to be a nice, quite religion for a nice, quaint people, and in the olden days it used to be just that. But today, there is a diabolical joker in shintoism. Since about 1870, the state has forced into the teachings of shinto a fanatical doctrine, a doctrine that has brought death to untold millions of asiatics and now thousands upon thousands of americans. Narrator this doctrine is based on the divine command that jimmu, the first god emperor, was supposed to have given his people 2600 years ago. Let us extend the capital and cover the Eight Corners of the world under one roof. To cover the Eight Corners of the world under a japanese roof, the japs have a special name for his divine command. It has become the National Ambition of japan. From the viewpoint of hakkoichiu, the emperor of japan is all the races of the world. There are no seven seas, only ocean not to be recognized from the great japanese sea. Narrator in 1930, the modern american collegeeducated minister matsuoka said, to Save Humanity will with the great empire, spirit in which jimmu founded the empire, japan should take over the world. Narrator if you are japanese, you believe you have been commanded by heaven to conquer all other races and peoples and put them under japanese rule. If you are japanese, you believe the place of honor among the spirits is reserved for those who die in battle, for they become warrior gods and are enshrined in a sacred temple, yasukuni shrine. The names of soldiers killed in battle are written on little tablets and placed in the inner recesses of this most holy yasukuni shrine. That is the greatest honor that man can achieve in japan, to die in battle and be enshrined in yasukuni, for even the emperor comes to bow to him. That is why soldiers when saying goodbye to each other often say, see you in yasukuni. That is why mothers and wives accept the ashes of their dead soldiers without grief or sorrow. The silent victorious return, it is called, for the dead are warrior gods who live on beside them to be cherished and cared for, to be given food and drink and a lighted cigarette to smoke. That is why jap soldiers would rather be killed than surrender, for to be killed means they become warrior gods. Two surrender means everlasting shame and dishonor to them and their family and all of their ancestors. If you are japanese, you believe these things implicitly. Banzai, banzai, banzai. Narrator but if you are not japanese, what then is the real japan . The japan of the geographer, the anthropologist, and the historian . The japan of which the japanese themselves know little or nothing. The name japan comes from two chinese words, ji and pen, the literal translation of which is the land where the sun comes from. The chinese called it that because japan laid to the east. Geographers say japan is a chain of volcanic islands 1200 miles long and an average of 120 miles wide, a total land mass being a little larger than the state of california. Rocky and mountainous, only 16 of japan is suitable for farming. Every human being in japan lives within sight of mountains, many of them from 6000 to 12,000 feet high. There are some 50 active volcanoes scattered through japan. An average of four times a day, japan has earthquakes, severe shocks occurring once every two and a half years, a disaster once every 25 years. Narrator there are some 45 cities with a population of over 100,000. Only three of which are beyond the range of naval guns. Tokyo is the capital with a population of 7,900,000, it is the thirdlargest city in the world. And what of the people of japan and their socalled divine origin . Anthropologists say the original inhabitants were a hairy, barbarian people called ainus. Later on, fierce mongolian tribes moved in and begin conquering the ainus. Still later, other tribes from many sources arrived. A diffusion of all these tribes and races resulted in the japanese today, not of one pure blood, but of a well mixed plasma cocktail of ainu, mongol, and more. Of the history of japan, historians say somewhere around the beginning of the christian era, the elevated a chief or in this case high priest, in this case the emperor, who claimed to have an inside track with the gods. This is evolved into shintoism, and the emperor sun myth became the dominant power. The early emperors had little political power because the islands were divided, ruled over by powerful barons or daimyos. These daimyos had large, wellpaid private warriors called samurai. The samurai were the important and privileged class, real aristocrats who lived off the fat of the land without working. As a badge of rank, they wore two swords, a short sword for committing harakiri been captured or disgraced, and a large twohanded sword they fought with. With this sort, it was their privilege to lop off the heads, arms, ears of the peasants either for practice or amusement. The samurai developed a code of rules for themselves called bushido, the code of the warrior. Bushido extolled absolute loyalty to one superior and reckless bravery in battle. But most important, bushido not only sanctioned doubledealing and treachery, but looked upon it as an art to be cultivated, it encouraged ambush, jump a man from behind when he is unarmed, when he is alone and you have a gained. Gang. That is bushido, the art of treachery and the Double CrossingNational Code of japan. Harakiri was also a privilege of the samurai. When condemned to death, they were allowed to kill themselves rather than be beheaded. The executioners axe was for the common people. As a result, harakiri became an elaborate ceremony, a bond that showed bravery and indifference to pain. A mans son or his best friend stood by with a big sword to chop his head off in case he lost his nerve. The daimyos and their paid samurai engaged in unending bloody civil war with each other for the right to become the shogun. Narrator being the shogun meant being top dog among all the daimyos, a dictator of dictators, ruling the island as the emperor was kept in the background. In the year 1592, the powerful shogun thought they and japan were Strong Enough to make their first bid to cover the world with the japanese rule, and they picked china as the first victim. Hidiyoshi invaded korea, but chinese from other provinces came to the aid of the koreans. The japs were stuck, and when hidiyoshi died suddenly, the invasion was called off. They did a good job of plunder. They brought back 30,000 pickled ears and noses of chinese and koreans killed in battle. These they buried in what is now known as the ear mound in the city of kyoto. Something new came to these bloodthirsty people, something new and strange. In the year 1521, magellan had sailed around the world to the philippines. In his wake came spanish and portuguese missionaries who eventually visited the japanese islands. The strange new thing they brought was christianity, the revolutionary doctrine of peace on earth and the equality and brotherhood of man. Here was something that dignified the lowly japanese serfs as human beings. Soon there were some 200 churches and over 200,000 converts. The warlords became practical. They thought they were teaching tolerance, peace, and even equality, so they acted. Narrator 137 churches were destroyed in nagasaki, all christian converts in tokyo were burned at the stake. Throw out the west. Throw out its poisonous doctrine of peace. And with that, japan closed its doors. No one could leave japan. No one could enter. Foreign sailors shipwrecked on their shores were tortured and beheaded. For 200 years, japan remained completely isolated, and in those 200 years, the World Advanced more than it had in the previous 1000 years. Voltaire, washington, jefferson, franklin, pasteur. The americans started a revolution for the belief that all men were created equal. The french fought for liberty, equality, and fraternity. The power of steam was discovered, and the steamboat and steam engine began to narrow the oceans and continents. The telegraph was invented. China was opened up to the trade of the world, but during all this time, japan was closed, no news reached her shores. She remained a nation blacked out from the rest of the world, still living in the middle ages. Then in 1853, just 92 years ago, Commodore PerrysAmerican Fleet of four ships sailed into yokohama bearing a message from president fillmore in the interest of trade. The japanese warlords woke with a shock from their 200 years of selfimposed isolation. They realized that the harry white barbarian had machines and weapons that made him powerful. If the sons of heaven were to rule the earth, their spears and swords would be of little avail. Also, they realized how weak and divided they really were compared to western nations. Hastily the feuding barons stopped fighting among themselves and joined together, but they needed a central figure around whom they could rally. Available was the god emperor who up until now had been more or less of a stooge. So in 1868, the warlords did away with the position of shogun and elevated Emperor Meiji to supreme dictatorship over all speak for him and to guide his speak for him and to guide his policies, a position they have hung on to ever since. Now for a strong military, paid warriors, the samurai, were too few for a national army, so they introduced another revolutionary idea in the japanese mind. The sons of peasants were suddenly permitted the great privilege of bearing arms, and it was a great privilege, for being a soldier almost meant being a noble. And to sell this program, the warlords soon used religion. They revived shintoism and forced emperor worship and thoughts of conquest to be preached by all shinto priests. Thus japan rid herself of all the old samurai, and the bushido code was passed on. The warlords now flung open their doors to the west. Posts and telegraphs were introduced, railroads, the european calendar, photography. European dress, a frenzy of modernization seized upon the land, with swiftness such as the world