The invention of motion pictures at the end of the 19th century, followed by the advent of “talkies” in 1927, provided an effective means, together with newspapers and radio, for governments to keep their citizens informed. However, if it is true that one person’s “freedom fighter” is another’s “terrorist”, then it is also true that government “information” and government “propaganda” are closely related, so much so that, at times, they are nearly indistinguishable. At no time are the differences between the two less distinguishable than when nations go to war, for the governments of the warring parties require both the wealth and the very lives of their citizenry.
In 2001 Anne Morelli wrote a book entitled The basic Principles of War Propaganda in which she described ten principles of war propaganda that manifest themselves in the media of countries party to the conflict. Using these principles as an analytic tool, this presentation will examine a series of WWII films produced by the Imperial Japanese military, both dramas and documentaries, to reveal the nature of wartime Japanese propaganda. The presentation’s ultimate goal is to enhance participants’ ability to identify and withstand government propaganda, especially during wartime.
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