Setsuko Hara In The New Earth (1937)


I have recently been fascinated by the period of time in 1936 and 1937, before Japan's war in China broke out. It was an era of disaster waiting to happen, yet also beauty and cultural achievements, not to mention all the technological breakthroughs (such as the April, 1937 flight from Tokyo to Paris and London by "Japan's Lindbergh," pilot Masaaki Iinuma from Nagano).

We have films and music from that era that help us understand, to some degree, the emotions and hopes of the individuals whose fate would be determined by the war, rather than peace.

Oh well, it is all 75 years ago, who cares?

Well, watch this clip from The New Earth (Japanese title 新しき土, Atarashiki Tsuchi, German title Die Tochter Des Samurai), and you will probably be moved.

It starts in Hiroshima on Miyajima, at Itsukushima Shrine. Still a wonderful location. Amazing to see it the way it looked back then, complete with sacred deer and with no tourists...

The actress is Setsuko Hara, born 1920.



The film was a joint production as Germany and Japan was eying closer ties. According to the Japanese wikipedia article, it helped Nazi Germany understand Japan better, and get over its racist attitudes regarding East Asia and its people. Be that as it may, it was probably also a first introduction for many people to Japanese tea ceremony, archery, flower ceremony, rice farming... The Japanese wikipedia article notes that it shows cool and historically valuable footage of stuff like the modern train lines that I also enjoy learning more about. However, it also goes on to promote the policy of encouraging Japanese people to move to the continent...

The film will be screened in Tokyo on April 7, 2012 at Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, according to MSN/Cinema Today.

Comments

Pandabonium said…
Great find. Thank you. Having walked the same places shown in the clip it takes on a special meaning. I'm looking forward to watching the entire film.
6:25 pm, February 25, 2012
Tom O said…
Sigh... If only so MUCH of Japan cerca 1937 was still around. Summer of 1990, Hiroshima and the last 3 innings of their game v Hanshin Tigers for free, okonimyiaki, clubbing, Miyajima, oyster soba with the brothers that ran the Mercedes dealership in Hiroshima then fishing/beers/waterskiing + amazing O-Bon festivals on that island. Ice cold bottles of Kirin brought to us for free. Almost 22 years later, did I mention how I miss all that???
7:07 am, March 04, 2012
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Global Article 9 Conference to Abolish War

Image
A unique three-day international conference is being held at Makuhari near Tokyo, a day after the 61st anniversary of the enforcement of Japan's Constitution. It is organized by nongovernmental groups, including Japan-based Peace Boat . Organizers said the meeting will provide an opportunity to discuss the significance of the constitutional article that endorses demilitarization and what people can do to promote its spirit, notes The Japan Times . While the constitution stipulates that Japan renounces war as a sovereign right and that it will not maintain land, sea and air forces, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has been keen to make amendments. "The war in Iraq has shown that even the strongest, biggest army in the world can not keep peace in a single city. It proves that aggression never instates peace," Tatsuya Yoshioka, director of Peace Boat and a representative of the event's organizing committee, said during the opening remarks. "Article 9 is a treasu...
Read more

マーティンの鵜の目鷹の目 -世界の消費者運動の旅から

Image
  My new book has been published! マーティン・フリッド (著)   世界中の消費者が同じ課題を抱え、悩み、たたかっている。スウェーデンに生まれ、ヨーロッパ、そして日本の消費者運動の現場を歩いてきた著者が、人びとの日常によりそいながら軽妙なユーモアを交えて食、環境、エネルギー、社会のあり方、政治、経済を考えます。   https://nishoren.net/new-information/14177 Consumers all over the world are facing similar problems, worries, and struggles. In this book, the author, who was born in Sweden and has walked the frontlines of consumer movements in Europe ...
Read more

Salvador Dali, Hiroshima and Okinawa

Image
Spanish artist Salvador Dali was deeply terrified by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki , and his exact, detailed style was very much suited to show the horror of the A-bomb, which America tried to keep a secret by classifying photos and descriptions until the end of the occupation of Japan in 1952. The Bureau of Atomic Tourism has more details if you want to know more about the legacy of nuclear weapons in the U.S. Even today, do people understand the real horror of atomic bombs? If not, then, why not ? Dali's paintings are on display in Fukushima prefecture, where you can view Melancholy Atomic and Uranium Idyll and The Three Sphinxes of Bikini at the Morohashi Museum of Modern Art . Long YouTube video from the Nihon University (Nichidai) channel with an interview featuring Morohashi Eiji, the son of the founder of the unique museum, and scenes from the Morohashi Museum (29:20): #271美術館への誘い ダリの世界 Is there a hidden message in Dali's Bikini hydrogen bomb painting...
Read more