Children of Japan

The Children of Japan is a 1941 Educational Documentary issued to public schools on the day of the Pearl Harbor incident. This timing was not planned and the film is not war propaganda as at the time of it's production no state of war existed between the US and Japan. The film is notable for it's ironic time of release and it's positive view of the Japanese which compares vastly different then portrayals in war time propaganda that soon followed.

Synopsis
The film follows Taro and Yukiko Yamada on a day of school and after with some segments on the rest of the family's activities. Mr. Yamada works at a train station while Mrs. Yamada and the grandmother stay at home tending to the youngest of the Yamada. After day of learning calligraphy Taro partakes in a game of Baseball while older boys practice fencing. After school and work the whole family set out to attend a festival. First they attend to a shrine and partake in religious reverence before leaving to enjoy the cherry blossoms. Mr. Yamada's hobby is photography and he takes photos of the blossoms. Next they attend a story teller and latter other activities. After the festival the family returns home for dinner as the family's maid attends to her own duties with others. The children go off to sleep while Mr. Yamada enjoys a smoke and the paper while the sun sets over Mount Fiji.

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The Children of Japan