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Tokyo, the Day the War Ended (review)

2006; Volume: 36; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/flm.2006.0006

1548-9922

Raymond Fielding,

Vietnamese History and Culture Studies

Reviewed by: Tokyo, the Day the War Ended Raymond Fielding A newly-released film by French documentary filmmaker Serge Viallet will be of interest to both filmmakers and historians. Entitled Tokyo, the Day the War Ended, the 52-minute film documents, with rarely-seen footage, the events preceding, during, and following the surrender of Japanese representatives aboard the U.S.S. battleship Missouri on September 2, 1945. Viallet spent two years gathering every known piece of motion picture film that was photographed on that historic occasion. [End Page 71] His preparation for the editing of the film included the plotting of the positions and field of view of twenty-six different motion picture cameras, operated by both allied and Japanese cameramen. The result presents a detailed record of the ceremonies and their preparation. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of the Allied Command, reads his opening remarks prior to the signing of the instrument of surrender. Representatives of the allied powers stand behind him. Note framed U.S. Flag mounted on the outer wall of the ship in the background, which was flown on Admiral Perry's flagship during his expedition to Japan in 1853. Courtesy of Army Signal Corps Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 2. Every man onboard the MSS Missouri on 2 September 1945 received a souvenir wallet card attesting to his presence at the surrender ceremonies, with the printed signatures of MacArthur, Nimitz, Halsey, and Murray. Courtesy of U.S. Naval Historical Center Following an introduction describing the conduct of the Pacific War, this film begins its principal coverage several days before the surrender ceremonies. An advance party of American troops had arrived around August 28, surrounded by more than 300,000 heavily armed Japanese troops, whose attitude and possible hostility worried both American and Japanese officials. The arrival of General Douglas MacArthur at Atsugi Airfield, two days later, on August 30 is shown, as is a brief press conference attended by both American and Japanese reporters. There follows both black and white and color footage of MacArthur's automobile caravan on its way from Atsugi Airfield to Yokohama. Photographed from one of the vehicles in the caravan, we see armed Japanese police and soldiers guarding the road for all of the several miles, their backs to the caravan as a gesture of respect. MacArthur and his staff, together with other high-ranking representatives of the allied powers, are housed in one of the few hotels in Yokohama left standing, and they and their comings and goings are covered and discussed. Allied representatives are shown being transported to the ship, followed by the the Japanese surrender party, all of whom assemble on deck as instructed. In some of the shots there is seen, framed and mounted on an the outer wall of the ship, the American flag that was flown on Admiral Mathew Perry's flagship during his first expedition to Japan in 1853. The footage of the ceremony that follows is familiar to most historians. A speech by MacArthur (abbreviated in this film) is followed by his invitation to the representatives of the Japanese government and military to sign the instruments of surrender. This duty is performed by Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and General Yoshijiro Umezu, Chief of the Japanese Army General Staff. Generals Jonathan Wainwright and Percival, recently released from Japanese prisoner of war camps, are then invited to accompany MacArthur to the table as he signs on behalf of all Allied powers, followed by Admiral Chester Nimitz, who signs on behalf of the United States. The numerous representatives of the warring Allied powers are then invited to come forward, one at a time, to sign on behalf of their respective governments. The ceremonies and closing remarks (abbreviated) having been concluded, MacArthur and most of the Allied representatives then depart the lower deck and walk upward to private quarters for a celebratory reception. The Japanese are left standing on the deck in silence, without further comment. There then ensues an event of which this reviewer had seen still photographs but never a motion picture record and which is rarely mentioned in published histories of...