Article about: Visual Research Resources on Japan in WW2 Something useful even if you don't read Japanese Researching Japanese WW2 subjects may seem out of reach for many, simply because of the language, w
Researching Japanese WW2 subjects may seem out of reach for many, simply because of the language, which is really such a great pity, because Japan is undoubtedly the most advanced nation in the current world in allowing easy access to all its historical documents. Whether the original document is stored at the National Library of Parliament, the Self Defense Force Archives or the National Archives, all documents are centrally accessible by internet and downloadable as pdf or jpeg. In addition, all the titles as well as approximately the first half of the first page have been digitally transcribed, so that they are searchable for specific content.
This is a great accomplishment that Japan can be rightly proud of, and the sheer volume of information available just a click away is the closest you can get to time travelling, as it can totally immerse you in the events of those times at least in text form.
But luckily, text is not where it ends. You can browse through all wartime issues of Japan’s equivalent of Life or Signal magazines, and if that is not enough, view all the wartime newsreels, the Japanese equivalent of the German Wochenschau films.
And for those pampered into thinking there’s nothing that beats hearing war stories directly from Grandpa, there are several thousand such accounts recorded and preserved in high definition video from Japanese, British and American soldiers as well as civilians about their war time experiences.
You can also have access to all that information overload for absolutely free and I will now take you to the information portals of each kind of material in turn.
1.写真週報 Shashin Shyuhoh issues from 1938 to 1944
Even if you do not read Japanese, you can surely browse through pictorial magazines and learn things that way, too.
Now comes something that will blow your mind. It is the war history preservation portal created by NHK Japan, what used to be Japan’s national broadcasting station, but now privatized.
They have been investing a lot of time and money for the last 10 or so years to preserve the Japanese war experience for the sake of future generations, before the war generation dies out.
One component of this history portal is the compilation of all the 254 weekly news reels made for weekly screening at movie theaters in an age not yet blessed with TV broadcasting. Reel #1 starts in June 1940 and reel #254 is from July 1945, which became the last reel before the surrender.
It continues again with reel #255 of September 1945 to show news from the postwar occupation years and rebuilding of Japan. For 1953 onwards, when TV broadcasts started, they show selected clips from TV news that have a bearing on the preservation of war history, all the way up to the present day.
For instance, reel #1 contains 5 stories, and you can either just watch one of the 5 by clicking on the photo of your choice, or watch through all 5 by clicking on the first photo.
Let me demonstrate to you how effective this medium is by using it to prove that the famous Kamikaze headbands sold as pilot’s headbands actually were for wear by students conscripted into factory labor.
The real aim of NHK was to preserve as many testimonials of wartime experience as possible, while the war generation was still alive for interviews. They have accumulated thousands and their stories are available on video at the same portal as above. These testimonials are not only from soldiers, but include civilians, and soldier testimonials are further segmented into Japanese, American, British, Korean, Manchurian and Taiwanese testimonials, further broken down to Army, Navy, Branch of service or unit.
For instance, among the Imperial Navy groupings there is a grouping for “Shinyo Suicide Boat Assault Force Members” Clicking on that takes you to a page containing video testimonials from as many as 17 members of the unit, the first one of which was from an instructor for the unit.
Did they really wear bullet proof helmets as in collector lore? Hear their stories to find out. As with the news reels, transcripts will appear in the right box and these you can have Google translate into English for the Japanese testimonials. For the English testimonials, American soldiers are here, British here and Japanese Americans here.
Once again, these photos uploaded in reverse order and should be viewed from bottom up
The first GI testimony (photo below) talks about "Senninbari" worn by the Japanese in section 2 of his interview.
I will add more at a later date, but I think that gives you enough to chew on for a while.
I need to stay in hospital for the next few days, so that was my homework for you before I went. I personally browsed through all magazine issues to illustrate my articles, but newsreels and testimonials I have not screened in any comprehensive manner so there should be enough new and rewarding discoveries for you there.
I know this an old thread but I have a question regarding research and I thought I should post here instead of creating a whole new thread. I am trying to do research on one of my ancestors who served in the IJA around the late Meiji period. I know his name, and some simple information but other than that I know close to nothing about him. I was wondering, is there some sort of archive for Japanese army service members or some other online resources I might be able to use to find out more about him?
I'll answer, based on my own personal experience. Yes, it can be done. But you have to
speak, read, and write Japanese.
fill out the forms downloaded from the site [I forgot which one]; you will need to list your relative's name, unit (if possible), home of record, and probably other stuff that I've forgotten.
obtain copies of your 戸籍 koseki [family register] from your city office.
submit copies of the registers; registers cannot be older than 3 months old
I forgot the rest ... there were other requirements.
It was a lot of red tape and we were not willing to go through all that at the time, right after my father-in-law died. So, mission failure!!
Perhaps Nick knows a short-cut. This is much more difficult than researching a Third Reich solder!!
Exceptional cases, like when the soldier had been awarded a foreign medal/order, including those from Manchuria (applications for permission to wear) will remain on accessible public record, but otherwise, Japan is getting stricter by the year about enforcing protection of personal information, so they tend to give out less and less even when you go through all the red tape.
Visual Research Resources on Japan in WW2
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