Seen here are screenshots taken from the Science Fiction drama The Man in the High Castle Season Three trailer. If you are aware of this television series, it depicts an alternate reality where the Axis Powers of WWII won the war.
In it, America has been vanquished and further divided into three zones, The Greater Nazi Reich to the east, The Neutral Zone in the Rockies, and the Japanese Occupied Japanese Pacific States. Lucky for us, this is just fantasy and does offer an intelligent drama where a few select people know that the 1960's depicted in the series is not the way history is supposed to be. We won't spoil it for you but enjoy these dramatic photos of the IJN Combined Fleet entering San Francisco Bay.
If you would like to see this clip from Season Three, please view the video below:
By now everyone has heard of Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen's discovery of the USS Lexington. Lady Lex as she was known was sunk by the Imperial Japanese Navy in May 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea. She went down with 216 of her crew and 35 aircraft. This battle had the distinction of being the first carrier battle. Paul Allen's team took some amazing photos from the wreck which is some two miles deep.
Seen hereis the name plate.
Anti-Aircraft Gun.
Wrecked planes with the Pre-War Star before the red dot was painted solide to avoid confusion with the Japanese Rising Sun.
Here's a plane where you can see the Feleix the Cat holding a bomb emblem of the squadron this plane belonged to. Also note, the visible four Japanese kill flags.
Another large gun sitting silently on the ocean floor.
There's only a limited amount of photos available so please check out this video to get better views.
After 72 years since the end of World War Two, the flag that once flew on the flagship of the Combined Fleet the IJN Nagato has been retruned home to Japan. This was once the flag of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto that was taken from the ship after Japan's unconditional surrender in 1945. The Nagato itself was later used as part of the fleet of ships at Bikini Atol after the war. The once proud ship was built so tough, it withstood two atomic bomb blasts before having to be sunk by torpeedo as seen in the photo below.
Going back to Nagato's ensign, the flag had been in storage and was presented by the president and chief executive officer of the USS Missouri Memorial Association in Hawaii Machael Carr to the musuem dedicated to Admiral Yamamoto in his home city of Nagaoka Japan. NHK reported that the musuem cheif Satoshi Maruyama was moved by touching the flag. We at American Mishima appreciate this gesture of good will on the part of the USS Missouri Memorial Association. It is in our opinion, this is another long overdue another jesture of peace and closure to the Showa Era. May her spirit and the memory of the Nagato that carried her live on!
Here's a comparison view of the Imperial Japanese Navy carrier KAGA from 1928 and her modern day descendant the JS KAGA (DDH-184) today. They've come a long way!
Seen here is veteran actor Haruo Nakajima. We by chance came across his unique story through a WWII forum and found it fascinating enough to share with you here. You see, Haruo
Nakajima was conscripted into the IJN at the age of 14. He
served as a gunner on a Mitsubishi G4M"Betty" Bomber, and somehow miraculously survived an encounter
with a Grumman F6FHellcat.Mr. Nakajima is said to have attended Admiral Yamamoto's funeral. If surviving the Hellcat wasn't enough he just happened to be
flying on the day that his new ship, the "Shinano" was sunk with 1500 men going down with her. If not for the war's end, he would
have been assigned to suicide missions on Shinyo suicide boats. Nearly
all of his classmates from training had died on such missions. Somebody was definitely looking out for this man!
Mr. Nakajima would later become famous when he won the role of Godzilla
in 1954. He played the iconic character until 1972, when he retired. He is also known for his work on Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and recently appeared in Steve Okazaki's Documentary MIFUNE THE LAST SUAMURAI. Mr.
Nakajima is now 88 years old still counting his lucky stars! How awesome is that? すごいい!!!
There have been many cases since the end of the Second World War where the children of Veterans discover old war treasures and choose to return such items to history. For the Hartman family of Robert Hartman who served in the US Navy during WWII, such a treasure had been kept in their possession. It had been taken by Robert Hartman when the US took possession of the Nagato. What they had was the Admiral's flag of the IJN Battleship Nagato which served as Admiral Isoroku's Flagship during the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was said the flag was used by the family as a blanket years ago but after Mr. Hartman passed away, his daughter Dianne Hall having realized the historical significance of this flag choose to donate the flag to the US Park Service (which oversees the care of the Pearl Harbor Visitors Center) so that it will honor the veterans who fought on that day. The Park Service says it will seek to preserve the flag for future generations. No word on when it will be on display but know that it is in safe keeping.
With sadness, we regret that inform you that Mr. Kaname Harada the world's oldest Japanese Naval Fighter Ace has passed away at the age of 99. He is best known in the west through his interviews with author Dan King who chronicled his wartime experiences in his book The Last Zero Fighter for whom King had named the book in his honor.
During WWII, Lt.J.G.(Lieutenant Junior Grade) Harada participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor, Wake Island, the Battle of Midway, Guadalcanal and many others. He is credited with 9 Kills and 10 shared aerial victories.
After the war, he founded an award winning pre-school in Nagano. In more recent times he had been an outspoken critic of the recent military buildup by the government of Shinzo Abe. But people who knew him best like Dan King would like us to remember Mr. Harada as a kind and gentle man whose wisdom was not lost on those who would listen to his tales of his tragic generation. Like many men who have seen the horrors of war, Harada suffered from PTSD and would speak of his nightmares. One could only imagine what survivors guilt he must have endured after the wars end. And like my father's Vietnam Generation, the surviving servicemen were blamed by the very people they fought to protect for the war itself. What indignity!
We are fortunate that Dan King (seen in the above photo with Harada) was able to tell his story to dispel such myths of Japanese Servicemen chanting nationalistic slogans in their final moments were not true. More to the contrary their last words were often for their wives and mothers like anyone else at death's door. Harada had long painfully carried the memory of the dead. Now he has left this earth to rejoin his Squadron in heaven. May he find the peace his generation was tragically denied. And further that his story, spirit, and wish for lasting peace and harmony live on for generations to come!
Every now and then we come across some gems on the internet that give us a look how such great films are made. For this edition we have a small collection of photos of the full scale mockups of the Imperial Japanese Navy that were constructed for the 1970 film TORA TORA TORA. As history recalls, the film was a joint American-Japanese production with famed master film maker Akira Kurosawa initially leading the Japanese side of the production. But just after two weeks of filming Kurosawa backed (or more accurately fired by 20th Century Fox) out of the film citing it just wasn't his style of film he was used to making with American producers making him accountable for his every move. While Kurosawa worked the first two years of pre-production and oversaw the filming of the dramatic "picture shots"m of the Japanese fleet, his mark on the film's opening scenes are unmistakable with his use of the natural elements such as big sky shots and the genius to build his full scale mockups of the Flagship Nagato and the Aircraft Carrier Akagi on a beach facing the ocean. Considering there was no CGI back then, this was a brilliant move on the part of the master director. That being said, here's are some of the photos of the set under construction. As with the later 2005 production of Otoko no Tachi no Yamato (Men of the Yamato) attention to detail was done with great precision to ensure the believability of the film.
They made the Nagato look so real, this wooden mockup looks like she could take to the seas!
Carrier Akagi mockup under construction.
Seen here is the Carrier Akagi brought back to life!
Here's a rare photo taken at some distance of the set where the full scale mockup of the Nagato and Akagi sit at the waters edge for filming. It's a shame we couldn't find a clearer photo in color.
On the American Side, Director Richard Fleischer built only one mockup of the USS Arizona for principal photography. The rest was done using model miniatures.
Seen here are the Nagato and Akagi miniatures in the water for the later Japanese scenes.
Here's the same model out of the water.
Considering the technology of 1970, it's fair to say they did an amazing job for their day. If you haven't seen this war classic, it's worth it. But don't take our word for it, see it yourself!
Enjoy!
To learn more of Director Kurosawa's role please watch the second video
detailing the behind the scenes controversy surrounding the Japanese
side of the production.
This last week, Japan's JMSDF showcased it's fleet for its tri-annaul review before Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The Fleet conducted its review in Sagami Bay which included its modern armada of missile guided cruisers, destroyers, submarines, aircraft, and the fleet's largest vessel since WWII the new helicopter carrier the Izumo. While smaller than it's IJN predecessor, Japan's JMSDF is powerful capable force that will soon see the addition of the Izumo Class Helicopter carrier KAGA that will meet the growing security challenges in the region.
The following is a direct speech from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe:
Surrounded by the sea, and living thanks to the sea. Japan is a nation that regards the safety of the seas as its own safety. Today I attended a naval review. I was all the more impressed seeing
the valiant figures of our “personnel defending us out on the sea,”
whose accuracy and precision are unrivaled in spite of the large waves
out in the open sea. The Self-Defense Forces, who
single-mindedly continue to defend the peace of Japan while braving the
angry seas, overcoming air turbulence, or becoming covered in mud.
Those who join the SDF take their own decision to walk down paths where
they take up difficult posts. They are the pride of Japan.As the Commander-in-Chief of the SDF, I would like to express my
heartfelt gratitude to the families of the SDF members for sending
their beloved spouses and children out into the field.
“American Mishima” is the work of Louis Rosas, the son of Mexican Immigrants, whose father served in Vietnam for the US Army and who grew up on glamorized war films and military aviation in the sleepy seaside plains of Oxnard, Calif. With an early fascination of the Second World War embedded in his young mind during the post-Vietnam era, it was his exposure to Akira Kurosawa's samurai epic Ran (Toho, 1985) that changed his views of war while creating a lasting impression of Japanese culture and history. Further inspired by the works of Japanese writer Yukio Mishima, Rosas would go on to study Japanese language and swordsmanship, which led him to the practice of Shingon Buddhism and Shinto. Rosas is also a former student of Shinkendo, the ideal and practice of the samurai code of Bushido in the modern world, which helped shape the creative force that is “American Mishima.”
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