Essay: Know Your Enemy (film)

In any conflict or war, opposing forces are as strategic and deliberate as the most well-trained and elite boxers. The tension between the Americans and Japanese during World War II was no exception. In one corner in red and white weighing in at an average of 117 pounds, filled with phenomenal endurance and carrying 60 pounds of ammo on their backs were the Japanese. In the other corner, in red, white, and blue weighing in at an average of 150 pounds and filled with patriotism and pride, were the Americans. From production to reveal, Know Your Enemy Co-directed by Frank Capra and Joris Ivens tries to provoke and anger the Americans in much the same way opposing boxers do in a lead up to their fight. Within in minutes of the film, a voiceover gives specific details of a common Japanese soldier as the narrator describes their average weight, height, and impeccable endurance. Undoubtedly, this occurs to paint a picture of the enemy and their physical characteristics. The U.S. War Department believed the best way to prepare the American soldiers mentally for the war against the Japanese was by creating a documentary that painted a harsh and provocative picture of not only the Japanese and their culture but also the environment in which they would be fighting. Due to a disagreement between Ivens and the United States military over the extreme propaganda used in Know Your Enemy, the release of the film was not until the war was nearly over. This film along with race-based propaganda were merely two of many ways the United States government used publicity to promote the fight against the Japanese.
The production of Know Your Enemy had a rocky beginning due to the U.S. government’s inability to decide what foreign policy they wanted to present towards Japan, and due to a different vision between the U. S government and Joris Ivens, the U.S. government removed Ivens from the film causing a delay in the project. The U.S. government hired Frank Capra and Joris Ivens to supervise the documentary; however, after a dispute between Ivens and the U.S. Army about the approach Ivens portrayed towards the Japanese, they ask him to leave the production team. Ivens portrayed the Japanese as open-minded people being directed by a dictator, Emperor Hirohito, but the production realized they could not classify Emperor Hirohito in this manner. Instead in the film, it tries to paint the importance of the emperor to the Japanese. The film depicts the emperor and his divine character, and the documentary also claims in the eyes of the Japanese he is equivalent to President of the United States, Prime Minister of Great Britain, the Premier of the Soviet Union, the Pope, the archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Russian orthodox, and the authority of God. Frank Capra had two preeminent objectives for the film: to win the war and win the peace. One can see these goals as clear as the narrator constantly says “peace” throughout the film while displaying dead Japanese citizens, and Japan conquering other countries. Capra’s direction for the film steered towards racism while using footage ranging from newsreels, the UN, enemy film, fictional Japanese movies, and the war department supervised -enactments that. However, how would this film have impacted American soldiers that misdirected by this racist, wartime propaganda?
The film’s focus was to introduce Japan’s history and customs to American soldiers, and the effect of the presentation of their ancient customs was to create as much division between the United States and Japan. In the film the narrator even states that Americans will never truly understand the Japanese mind, but they will never understand America’s. Due to this division of misunderstanding of one another cultures events like Pearl Harbor occurred. In the film, it portrays the Japanese as brainwashed by their religion and blinded by their vainness. The project claims Japan’s culture as being centered on the Japanese Emperor that was a god, descended from the Sun itself., and gods and spirits surrounded the living Japanese. The spirits would ensure that their actions imitated the way of the gods. The film describes Shinto, a Japanese religion forced upon that caused suffering and death to millions of innocent Asians and thousands of American. Since 1870, the national goal of Shinto was “to let us extend the capital and cover the eight corners of the world under one roof”. Along with the Shinto religion were Shinto shrines placed in sacred temples where the enshrinement of all of Japan’s soldiers that died during war and where the spirits of those killed in battle return.  The film described being in this sacred temples as the “Greatest Honor” that the Japanese soldiers were more than fine with dying for their nation. The film also discusses that the Japanese descended according to expert anthropologists from “hairy barbarians” called Ainu, Mongol, Manchu, and Malaysian. The combination all these tribes came to form the Japanese citizen today. The film continues to describe the Japanese has experienced leadership from barbaric, brutal fighters throughout its entire history like the samurai fighters. Most American soldiers could see the presentation of the samurai fighters as harsh and uncivil. The documentary states that samurai fighters would behead or cut off ears of peasants for practice or pure enjoyment. Samurai fighters would battle against one another to be the shogun, a title the Emperor granted that to the country’s top military commander. The code of conduct for samurai fighters was Bushido which extolled full loyalty to one’s superior and “not only sanctioned double dealing and treachery but looked at it as an art to be cultivated”.  This code of conduct for samurai fighters soon developed into the code of conduct for Japan overall. From the context presented it can be that the purpose of this film was to portray the Japanese people as “an obedient mass with a single mind” and to encourage the American soldiers to continue fighting to preserve peace and to win the war.
Like the film presented to American soldiers, American and Japanese artist commonly produced race based propaganda. The art and images that represented one another cultures revealed not only the perspectives of one another but also the racism that laid beneath their viewpoints. An example of dehumanizing of the enemy is This is the Enemy, a propaganda poster portrays the Japanese as an animalistic creature. The creature is holding a knife towards an innocent American woman as it tries to grasp the woman. The image creates a dark, spine-chilling illusion, and expression on the Japanese soldier’s face shows anger and determination. The depiction of the Japanese soldier creates fear and disgust in the minds of Americans. The image displays the Japanese nation as a barbaric nation willing to do whatever it takes to defeat the United States. Another form of racist propaganda is Tokio Kid Say. Tokio appeared frequently within WWII propaganda posters. Again the presentation of Japan equates to an animal-like creature by the artist, Jack Campbell. In this poster with his pointed ears and sharp fangs Tokio holds bloody knife behind his back while squinting his eyes at himself. In the bottom in the text the artist uses the word Jap to shows a racial slur used against the Japanese during WWII. Propaganda and media are powerful weapons that target other races and cultures, and it causes nations to create negative perceptions on other countries. Although race based propaganda seems beneficial during times like war, does bashing of one another nations create a disruption among future relationships?
The United States used various forms of media to promote the fight against the Japanese and present Japan as a brutal, barbaric nation to American civilians and American soldiers. As the propaganda war ends, Japan tries to get into the match and tries to swing one more before falling in defeat. One! Two! Three! Japan’s out! America stands proudly as it holds a propaganda poster in the air.