Editing Cinema of Japan (section)

====Wartime movies====
[[File:Li_Xianglan.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Yoshiko Yamaguchi]]]]
{{further|War film}}

Because of World War II and the weak economy, unemployment became widespread in Japan, and the cinema industry suffered.

During this period, when Japan was expanding its empire, the Japanese government saw cinema as a propaganda tool to show the glory and invincibility of the [[Empire of Japan]]. Thus, many films from this period depict patriotic and militaristic themes. However unlike most wartime films the Japanese tended to tell it like it is, showing the hardships soldiers face everyday in battle, marching through mud and staying in small unknown towns. In 1942, [[Kajiro Yamamoto]]'s film ''[[The War at Sea from Hawaii to Malaya]]'' portrayed the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]]; the film made use of [[special effects]] directed by [[Eiji Tsuburaya]], including a miniature scale model of Pearl Harbor itself.

[[Kamishibai]] (紙芝居) or paper theater was a popular form of street entertainment, especially for the children. Kamishibai was often used to tell stories of Buddhist deities and the history of some Buddhist temples. In 1920 it started out as normal storytelling for the children, but in about 1932, it started to lean more to a militaristic viewpoint.

[[Yoshiko Yamaguchi]] was a very popular actress. She rose to international stardom with 22 wartime movies. The [[Manchukuo Film Association]] let her use the Chinese name Li Xianglan so she could represent Chinese roles in Japanese propaganda movies. After the war she used her official Japanese name and starred in an additional 29 movies. She was elected as a member of the [[Japanese parliament]] in the 1970s and served for 18 years.

[[Akira Kurosawa]] made his feature film debut with ''[[Sanshiro Sugata|Sugata Sanshiro]]'' in 1943.