''Our Job in Japan'' was a United States military training film made in 1945, shortly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. It is the companion to the more famous '' Your Job In Germany''. The film was aimed at American troops about to go to Japan to participate in the 1945–1952 Allied occupation, and presents the problem of turning the militarist state into a peaceful democracy. The film focused on the Japanese military officials who had used the traditional religion of

Shinto Shinto () is a religion from Japan. Classified as an East Asian religion by scholars of religion, its practitioners often regard it as Japan's indigenous religion and as a nature religion. Scholars sometimes call its practitioners ''Shintois ...

, as well as the

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

al system, to take over power, control the populace, and wage aggressive war. No personal credits are given by the titles for ''Our Job in Japan''. Theodor S. Geisel, better known by his pen name

Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss"
'' Elmo Williams James Elmo Williams (April 30, 1913 – November 25, 2015) was an American film and television editor, producer, director and executive. His work on the film ''High Noon'' (1952) received the Academy Award for Best Film Editing. In 2006, Williams ...

edited it. Both men were working as part of a military film production unit headed by Frank Capra. At the time, the film was considered sympathetic to the Japanese, and its distribution was apparently suppressed by Douglas MacArthur in his capacity as the overall commander of the Allied forces occupying Japan. A detailed discussion of the film has been given by John W. Dower in his book, '' Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II''. ''Our Job in Japan'' was the basis for the longer, commercially released film '' Design for Death'' (1947).

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* 1945 films American World War II propaganda shorts United States Department of War Films with screenplays by Dr. Seuss Articles containing video clips American black-and-white films Japan in non-Japanese culture 1940s American films {{WWII-documentary-film-stub

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