''Japanese Devils'' (or ''Riben Guizi'' ) is a
Japanese documentary about the
war crimes committed by the
Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
between 1931 and 1945.
The documentary is a series of interviews with 14 Japanese veterans of the
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...
who recount rape, massacres,
bio-experiments, and cannibalism. The accuracy of these interviews is contested by Japanese nationalist critics.
Minoru Matsui's inspiration for the film came after one of his original interviewees died. Feeling that it was his last chance to document the stories, he began the process of creating the documentary. Initial support was minimal, with all production companies showing no interest. The film did not gain any traction until it was entered into the
Berlin Film Festival.
The original title,
Riben Guizi, is a Chinese phrase popular in the 1930s and 1940s used to express hatred for Japanese invaders.
Controversy
The 14 former soldiers interviewed in the film were ex-
POWs
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...
of China and were subjected to "re-education" by the Chinese government in the
Fushun War Criminals Management Centre
Fushun War Criminals Management Centre (), also known as Liaodong No. 3 Prison or Liaoning No. 3 Prison, was the site of the 're-education' of Manchukuo, Kuomintang and Japanese Empire prisoners of war, held by China from 1950 onwards. It was ...
. This caused critics to question the accuracy of the interviews.
Japanese ultra-nationalists were reported to have issued threats against the content of the film.
See also
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Anti-Japanese sentiment in China
Anti-Japanese sentiment in China is an issue with modern roots (post-1868). Modern anti-Japanese sentiment in China is often rooted in nationalist or historical conflict, for example the atrocities and war crimes committed by the Japanese in the ...
*
China–Japan relations
China–Japan relations or Sino–Japanese relations (; ja, 日中関係, translit=Nicchū kankei) are the bilateral relations between China and Japan. The countries are geographically separated by the East China Sea. Japan has been strongl ...
References
External links
Center for Asian American Media- North American distributor of the film
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Home video version*
College/institution version(
CNN.com
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
)
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2001 films
Japanese documentary films
Second Sino-Japanese War films
2001 documentary films
Documentary films about Japanese war crimes
2000s Japanese films
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