{"id":20635,"date":"2016-02-10T22:15:34","date_gmt":"2016-02-11T06:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/?p=20635"},"modified":"2016-02-14T22:46:48","modified_gmt":"2016-02-15T06:46:48","slug":"084a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/084a\/","title":{"rendered":"Following Space Battleship Yamato<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"1602icon\"<\/p>\n

Journalist Hiroyuki Ota takes a broad perspective, sharing his own views as a fan and discussing how Yamato affected different generations as social philosophies evolved in the wake of World War II. It\u2019s a unique, passionate look at the saga that could only come from the land of its origin.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

As a journalist for the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, Mr. Hiroyuki Ota writes a serialized column called “Following ____.” He chooses a subject and “follows” it for a time to see where it will lead him. In 2014, he wrote a Following the Battleship Yamato<\/em> serial, and he decided to follow that up with a Space Battleship version in 2015. (As of this writing, he is planning to expand both into a book.)<\/p>\n

Here is the serialized Following Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> column in its entirety, translated and published here by Mr. Ota\u2019s kind permission.<\/p>\n

Part 1: Space Battleship, Admiration, and Bewilderment<\/h3>\n


\nA model of <\/em>Space Battleship Yamato, formerly exhibited in the Yamato<\/em> Museum in Kure,
\nHiroshima Prefecture. It is now at Yamato Gallery Zero in Kure City.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Why am I so fascinated by the story of Space Battleship Yamato<\/em>?<\/p>\n

In 1976, when I was a sixth-grade elementary student taking an exam for junior high, a rerun of Yamato<\/em> on TV gave me emotional support. \u201cYamato<\/em> is trying to save the Earth, so must I.\u201d With this belief I applied myself and studied harder. It may be thanks to Yamato<\/em> that I was able to pass into my chosen school.<\/p>\n

Enthusiasm peaked in 1978 when Farewell to Yamato<\/em> was released during the summer holidays of my second year in junior high. In a standing-room only movie theater, familiar and long-beloved characters were killed one after another. While wiping away a flood of tears, I looked at the next seat over and saw a fraternity of university students shedding tears like rain, just like me. Yamato<\/em> was a \u201ccommon experience\u201d of our generation.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Yamato<\/em> was subjected to criticism from adults. At around the time of Farewell to Yamato<\/em>, a critic in Kinejun<\/em> magazine wrote, \u201cThe shadow of militarism is unmistakeable. I fear for the children when I see an ending that glorifies suicide.\u201d I sighed, \u201cThey don\u2019t understand Yamato<\/em>\u201d when I read that.<\/p>\n

But when I think about it now that I\u2019m 50 years old, I feel an intense longing and exhilaration when I see the young protagonists of Yamato<\/em> conduct their suicide attack against the giant enemy battleship. It may be akin to the \u201cpatriotism\u201d that filled the hearts of many children and young people before World War II,<\/p>\n

As an adolescent who received a post-war peace education after World War II, I believed the story of Yamato<\/em> was an escape from reality. I was surprised and bewildered that a sentiment that could be publicly called \u201cnationalism\u201d suddenly sprouted in such a personal place.<\/p>\n

The concept is that the Battleship Yamato<\/em>, which sank off the coast of Kyushu, is revived and remodeled to save Earth from a crisis. The Yamato<\/em> that plays an active role in the story is said to be an \u201cupgrade of the Battleship Yamato<\/em> itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course Yamato<\/em> is, first and foremost, first-class entertainment. At the same time, because of its concept, it is deeply colored by the shadow of the war. Film director Hideaki Anno<\/a>, known for such works as the Evangelion<\/em> series, said about the first 1974 Yamato<\/em> series, \u201cIt\u2019s a work that could have been born only in a country that lost a war. It expresses the regret, emptiness, sadness, hatred, resentment, and desires of people at the time of World War II,\u201d<\/p>\n

A \u201clife story\u201d is essential for an individual in a country or a race. We need a story that says \u201cwhere do we come from and where do we go?\u201d And in those stories, an important issue is \u201chow do you give meaning to a fight that involved our community?\u201d<\/p>\n

In this column a year ago, I thought about the relationship between stories and the reality of war through the Battleship Yamato<\/em>. Now I want to think about the same problem through Space Battleship Yamato<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Part 2: The fall of Earth and the former Japan<\/h3>\n


\nA 15-meter long model exhibited in Akasaka, Tokyo for the December 2010
\nrelease of the live-action <\/em>Yamato movie. Photo by Hiroyuki Ota<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Film director Hideaki Anno, known for such works as the Evangelion<\/em> series, wrote about Yamato<\/em> in a special book in 2000.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a work that could have been born only in a country that lost a war. It expresses the regret, emptiness, sadness, hatred, resentment, and desires of people at the time of World War II,\u201d<\/p>\n

Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> aired on TV from 1974-75 and premiered in theaters in 1977. Anno was an ardent fan since the first broadcast, referring to it as \u201cthe work that determined my life.\u201d I visited Anno\u2019s studio in Tokyo to ask where to look for the shadow of war in Yamato<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The first thing Anno told me was, \u201cTo begin with, Yamato<\/em> was remodeled and reborn from the Battleship Yamato<\/em>, a symbol of the old Imperial Navy. You have to say it\u2019s linked to the war.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nFilm director Hideaki Anno talks about <\/em>Yamato in
\nJanuary, 2015. Photo by Hiroyuki Ota<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The Yamato<\/em> story begins from a desperate situation.<\/p>\n

In the year 2199, Earth is invaded by a mysterious enemy with overwhelming power and the Earth fleet suffers a crushing defeat in a decisive battle with hostile enemy ships. Only one battleship survives and returns. The Earth has been burned bright red by non-stop nuclear bombing by the enemy. Mankind survives in a subterranean city, but radioactive contamination is seeping underground. The human race will perish in just one year.<\/p>\n

Anno said, \u201cThis situation is like being exposed to the B29 bombings in the last year of the Pacific War, and resembles Japan at the time when the landing of the US forces on the mainland was imminent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like the Earth fleet, most of Japan\u2019s combined fleet was lost on the verge of destruction, and Japan\u2019s cities were turned into scorched earth. Earthlings waited underground for their demise, holding their breath in air-raid shelters. The Japanese waited for the \u201cdecisive mainland battle\u201d for nothing less than \u201c100 million all-out kamikaze attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the first place, \u201cYamato<\/em>\u201d [Daiwa] is a word that means Japan itself. Yamato<\/em> is a global story set in the scale of space, but no Earthlings appear other than Japanese people. Clearly, along with the name of the work itself, it is a story of Japan and the Japanese. <\/p>\n

Toshio Okada, a critic who once produced anime with Anno, affirms this view by observing, \u201cThe appeal of Yamato<\/em> is the same as the Showa Zankyo-Den [Remnants of Chivalry in the Showa era]<\/em> movie series starring Ken Takakura<\/a>.\u201d The main character remains standing even when oppressed by hostile Yakuza, finally exploding with rage and beating down his enemies with one sword. Battleship Yamato<\/em> sank without being able to play such an active part, but it revives when Earth (Japan) faces a crisis. This indeed overlaps with the story of Yamato<\/em>, in which a powerful enemy is defeated by just one ship.<\/p>\n

However, Anno presented me with a riddle when he said, \u201cWhile Yamato<\/em> is an entertainment story that vents the depression of being defeated in war, it also seems to have a complexity that doesn\u2019t easily fit into that viewpoint. The burning, festering Earth is surely Japan, but in fact the enemy Gamilas is Japan as well. Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> is also Japan fighting itself. It\u2019s a story of war inasmuch as it is two mirrors held against each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

What on Earth could that mean?<\/p>\n

Part 3: Perpetrator and victim, the shouldering of duality<\/h3>\n


\nThe proposal for <\/em>Space Battleship Yamato (from the collection of Isao Ibara). Rather than being
\nremodeled from the Battleship <\/em>Yamato, it was originally a \u201cspace ship made of an asteroid.\u201d
\nVery few of these handmade proposals for TV stations still exist.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Space Battleship Yamato<\/em>\u2019s purpose is to travel to the distant planet Iscandar, 148,000 light years away, and rescue Earth from the brink of destruction. Captain Juuzo Okita tells the crew, \u201cYamato<\/em> was not rebuilt to fight.\u201d But Yamato<\/em>\u2019s journey is actually a continuous battle.<\/p>\n

In the early stage, the Pluto base from which Gamilas was bombing Earth is destroyed, and Okita sighs with relief, saying, \u201cNo more planet bombs will fall on Earth.\u201d It was like recapturing Saipan, which was a base for B29s. In the middle stage, an enemy base is destroyed on Planet Balan, and an abused native creature is freed. An early production document also contains the term \u201ccolonial liberation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Film director Hideaki Anno notes, \u201cPlanet Balan is located halfway between Earth and Gamilas, in the same position as Hawaii in the Pacific War. You could see it as the story of a reverse invasion in which Battleship Yamato<\/em>, which sank off the coast of Kyushu, revives to attack the American West Coast. The creators of Yamato<\/em> were from a generation that had some war experience. Even if they didn\u2019t intend it, by making Yamato<\/em> a subject, such an image naturally came out.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the other hand, when Yamato<\/em> approaches Gamilas in the final stage of the story, a strange thing happens. The image of \u201cJapan\u201d is gradually shifted over to the Gamilas side.<\/p>\n

A Gamilas fleet challenges Yamato<\/em> to a decisive battle, but in a moment of chance they lose all four of their aircraft carriers. Clearly, this development is conscious of the Battle of Midway.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, in the battle of Planet Gamilas, the enemy leader Dessler shouts in the script, \u201cThis is the decisive battle of the mainland. Fire, fire, fire at will!\u201d There is also a description of \u201cKamikaze-like attacks on Yamato<\/em>.\u201d Gamilas fires huge missiles, their ultimate weapon, one after another, doing more destruction to Gamilas than to Yamato<\/em>, and destroying the planet itself.<\/p>\n

The creators were originally conscious of the German Nazis while conceiving Gamilas, but this image is said to closely resemble what might happen \u201cif Japan had a real decisive mainland battle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eiichi Yamamoto<\/a>, who wrote the screenplay, recalls, \u201cGamilas doesn\u2019t have any ships or planes left to fight with. They have no choice but to bury Yamato<\/em> using the planet itself in a decisive mainland battle. The story was made with that concept.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gamilas invaded Earth because their own mother planet was reaching the end of its life, and they needed somewhere else to live. When Japan once invaded Asia, many Japanese though, \u201cThere\u2019s no choice but to go to the continent, since Japan can\u2019t survive on its own resources.\u201d In his book The Reality of the Greater East Asian War<\/em>, former army chief of staff Ryuzo Sejima<\/a> insisted, \u201cIt was a passive war of self-defense and self-preservation for Japan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dessler also claimed that, \u201cThe Gamilas people have a right to survive. We cannot accept the fate of dying together at the end of our planet!\u201d<\/p>\n

In the story, Yamato<\/em> destroys Gamilas as Gamilas destroys Earth, taking on the duality of \u201cvictim and perpetrator.\u201d This may be nothing but the \u201cduality\u201d that we Japanese shouldered in the previous war.<\/p>\n

Part 4: Facing the trauma of war<\/h3>\n


\nLeiji Matsumoto speaks before the 1\/10 scale model of Battleship <\/em>Yamato
\nat the <\/em>Yamato Museum in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Why does the Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> story have the strange and complex structure of \u201cJapan fighting on the brink of defeat\u201d and \u201cJapan as the invader\u201d?<\/p>\n

Art critic Yohei Kurose, who appreciates some of Japan\u2019s animation as high art, points out that, \u201cYamato<\/em> actively draws a self-portrait of postwar Japan, a work trying to overcome the trauma of war.\u201d<\/p>\n

In defeat, the story of \u201cImperial Japan\u201d that the Japanese believed in during World War II fell apart. In the face of this, while struggling to re-integrate, there was no choice but to spin tales to replace it: Japan subjectively tried to liberate Asia; Japan objectively invaded Asia; Japan was really a scorched ruin of a country; or Japan was at war with itself.<\/p>\n

According to Kurose, Yamato<\/em> was one such attempt. It was, so to speak, a media subculture that was relatively free from the social taboo of talking about the war and confronting ideology. That\u2019s why the creators borrowed the form of a \u201cfuture space war\u201d to perhaps spin a story about \u201cthe truth of the previous war\u201d in order to face the trauma of defeat.<\/p>\n

Yamato<\/em> did not specifically originate from novels or manga. The story was spun out of discussions with the late producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki while brainstorming with his main staff. There are examples that indicate the creators\u2019 diverse views on war. In a scene depicting the Battleship Yamato<\/em>\u2019s last moments, Nishizaki wanted to accompany it with The Warship March<\/em>, but director Leiji Matsumoto (77) strongly objected.<\/p>\n

Matsumoto recalls, \u201cTo be honest, I was very reluctant to make Battleship Yamato<\/em> into the subject.” For Matsumoto, the theme of Yamato<\/em>\u2019s story isn\u2019t historical, it is one haunted by \u201cdeath.\u201d When making the series, he tried to avoid using military ranks and colors as much as possible.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, according to film director Eiichi Yamamoto, Yoshinobu Nishizaki had a passion for \u201cwanting to make it feel like World War II.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to TV Anime Frontline<\/em>, a book by the late animation director Noboru Ishiguro<\/a>, he protested against \u201cthe right wing\u201d along with Matsumoto and the other younger staff members. As a result, the music was changed just before the broadcast.<\/p>\n

Nishizaki was born in 1934, and was a fifth-grader in elementary school at the time of defeat. In a 1980 interview he said, \u201cThere is nationalism in Yamato<\/em>. The prewar attitudes were also inherited by the middle-schoolers and high-schoolers, and it was part of our spiritual formation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matsumoto is only four years younger than Nishizaki, but he did not receive a militaristic education during his childhood. Ishiguro also wrote, \u201cThe difference in our ages was little, but there was a big difference where the war was concerned. The difference in our sensibilities was the cause of the conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even today, the thoughts of the Japanese about the war are not settled into a single evaluation. People cooperated to make Yamato<\/em> \u201ca story that captures the overall war for the Japanese,\u201d and this might have deepened their various conflicting values and sensibilities.<\/p>\n

Part 5: The Captain was the illusion of a hero<\/h3>\n


\nIn Leiji Matsumoto\u2019s early manga version of <\/em>Space Battleship Yamato, published by Akita Shoten,
\nJuuzo Okita tries to persuade his men as they refuse to retreat. Details in the lines differ from the anime.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

People born around 1935 played key roles in the making of Space Battleship Yamato<\/em>. They did not have the experience of fighting directly, but they were the generation whose fathers and older brothers went to the battlefield, and their memories of the war are clear. These creators directly experienced the atmosphere of hopelessness that fills the beginning of the story. They vividly recall the \u201cair of Japan at the end of the war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yamato<\/em>\u2019s captain Juuzo Okita was not one to be beaten down by such an air. \u201cEven if I\u2019m the last one left I will not despair,\u201d he vows. His subordinate, who plunges into the enemy in the midst of a suicide attack, shouts, \u201cI can\u2019t face those who died if I retreat!\u201d Okita begs him to stop by saying, \u201cWe must endure the humiliation of today for the sake of tomorrow.\u201d During the long and lonely voyage, he warmly encourages his young crew with, \u201cWe can\u2019t succeed unless we conquer the anxiety in our own hearts and believe in tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Okita is always depicted as a strong leader who tries to find possibilities and turn hope into reality. Director Leiji Matsumoto patterned Okita after his own father. He was a veteran fighter pilot who spent his whole life regretting the loss of so many of his subordinates. He suffered from extreme poverty after the war, but said he would never again try to get work as a pilot.<\/p>\n

In my Following Battleship Yamato<\/em> series, which was serialized in this column last year, I thought this way. When it was decided to launch Yamato<\/em> on the suicidal mission of Okinawa with no possibility of success, the logic of the organization was \u201cIf you survive after Yamato<\/em> is defeated as the symbol of the navy, you cannot show your face in the world afterward.\u201d It was the fault of the naval leaders, who created the desperate atmosphere of \u201c100 million all-out kamikaze attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n

In contrast with them, Okita is never swept up in that atmosphere. Simply because the creators made such a person into the linchpin of the story, they could create the polar opposite of the kamikazes with the persuasive power of \u201cI will survive and return by all means.\u201d<\/p>\n

Confronted with the trauma of defeat, the Yamato<\/em> story\u2019s unconscious goal was to overcome it. It seems to me that Okita\u2019s presence becomes the key to that purpose.<\/p>\n

Even today, getting a real person like Okita from the former military or government into the central position of a traditional Japanese organization or a major company would be extremely difficult. Unless you obey the atmosphere of the organization, it\u2019s difficult to succeed.<\/p>\n

Okita\u2019s appearance, with his white beard and mustache, is reminiscent of Togo Heihachiro<\/a>, the war hero who commanded in the Battle of Tsushima during the Russo-Japanese War and achieved a great victory. His image overlaps with the calm and decisive portrait of Togo in Shiba Ryotaro<\/a>\u2019s novel Clouds Above the Hill<\/em>. In this work, Togo and many of the military personnel and politicians of the Meiji period are depicted as ideal leaders.<\/p>\n

However, Clouds Above the Hill<\/em> is a \u201cstory\u201d with history as its subject, and is an expression of Japanese desires. In later years, Togo supported the hardliners against the US military and objected to a disarmament treaty. Consequently, he became one of those who opened the way to war.<\/p>\n

As long as \u201catmosphere\u201d casts a spell over us and we can never have a real Okita, isn\u2019t he just the illusion of a hero?<\/p>\n

Part 6: The contradiction of saying \u201cFight for love\u201d<\/h3>\n


\nYoshinobu Nishizaki\u2019s message from the <\/em>Farewell to Yamato movie program book<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Following the success of the 1977 movie Space Battleship Yamato<\/em>, the sequel Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato, Soldiers of Love<\/em> was released the following year, and it mobilized 4 million more people than the previous work. Many boys and girls shed tears, and it became a social phenomenon.<\/p>\n

The content of the first work was \u201ca story of living to save Earth and return by all means,\u201d and the second was a big change: \u201ca story of defending Earth to the death.\u201d The complex story structure of \u201cJapan fighting itself\u201d disappeared, giving way to the simpler scheme of \u201cYamato<\/em> fighting to protect Earth and space from an invader.\u201d In the end, the main character crashes Yamato<\/em> into the huge enemy.<\/p>\n

The late producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki insisted on this ending, but director Leiji Matsumoto strongly opposed it, saying, \u201cThis is nothing but a suicide attack. Young people have to live.\u201d But Nishizaki did not accept this. According to Eiichi Yamamoto, who assisted Nishizaki, the producer granted a lot of freedom to the staff on the first production, and the success of Yamato<\/em> deepened his confidence in his own opinions. Whereas Yamato<\/em> started out as a work that reflected a variety of values, it changed into a story that reflected the deep personality of Nishizaki.<\/p>\n

Nishizaki was a shrewd businessman whose favorite phrase was \u201cDon\u2019t easily trust people.\u201d On the other hand, he was also a romanticist who freely shared the story of his first love for a woman.<\/p>\n

\u201cLove\u201d was Nishizaki\u2019s basis to justify Yamato<\/em>\u2019s battle. To fans and staff alike, he emphasized that \u201cThe theme is love. Space love.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the story, the main character shouts, \u201cSpace is the mother. All life born there must be equal. It is the truth and the love of space!\u201d Even the alien to which Yamato<\/em> is lead says, \u201cNow is the time to stand. Not just for Earth, but for the entire universe\u201d and, \u201cThe universe is vast, but it is all one.\u201d The suicide attack of Yamato<\/em> becomes \u201cthe ultimate practice of space love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once, the term \u201cuniversal brotherhood\u201d was used to justify war in Japan. As the religionist Tanaka Chigaku<\/a>, who authored these words, explained in his work A Study of the Japanese Polity<\/em>, “Each and every nation, territory, ethnicity, and race reach that place… Settling in around a central great life.” He further explained that, by thinking along the lines that “The people of the world belong equally to this ‘great life’ (i.e. the emperor and his ancestors)”, the government sees war as a way of realizing that.<\/p>\n

If you read Japan as the \u201cEarth\u201d of space love and the world as \u201cspace,\u201d then \u201cAll of life is born from that world\u201d and \u201cFight not just for Japan, but for the entire world\u201d approach the spirit of universal brotherhood. Thus, \u201cemphasizing the oneness of all to aim for peace\u201d might have been a \u201cthought of love.\u201d But on the other hand, excluding those who are unlike us becomes the other side of the coin.<\/p>\n

In the first Yamato<\/em>, a human exchange is depicted with the enemy. The main character repents, saying, \u201cWe should have shown them love instead of fighting.\u201d But the the enemy in Farewell<\/em> is considered a \u201cdemonic civilization\u201d that prefers destruction and slaughter. It is reminiscent of the term \u201cdemonic America and England.\u201d<\/p>\n

To resolve the contradiction, of \u201cfighting for love,\u201d an enemy of \u201cabsolute evil\u201d and no possibility of love was required.<\/p>\n

Part 7: Visualizing delusion in a suicide attack scene<\/h3>\n


\nIn the script for the movie <\/em>Farewell to Yamato, the climactic suicide attack scene was rewritten many
\ntimes. Several versions exist in addition to the four drafts in this photo. (From the collection of Isao Ibara.)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Mitsuru Yoshida<\/a>, a Yamato<\/em> survivor and author of the war literature Last Moments of the Battleship Yamato<\/em>, wrote about Farewell to Yamato<\/em> for Bungei Shunju<\/em> magazine in 1978. Yoshida\u2019s writing was based on his own experience of a suicide attack.<\/p>\n

“What’s being portrayed here, rather than a violent ‘war’, is nothing more than a fanciful SF farce. There’s not a glimpse of the hopeless human suffering brought on by fighting, of the raw resentment that led to the acceptance of self-sacrifice. The throbbing that children feel in their breasts, the tears that stream down their cheeks, is transparent and simpleminded sentimentality that bears no relation at all to the futile deaths of the kamikaze pilots.”
\n\u3000
\nYoshida\u2019s view is correct until the middle part. However, rather than the existential conflict of people committing suicide, Farewell<\/em> originally tried to depict a \u201ceuphoric admiration of one\u2019s own sacrifice.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the admiration that we boys and girls sympathized with at the time, it could be that our hearts were filled with the thoughts of a \u201cmilitaristic boy\u201d of wartime. It would have been the case with Yamato<\/em>\u2019s producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki, who was born in 1934.<\/p>\n

Nishizaki was meticulous about Yamato<\/em>\u2019s suicide scene in Farewell<\/em>. He revised the script many times and entrusted the animation to his favorite artist, Yasuhiko Yoshikazu. Nishizaki and his staff said many times that it was like \u201cdepicting a state of lingering death.\u201d There is plenty of nuance in the emotion of \u201clingering.\u201d<\/p>\n

The main character Susumu Kodai, who decides to make the suicide attack, says this to his friends: \u201cLife isn\u2019t something that only lasts for a few decades. Doesn\u2019t life grow and last forever in the universe? I\u2019m going so that my life is exchanged for a greater life. This is not death!\u201d<\/p>\n

Kodai\u2019s words recall the battlefield military code of \u201cI live in eternal loyalty to the cause.\u201d In the Battle of Okinawa, the commander gave the order to fight using these words, and approximately 190,000 people died, both military and civilian.<\/p>\n

We all look for stories that give meaning to our lives. The story of \u201ceternity is more important than life, and sacrificing oneself can bring you eternal life\u201d was drilled into the nation during Nishizaki\u2019s generation, to be completely denied in defeat. Having this foundation for life torn away was a serious trial. Hisashi Yamanaka, a writer three years older than Nishizaki, who wrote the We Children Series<\/em> after the war, once wrote a story that criticized this indoctrination. It also became an attempt at self-recovery.
\n\u3000
\nBut a drilled-in story cannot be completely discarded, so another possible choice is to \u201csomehow play it out in a different form that is acceptable to postwar society.\u201d Maybe Nishizaki unconsciously attempted that in Farewell<\/em>.
\n\u3000
\nIn the suicide scene, into which Nishizaki poured his heart and soul, Kodai\u2019s lover and fallen companions are resurrected. Kodai seems happy as he crashes into the enemy. It would be reasonable for a viewer to interpret this as Kodai\u2019s delusion. But since it is a fantasy, I think it was necessary for this surreal image to be more than a delusion in order to achieve \u201ca story of reaching eternal life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part 8: The accounting calculation that took away the power of the story<\/h3>\n


\nprogram books for the four <\/em>Space Battleship Yamato movies made from 1977-1983.
\nIn addition, there were four works for TV.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The first Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> was a story about \u201cconfronting the memory of defeat and aiming to overcome the trauma of war.\u201d In contrast to this, Farewell to Yamato<\/em> went in the opposite direction with a story that said, \u201cignore defeat and aim to revive the story Japan believed in during wartime.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proof that it succeeded as a work of entertainment was in the amount of tears it coaxed out of boys and girls. When I saw Farewell<\/em> as a 13 years old, its story intoxicated me like no other. It was probably because I caught a glimpse of the spellbinding power in the \u201cstory of self-sacrifice\u201d that drove countless people to death during the war.<\/p>\n

In a 1980 magazine interview, Producer Nishizaki asserted, \u201cJapanese people themselves haven\u2019t changed that much in the 35 years since the war.\u201d I think that is correct. Our generation, which received a postwar peacetime education, should have easily rejected stories that \u201caffirm the war.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Farewell<\/em> was released in the summer of 1978, then-JSDF minister Hiroomi Kurisu said, \u201cThere are holes in the Self-Defense Forces Law, and it cannot withstand enemy aggression.\u201d He appealed for emergency legislation and was dismissed. From there, the taboo of discussing national defense rose quickly.<\/p>\n

While adults can\u2019t sufficiently answer the simple question, \u201chow do we protect our country and our family?\u201d, Nishizaki attracted the attention of boys and girls in the Farewell to Yamato<\/em> movie program with the provocative questions, \u201cWould you protect your beloved even at the risk of your own life? Moreover, would you give your life to fight a great evil, in defense of an idea?\u201d<\/p>\n

During production, Nishizaki repeated that \u201cThis is the last Yamato<\/em>.\u201d If that promise had been kept, maybe the story of Farewell<\/em> would have kept our generation spellbound. But after the film exceeded its expectations of success, Nishizaki changed his previous statement and adapted it for TV as Space Battleship Yamato 2<\/em>. There was no suicide attack, and the main characters survived.<\/p>\n

The one staff member who rebelled the most against Nishizaki\u2019s policy was Yasuhiko Yoshikazu, who single-handedely drew Farewell<\/em>\u2019s suicide scene. \u201cDidn\u2019t you say it would end with this?\u201d A staff member close to Nishizaki said that when Yasuhiko got angry, the response was, \u201cIt\u2019s because this is a story.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIsn\u2019t that an irresponsible thing to do to a story? They said, \u2018It\u2019s a big hit, we\u2019re not going to end it here.\u2019 There\u2019s no artistic consideration, just an accounting calculation. What about your honor as a creator?\u201d<\/p>\n

More than a few fans shared Yasuhiko\u2019s thoughts at the time. As Yamato<\/em> sequels continued to be made and the impression of Farewell<\/em> faded, it was said that it fell into mannerisms that \u201cdepicted plenty of emotional self-sacrifice in the characters.\u201d It could be said that Nishizaki\u2019s calculations as a businessman took away the spellbinding power of Farewell<\/em>\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

Yasuhiko broke away from Nishizaki to make his next work, Mobile Suit Gundam<\/em>, which started airing on TV in 1979. Gundam<\/em> was another anime that depicted war, but Yasuhiko reflected that \u201cThe story is completely different from Yamato<\/em>.\u201d <\/p>\n

What was different?
\n\u3000<\/p>\n

Part 9: The cold reality depicted by Gundam<\/em><\/h3>\n


\nMany of the robots that appeared in <\/em>Mobile Suit Gundam were mass-produced, like tanks and fighters.
\n\u00a9 Sotsu\/Sunrise<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The year after Farewell to Yamato<\/em> was released, Mobile Suit Gundam<\/em> began airing on TV, in the spring of 1979. Director Yoshiyuki Tomino revealed that \u201cWhat I was conscious of in Gundam<\/em> was \u2018crush Yamato<\/em>\u2019!\u201d<\/p>\n

Tomino was seven years younger than Yamato<\/em>\u2019s producer, Yoshinobu Nishizaki. I was thinking, \u201cNishizaki\u2019s generation had to embrace the chagrin of defeat, and it can be understood that it was expressed in Yamato<\/em>. But the obvious reality is that it was a lost cause. A story like Yamato<\/em>, filled will nostalgia for World War II, is the wrong kind to raise the next generation to judge history accurately.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Gundam<\/em>, a space colony calling itself the Principality of Zeon claims that \u201cthe people living in space must be released from the tyranny of the Earth Federation,\u201d and they cause a war. It is clearly conscious of Japan\u2019s fight to \u201cfree Asia from Western colonial rule.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the nation of Zeon has only 1\/30 the strength of the Earth Federation. They achieve overwhelming victory through surprise attacks but this gradually erodes as the war is prolonged and they are eventually defeated. It could be said that Yamato<\/em> depicts the dream of \u201cJapan on the verge of defeat, reversing it with one shot,\u201d but Gundam<\/em> traces the progress of the Pacific War with cold reality: \u201cVictory or defeat in war is decided by the difference in resources, not love and justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

I touched on this last time, but Yasuhiko Yoshikazu left the production site of Yamato<\/em> to become an animation director on Gundam<\/em> because he was fascinated by the intent of the story and said, \u201cI want to draw a world of diverse people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not many civilians appear in Yamato<\/em>, but Gundam<\/em> depicted a mother and child who burst into tears at the sight of their hometown, which was reduced to ruins by the war. A war orphan girl becomes a military spy to feed her younger brother and sister, and loses her life. The goal was to create a group drama showing how people work hard to survive, soldiers and civilians alike.<\/p>\n

In the first Yamato<\/em>, Japan\u2019s conflict over the war was graphically expressed as \u201cJapan as both the perpetrator and the victim of the fight.\u201d On the other hand, Gundam<\/em> pushes these internal conflicts aside, perhaps in an attempt to turn people\u2019s eyes toward the harsh realities of war.<\/p>\n

Art critic Yohei Kurose\u2019s evaluation is, \u201cThe first Yamato<\/em> begat Gundam<\/em> to progressively inherit the issue of how to overcome the trauma of war.\u201d<\/p>\n

After World War II, war was often regarded as a taboo subject for art. Tsuguharu Foujita<\/a>, a painter who represented Japan just after the defeat, was denounced for drawing war images and left Japan after he was drummed out of painting circles. Afterward, it was difficult to create art without being conscious of social and ideological conflicts about the war.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the creators of anime, manga, and tokusatsu (live-action special effects) worked in an unfettered subculture while Japanese people continued to wrestle with the serious problem of war. After the war, many anime and tokusatsu works such as Godzilla, Yamato, Gundam, Nausicaa<\/em>, and Evangelion<\/em> became social phenomenons. It\u2019s no coincidence that they all share the theme of \u201cwar\u201d and \u201cruin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part 10: Success produces Ghibli<\/h3>\n


\nA segment from \u201cThe evolution of anime character military uniforms\u201d which appeared in the August 1981
\nissue of <\/em>Animage. A reader protested when actual battlefield photos were place behind the characters.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn essence, Farewell to Yamato<\/em> is the recital of a naniwa-bushi [ballad of obligation and compassion]. Does that mean the manga I made for children to change the country called Japan after the war had no meaning?\u201d
\n\u3000
\nOsamu Tezuka shouted this and began to cry.<\/p>\n

It was October 1978, two months after the premiere of Farewell<\/em>. Six leading figures of anime production gathered together for a round-table discussion. Tezuka, the moderator, was 49 at the time. Farewell<\/em> was a big hit and a huge factor, and it was said that he was venting his emotions by persistently questioning the others about it. Why did Tezuka cry?<\/p>\n

In the year of defeat, Tezuka narrowly escaped death as a 16-year-old in the brutal bombing of Osaka. When he saw Osaka\u2019s lights come on again on the night of August 15, he remembers dancing crazily and saying, \u201cI survived.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his autobiography, Tezuka wrote, \u201c[This experience] has supported my drawing manga for forty years,\u201d and, \u201cNaturally, the deep emotion I lived for, my gratitude for life, comes out in my manga, even if it\u2019s not consciously.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Tezuka, Farewell to Yamato<\/em> was a reflection and extension of the \u201caesthetics of destruction\u201d that lead the Japanese to easily sacrifice life. He was still drawing his story, Hymn of Life<\/em>, which represented the opposing view and attracted the support of boys and girls. Perhaps Tezuka might have felt a strong taste of defeat.
\n\u3000
\nToshio Suzuki<\/a> was the editor of Animage<\/em> who planned that round-table discussion, and now serves as a producer at Studio Ghibli. Born in 1948, his generation was thoroughly educated to believe that \u201cwar is absolutely wrong,\u201d in contrast to Yamato<\/em> producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki. But, in addition to Yamato<\/em>, the world of anime overflowed with the \u201cdepiction of war as entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n

And so, when anime characters wearing military uniforms were accompanied by war photos of real corpses, such opinions as \u201ctrashy\u201d were on the rise, and \u201cis war really supposed to be cool?\u201d was asked in the magazine. Readers were strongly opposed to it, but Suzuki didn\u2019t mind. On the other hand, Suzuki also said, \u201cWithout Yamato<\/em>, there wouldn\u2019t be a Ghibli.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Yamato<\/em> became a hit in the world, it was noticed that youth-friendly anime established business. Suzuki was working for Tokuma Shoten in 1978, which launched Animage<\/em> to ride the Yamato<\/em> boom. President Yasuyoshi Tokuma tried to collaborate with Nishizaki to produce a movie. Because of this foundation, Suzuki serialized Hayao Miyazaki\u2019s manga Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind<\/em> in Animage<\/em>, and Tokuma Shoten was able to invest in a 1984 film adaptation. Its success lead to the founding of Studio Ghibli.<\/p>\n

While Nausicaa<\/em> continuously denies rule by military power, it thoroughly pursued the pleasure of battle scenes. Tezuka also continuously drew battle scenes in The White Pilot<\/em> (1961).<\/p>\n

Though far from the reality of war, the \u201cpleasure of a battle\u201d captivates the masses without arriving at an \u201canti-war\u201d message. It\u2019s a dilemma that the creators of war stories will continue to face in all ages and countries.<\/p>\n

Part 11: Our story does not end<\/h3>\n


\nPart of the vast production materials from the time of <\/em>Space Battleship Yamato. At the will of the
\ndeceased Producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki, it is now in the possession of his secretary, Isao Ibara.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Why did I continue to crack into Battleship Yamato<\/em> and Space Battleship Yamato<\/em>? In order to solve the mystery, I serialized Following [Battleship] Yamato<\/em>, and this time I took up [Space Battleship] Yamato<\/em>. As my coverage continued, the same subject emerged for both, a Japanese \u201cstory of war.\u201d<\/p>\n

The story of \u201cHow can we protect our country\u201d was embodied in Japan\u2019s Battleship Yamato<\/em>. In order for Japan to win a war against the United States, we had no choice but to defeat the enemy over long distance with the huge guns of a battleship, and Yamato<\/em> was built to realize it. But Yamato<\/em> was unable to play an active part in the actual war. At the same time, since Yamato<\/em> was the biggest battleship in history, it became proof of the failure to \u201cweave a story of a realistic national defense.\u201d And that allowed 3,000 of our countrymen to die in the Okinawa suicide attack, which had no possibility of success.<\/p>\n

For the Japanese, Yamato<\/em> became a symbol of the \u201ctrauma of defeat,\u201d suffused with pride, humiliation, and regret. After the war, Japan abandoned the \u201cstory of militarism\u201d and chose a new story of pacifism. I wonder if the decision to overcome the \u201ctrauma of defeat\u201d was understood from the bottom of their hearts.<\/p>\n

In 1946, critic Hideo Kobayashi<\/a> made a public critique in regard to the tide of remorse being expressed one by one by the intellectuals who’d supported the war, saying “I’m ignorant, and so I don’t reflect on these things. The clever people should try try a great deal of reflection.”<\/p>\n

Five years later, Kobayashi wrote the following: “We’d each individually experienced such sorrow that we couldn’t even talk about the war. We’d all become flesh and blood actors, performing in the grand drama that was the war.” “It wasn’t a political event that we could just deal with after it was over.”<\/p>\n

Perhaps what Kobayashi meant was “As much as an outward political stance might change, you don’t recover from the deep wounds in your heart left by suffering defeat. The Japanese people must wager their existence and face the trauma of defeat.”<\/p>\n

I think the first Space Battleship Yamato<\/em> was one such attempt. With the freedom from ideology and taboo provided by \u201cchildren\u2019s SF anime,\u201d a story was made starring Battleship Yamato<\/em>, the symbol of trauma. By doing that, I think it naturally overflows with the creators\u2019 real feelings about the war, unexpectedly spinning a \u201cstory of facing and trying to overcome the trauma of defeat.\u201d<\/p>\n

The trauma of defeat is not a problem only for the generation who experienced it. If left unattended, it can also lead to difficulties for the next generation.<\/p>\n

I was fascinated by Yamato<\/em> as a child, probably because I realized intuitively that it was a story of the attempt to overcome this life.<\/p>\n

Although a sequel was made that dispensed with the trauma of defeat, the spirit of the first Yamato<\/em> was steadily inherited by subsequent stories such as Gundam, Nausicaa<\/em>, and Evangelion<\/em>. But \u201ca new Japanese story\u201d of truly overcoming the trauma of defeat has yet to be born.<\/p>\n

The End<\/h3>\n

Special thanks to Neil Nadelman for translation support.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles-1984-now"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20635"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20651,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20635\/revisions\/20651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ourstarblazers.com\/vault\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}