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Primary sourceDocumentary1941-1945

Visit of General Tojo to Java

1941-1945

A Japanese propaganda newsreel from the war years showing Prime Minister Tojo touring occupied Java, including a shipyard and school visit.

Shows Tojo as Prime Minister touring Japanese-occupied Java, presenting the occupation to the public.

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Visit of General Tojo to Java, Japanese propaganda film, 1941-1945. Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision.

About this source

What it is

This is a Japanese propaganda film made during the occupation of the former Dutch East Indies (1942–1945), showing Prime Minister Hideki Tojo visiting Java. He tours a shipyard, a school, and attends a public event featuring Sukarno, along with performances by local children. The film was confiscated by Dutch authorities after Japan's surrender and later released by the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision.

Why it matters

This footage shows how Tojo's government used film to present Japan's wartime occupation as benevolent, filming staged scenes of cooperation, education, and performance in occupied territory. It also connects to Sukarno, the Indonesian nationalist leader who later became Indonesia's first president, who appears alongside Tojo in the film.

Look closer

  • Why might the filmmakers have chosen to show Tojo visiting a school and a shipyard?
  • What role does Sukarno's presence play in this propaganda film?
  • What does the note about this film being propaganda change about how you should read it?

This documentary is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Hideki Tojo on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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