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The Story of Tank Commander Nishizumi
Directed byKōzaburō Yoshimura
Based on"Shōwa no gunshin: Nishizumi senshachō den"
by Kan Kikuchi
StarringShin Saburi
Ken Uehara
Michiko Kuwano
Release date
  • 1940 (1940)
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

The Story of Tank Commander Nishizumi (西住戦車長伝, Nishizumi senshachō den), a.k.a. The Legend of Tank Commander Nishizumi, is a 1940 Japanese war film directed by Kōzaburō Yoshimura.[1] It is based on a true story of the Sino-Japanese war involving Japanese war hero Kojirō Nishizumi, commander in the First Tank Regiment. To make the film, Yoshimura toured the actual battlefields in China.[2]

Cast

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Historical background

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Following his death during the Battle of Xuzhou in 1938, Nishizumi was declared Japan’s first "gunshin", or War God. His career became the subject of legend and widespread praise throughout Japan, spawning numerous biographies, songs, and novels in his honor. The Legend of Tank Commander Nishizumi was promoted by the Japanese Ministry of the Army and the Ministry of Education upon its release in 1940.

Legacy

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Cinema theorist Kate Taylor-Jones suggests that along with films like Mud and Soldiers and Chocolate and Soldiers, The Legend of Tank Commander Nishizumi offered "a vision of the noble, obedient and honourable Japanese army fighting to defend the Emperor and Japan."[3]

References

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  1. ^ "西住戦車長伝". www.kinenote.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  2. ^ High, Peter B. (January 2003). The Imperial Screen: Japanese Film Culture in the Fifteen Years' War, 1931-1945. University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 211–217. ISBN 978-0-299-18134-5.
  3. ^ Taylor-Jones, Kate (16 July 2013). Rising Sun, Divided Land: Japanese and South Korean Filmmakers. Wallflower Press. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-231-16586-0.

Further reading

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