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In the 1920s, Japan was poised
to progress by leaps and bounds

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with the tricks
of European industry in hand.

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The country challenged itself

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to go toe to toe with the West,
if not outperform it entirely.

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Its manufacturing sector
and economy boomed,

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attracting global attention
and a foreign workforce.

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This French family was one of them.

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Emmy and Jean Millot
lived in Japan for over 20 years.

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They and journalist friend
Robert Guillain

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would witness a troubled time
in Japan

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when the country militarised

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and colonised parts of Asia,
only to suffer defeat in 1945.

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Their personal records and photos

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tell a unique story of Japan at war.

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Tokyo, February 1927.

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Emperor Taisho had just passed away.

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His son, Hirohito,
ascends to the throne

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at only age 25.

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A trip to Europe when he was 20
had made a deep impression on him.

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He saw the scars left in the wake
of World War I.

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As a token of his pacifism,

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he chose the name Emperor Showa,

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"Enlightened Peace",

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to represent the new imperial era.

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Emperor Hirohito
was the head of state

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and Shinto spiritual practice.

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The Imperial Palace was a symbol
of political and spiritual power.

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The capital of Tokyo embodied
the new regime's modern ambitions.

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Japanese people
donned Western dress

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and began attending cinemas
and concert halls.

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Transportation modernised overnight.

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The first metro line opened

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to rave reviews
from the Japanese public.

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To ensure it would keep pace,

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Japan opened its doors
ever wider to the West,

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both Western investment
and Western technology.

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Jean Millot was a young engineer

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whose French company
sent him to work in Japan.

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He helped to lay telegraph lines

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between Japan and France.

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Business was booming.

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Jean learned the language

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working with Japanese colleagues
in a telecom centre in Tomioka.

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Travelling the country with a Leica,

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he captured famous sites...

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landscapes...

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and temples.

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The photos he sent back
to his parents in France

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were not those of a mere tourist.

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"Peasants wear jackets made
of straw from their stubble fields.

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The straw garb
protects them from the rain".

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They told of their experience as
they gradually embraced the culture.

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Jean was invited to high-society
events for foreigners

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living in Tokyo,

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rubbing shoulders
with businessmen and diplomats,

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all ex-patriots
of Western empires

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with a foothold in Asia.

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Their roads all crossed
at the Imperial Hotel,

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a stone's throw from the parliament
and the Imperial Palace.

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French journalist Andrée Viollis,

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then a Japanese correspondent
for Le Petit Parisien, said,

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"It's the most wonderful hotel
in the world.

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All Tokyo high society
is to be found here.

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Embassy officers of all stripes

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embody European imperialism
in all its beauty and elegance

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over cocktails,
gossip and witty repartee".

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Here among the crème de la crème,

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Jean and Emmy Imura
met each other.

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Age 26,

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the elegant young lady

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had just divorced Dr Chutaro Imura,

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a Japanese psychiatrist
whom she met in Europe

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and married at age 18,
moving to Japan with him.

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When Chutaro took up
his family practice in Tokyo,

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he found himself constrained
by traditional culture.

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That's when Emmy learned that,
in Japan,

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men are masters of the household

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and their wives are to act
as their servants.

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"Only one thing was demanded of me:
obedience.

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I had to live
under my mother-in-law's orders,

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submissively and abidingly.

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I tired of it quickly".

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Emmy left Chutaro
and lived on her own in Tokyo.

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Her longing for independence

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was shared
by many Japanese feminists

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who sought the right to vote
and gender equality.

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Women were able to get a degree
and have careers.

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Just like in Europe,
modern women had men's haircuts,

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smoked
and demanded women's liberties.

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Emmy made a number of friends
in the Japanese-feminist crowd.

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"I lent Makiko Western clothing.

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In exchange, she taught me
how to put on a kimono.

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It's a long and arduous process.
You can't do it unaided".

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Emmy's life was unencumbered.

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She did not hide her glee
with the ex-pats she came across.

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Jean became smitten
with her lively anti-conformity.

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Emmy fell for Jean's optimism
and sense of humour.

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Jean introduced her
to his parents in a photo.

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"Emmy in Japanese dress.

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With the sun shining bright,
Emmy's hair appears very blond

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when in fact her hair colour
is auburn, and do note

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she measures up
to her fiancé's ear lobe in height".

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Jean and Emmy moved
to the foreigner's district.

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They frequented
French Embassy garden parties

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and Wednesday luncheons
with fellow ex-pats.

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Robert Guillain
described the meals thus:

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ROBERT GUILLAIN
JOURNALIST

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"From a number-two
Embassy officer to the local barber

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to the ancient Christian missionary,
some thirty Frenchmen gather

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at a grand table
for fine dining and conversation".

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Jean was beloved
at these gatherings.

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"His face is always glowing,

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his conversation
always spirited and optimistic.

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I consider him one
of the kindest men I've ever known".

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In the late 1920s,
Emmy gave birth to two boys,

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Louis first, then Marc.

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They grew up between Tokyo,

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Hakone in the shadow of Mt. Fuji

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and Karuizawa,

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a popular destination for Westerners
starting in the late 1800s.

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Emmy wrote to her family:

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"I really enjoy our life here.

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Life is easy,
the countryside breathtaking.

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We have as many European
as Japanese friends

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and the children feel at home".

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While their photos
give a rosy impression,

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they hide the fact that Japan
was plunging into political turmoil.

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Since the dawn of the century,

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Japanese society
had been making democratic progress.

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Then Communism began to spread.

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Labourers and farmers
began to unionise.

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In 1925,

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parliament was voted in
by universal male suffrage.

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All men 25 and older could vote.

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While this may have seemed
like progress,

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violent repression
took place in secret.

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A domestic security law
was likewise passed

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targeting political adversaries
and anti-capitalists.

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Three years later,
on 15 March 1928,

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the political police
made their presence felt.

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Socialists got voted into congress

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and some 1,600 suspected communists
and communists alike were arrested.

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The workers' unions were disbanded.

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Young communist writer

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Kobayashi Takiji

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wrote a book
decrying police brutality.

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After it was published,

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he was imprisoned and tortured
to death in an interrogation.

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His book remained banned
until after World War II.

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The Great Depression heightened
anti-government sentiment

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when the crisis reached Japan
in spring of 1930,

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six months
after the Wall Street crash.

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Nearly two million Japanese people
were laid off.

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The government could do nothing
to save its people from poverty.

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Farmers abandoned silkworm farming
as a source of complimentary revenue

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after silk prices plummeted.

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In the mountains of Nagano,

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families sold their daughters
to tea houses

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where they became servers
or geishas.

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The army was a saving grace
for many Japanese men.

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It offered destitute farmers
a regular wage

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and two square meals a day.

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Farmers enlisted
in their hundreds and thousands.

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The influx of new recruits
changed the army's stature.

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As an antidote to poverty
and unemployment,

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the army set out across Asia,
conquering new lands

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beyond territories Taiwan and Korea,

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both Japanese colonial territories
since 1890.

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Japan was set
on expanding its empire

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with no regard for Western presence
in the region.

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Starting in 1930,

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Japan entered a war
that would last 15 years.

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Its first target was China,

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in a shambles after its civil war

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and under the occupation
of several Western powers.

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In September 1931,

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the Japanese infantry invaded
Manchuria in northern China.

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After six months,

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it took control of the region,
which was twice Japan's land mass.

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Japan turned the Chinese territory
into a puppet state

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called Manchukuo.

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Heading the state

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was the heir to the Chinese throne
taking orders from the Japanese.

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Andrée Viollis,
Le Petit Parisien journalist,

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described it thus:

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"The army controls public services:
defence, finance, policing, etc.

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Its hand is in everything.

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It pays workers to move there
and help build up its presence.

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Manchuria is a fiefdom
in Japan's clutches

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and it will never let go".

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The army sapped
the region's resources,

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with Manchuria supplying
a third of Japan's iron

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and becoming the top soy producer
in the world.

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It was manna from heaven for Tokyo,

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a perfect way
to escape economic crisis at home.

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Japan began to prepare
a broader-scale colonisation effort.

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One million Japanese people
moved to Manchukuo.

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Western states had stood idly by
while Manchuria was taken,

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but now they worried.

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Japanese expansionism could
threaten their foothold in China.

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A new line was crossed

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when, in March of 1932,

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the Japanese navy went rogue

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00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:04,920
and bombarded Shanghai

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00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:07,160
and Western concessions there.

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00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:12,600
Andrée Viollis wrote:

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00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:18,240
"I was there for over a month,

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00:15:18,560 --> 00:15:21,200
witnessing bloody street battles
and fires,

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00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:24,640
listening to and fleeing from
naval and air bombings.

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00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:35,720
Sixty years ago,
Japan was an obscure Asian kingdom.

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00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:36,920
Now,

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00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:42,080
it wages war after war in the Far
East to expand its hegemony.

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00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:52,800
Thousands of ex-patriots were
killed in Shanghai.

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00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:57,200
Western states got directly involved
and negotiated a ceasefire.

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00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,120
England, the US, France,
Italy and Germany

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00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:04,840
wouldn't change tack in China.

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00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:13,400
To stem the tide
of Japanese expansionism,

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00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:15,320
the West backed Chiang Kai-shek,

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00:16:16,040 --> 00:16:17,440
who condemned Manchukuo

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00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:19,640
at the League of Nations.

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00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:22,160
China's nationalist president

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00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:24,400
called for immediate
Japanese withdrawal

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00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:26,680
and an inquiry
into Japan's invasion.

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00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:28,840
In March 1933,

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00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:32,000
the League of Nations
deemed the invasion illegal.

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00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:34,280
The chairman announces
the result of the ballot:

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00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:36,680
42 nations out of the 44 present

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00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:39,040
condemn Japan's Manchurian policy.

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00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:42,520
The report is ratified unanimously.

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00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:49,160
Japan, however,

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00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:50,240
YOSUKE MATSUOKA
JAPANESE PARLIAMENTARY REP

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00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:53,880
finds it impossible to accept

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00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:57,560
the report adopted by the Assembly.

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00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:05,720
Japan unceremoniously split
from the League.

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00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:10,880
It chose instead
to become a rogue state,

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00:17:11,080 --> 00:17:14,280
free to continue
its expansion throughout Asia.

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00:17:22,120 --> 00:17:26,960
Far-right army officers in Tokyo
used violence to garner influence,

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00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:30,040
assassinating business leaders,
politicians

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00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:31,800
and even the Prime Minister.

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00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:38,760
The army was becoming a state
within a state.

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00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:42,720
The country was gripped by fear.

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00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:51,920
Jean and Emmy knew that where
they'd lived for over a decade

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00:17:52,120 --> 00:17:54,200
was now becoming
something different.

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00:17:55,200 --> 00:17:57,680
Jean watched it all happen
first-hand.

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00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:10,360
On 26 February 1936,
he was inside the Havas building

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00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:13,800
when far-right military officers

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00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:17,240
carried out a coup d'état
and barricaded the city centre.

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00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:29,080
Jean sent a wire to Paris.

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00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:34,520
"1,500 officers and soldiers
stand at their outposts

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00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:38,440
at the Parliament, War Ministry
and police headquarters.

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00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:42,440
The Finance Minister
and Public Prosecutor are dead.

253
00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:45,200
The Prime Minister
made a narrow escape".

254
00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:55,560
The putschists sought to create
a military state under the emperor.

255
00:18:59,200 --> 00:19:01,160
Hirohito was against it.

256
00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:04,600
"Army units mobilised
without our orders.

257
00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:07,000
Call them what you will,
they are not our army".

258
00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:16,480
Marshall law was declared
on 28 February.

259
00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:19,120
The rebellion
was squashed at once.

260
00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:21,360
Fifteen officers were executed.

261
00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:27,320
Despite this,
the far-right got what it wanted.

262
00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:30,200
The new Prime Minister was
Prince Konoe,

263
00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:32,080
who increased military spending

264
00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:34,920
and backed
the army's imperialistic schemes.

265
00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:41,760
Jean followed the events closely
and discussed them with journalists.

266
00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:59,200
They felt the far-right was inspired
by Hitler's example

267
00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:01,560
and his influence
would continue to grow.

268
00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:12,000
Emmy was concerned
about the political tide turning

269
00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:15,600
and longed to flee the shockwaves
coursing through Japan.

270
00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:20,360
She travelled to Manchukuo
for a few weeks.

271
00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:25,280
"Dear Jean,

272
00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:28,600
I'm now on the boat
and everything's going as planned.

273
00:20:29,240 --> 00:20:31,920
I'll meet my friends in Harbin.

274
00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:33,680
Take good care of the kids.

275
00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:35,920
Write to me at the Hotel Moderne".

276
00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:51,840
The Japanese army used Harbin
as window dressing for tourists.

277
00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:56,120
It was a city made for rich
foreigners looking for a good time.

278
00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:02,040
Emmy spent her time
with jazz musicians

279
00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:04,000
and partied till dawn.

280
00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:18,040
The Imperial Japanese Army
had its sights set

281
00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:21,040
on conquering China
and its capital at Nanjing.

282
00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:34,560
In July 1937,
Beijing fell within a few days.

283
00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:36,560
Shanghai fell a few weeks later.

284
00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:42,440
After months of fierce fighting,
the Japanese entered Nanjing,

285
00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:45,840
Chiang Kai-shek's capital
of nationalist China.

286
00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:54,360
In Nanjing, Japanese soldiers
were famished and without orders

287
00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:56,920
and so burned everything
in their way.

288
00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:02,240
They murdered Chinese civilians
in droves.

289
00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:07,000
Their commanders let it happen.

290
00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:11,920
Civilians were killed
by bayonet.

291
00:22:12,120 --> 00:22:13,600
Women were raped.

292
00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:15,840
Children were not spared.

293
00:22:26,360 --> 00:22:29,920
In three months,
nearly 200,000 were massacred.

294
00:22:41,640 --> 00:22:44,800
LIFE Magazine brought the world
firsthand accounts and photos

295
00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:47,520
and disgruntled public opinion

296
00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:50,680
while the Japanese government
censured news of the events.

297
00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:56,080
The Japanese people
didn't learn of the massacre

298
00:22:56,280 --> 00:22:58,720
until after World War II ended.

299
00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:06,840
Japanese propaganda
celebrated conquest in China

300
00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:07,960
as a return to peace,

301
00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:12,040
claiming the Chinese
had been liberated.

302
00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:17,000
A Japanese correspondent
for newspaper Asahi Shinbun said:

303
00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,120
"What better pay-off
for our war effort

304
00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:24,000
than taking the enemy capital

305
00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:27,040
and command of all of China

306
00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:28,960
where we've laid the groundwork

307
00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:31,520
to create prosperity
across all of eastern Asia?"

308
00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:47,480
In Tokyo, the government
mobilised the population.

309
00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:55,600
Fundraisers for the army
became commonplace.

310
00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:58,360
Jean Millot
witnessed popular opinion unify.

311
00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:02,120
"To support the war effort,

312
00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:04,800
the people gather
in fundraising centres

313
00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:07,000
and donate their money,
pots and pans,

314
00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:08,920
and valuable jewellery

315
00:24:09,120 --> 00:24:10,960
to pay for the building of canals".

316
00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:14,440
The press and radio were
under censure.

317
00:24:15,360 --> 00:24:18,440
Journalists couldn't criticise
imperial ideology.

318
00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:23,080
All of Japan had to fall in line.

319
00:24:28,400 --> 00:24:32,040
The traditional mindset Emmy
rejected when she left Chutaro

320
00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:34,080
became the standard once more.

321
00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:43,840
Western lifestyles,
once representing modernity,

322
00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:45,640
became repressed.

323
00:24:51,120 --> 00:24:52,600
In these hard times,

324
00:24:52,800 --> 00:24:55,360
the family wondered
if they should return to Europe,

325
00:24:56,320 --> 00:24:57,560
but decided against it.

326
00:25:01,960 --> 00:25:05,640
"Jean's work is here,
and so are our friends.

327
00:25:06,360 --> 00:25:07,800
The children speak Japanese,

328
00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:10,920
English and a bit of French
with their father.

329
00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:14,000
They've had
a cosmopolitan education,

330
00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:17,360
but their homeland is Japan,
as is ours.

331
00:25:18,120 --> 00:25:21,600
Besides, the situation in Europe
is no better than here".

332
00:25:38,360 --> 00:25:40,640
On 1 September 1939,

333
00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:43,480
the Third Reich invaded Poland.

334
00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:47,960
World War II had begun.

335
00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:52,160
That didn't behove Japan's strategy

336
00:25:52,360 --> 00:25:55,800
as it weakened Western presence
in Asia.

337
00:25:57,080 --> 00:25:59,960
All French men were mobilised,
even those abroad.

338
00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:04,440
In Tokyo, Jean was summoned
by France's military attaché,

339
00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:06,640
Commander Thiébaut,

340
00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:08,520
who sent him to Yokohama

341
00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:11,640
where he was to follow the orders
of Consul Arsène Henry.

342
00:26:11,840 --> 00:26:15,200
MY FELLOW PATRIOT...

343
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:16,400
But there were no orders.

344
00:26:17,520 --> 00:26:19,560
War became a laughingstock in Tokyo.

345
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:24,720
French ex-pats treated it
like a vaudeville show.

346
00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:26,520
Robert Guillain wrote:

347
00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:31,920
"One fine day, a telegram came
from military authorities in Paris:

348
00:26:32,120 --> 00:26:36,600
'Send us a report of your duties
within your reconnaissance unit.'

349
00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:39,080
Commander Thiébaut was embarrassed.

350
00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:40,880
There was no reconnaissance unit.

351
00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:44,440
'Well!' Thiébaut thought.
'We'll have to make one!'

352
00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,520
He summoned some 15 Frenchmen
in secret.

353
00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:51,760
We had to pick a leader
and Jean Millot was chosen,

354
00:26:52,520 --> 00:26:54,920
but Emmy told her friend
Anne-Françoise,

355
00:26:55,120 --> 00:26:57,920
the wife of Reuters correspondent
Jimmy Cox, everything,

356
00:26:58,120 --> 00:27:01,080
who then shared the information
with another French ex-pat.

357
00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:04,440
Thiébaut found out
and in the same day

358
00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:06,520
poor Millot lost his secret job".

359
00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:13,480
Nothing went unnoticed
by the Japanese,

360
00:27:14,120 --> 00:27:16,320
who carried out surveillance
on all foreigners.

361
00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:19,880
Their conversations were rehashed
in detailed reports.

362
00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:23,840
As usual every Wednesday morning,
the group met,

363
00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:27,760
François Chevalier
and Robert Guillaume from Havas,

364
00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:31,600
Jean Millot from
the French Telegraph Company.

365
00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:34,040
They talked about a new car
and gas prices...

366
00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:40,520
In May 1940,

367
00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:44,640
Nazi troops invaded France after
conquering Belgium and Holland.

368
00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:56,960
Jean got enlisted in the battalion
of telegraph workers abroad

369
00:27:57,160 --> 00:27:58,800
and was shipped to French Indochina.

370
00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:09,160
On 24 June 1940,

371
00:28:09,360 --> 00:28:11,240
Jean landed at Haiphong.

372
00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:12,760
France had been sacked,

373
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:16,560
signing an armistice with the Reich
two days prior.

374
00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:20,480
France's Third Republic
drew to a close,

375
00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:23,200
replaced by the Vichy regime.

376
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:29,600
The Japanese government took
advantage of France's vulnerability

377
00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:31,400
and sent their demands to Paris:

378
00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:36,360
open northern French Indochina
to the Japanese army

379
00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:40,120
and let it carry out
a military campaign there...

380
00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:42,360
FRENCH INDOCHINA

381
00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:44,840
and stop selling arms and fuel

382
00:28:45,040 --> 00:28:47,960
to Chiang Kai-shek
and the Chinese nationalists.

383
00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:57,320
Governor General Catroux
had no choice but to agree.

384
00:28:57,520 --> 00:28:59,280
GENERAL GEORGES CATROUX

385
00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:03,000
The French colony didn't have
a single tank to defend itself.

386
00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:07,560
Vichy appointed his successor,
Admiral Jean Decoux,

387
00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:09,200
who didn't change policy.

388
00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:11,160
GOVERNOR GENERAL OF FRENCH INDOCHINA

389
00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:12,840
On 29 June,

390
00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:15,800
a Japanese inspection crew
arrived in Hanoi

391
00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:18,040
to monitor the Chinese embargo.

392
00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:20,720
That night,

393
00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:24,840
Jean Millot attended a dinner
with a head of the Japanese group,

394
00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:26,720
one General Nishihara,

395
00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:31,080
and Commander Thiébaut,
whom he knew well already.

396
00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:33,880
Jean spoke fluent Japanese

397
00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:37,640
and was hired by the Japanese as
an interpreter and liaison officer.

398
00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:40,240
For two months,

399
00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,960
he followed the Japanese officers
through the Cao Bang Province

400
00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:48,240
to monitor railroads,
bridges and border outposts.

401
00:29:49,720 --> 00:29:52,160
Jean's photos tell the story
of their work.

402
00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:54,120
"August '40.

403
00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:56,840
War spoils
Chiang Kai-shek will never see.

404
00:29:57,160 --> 00:29:59,280
From Cao Bang to Tru Khan Phu,

405
00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:02,000
we seized hundreds of gas barrels".

406
00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:09,520
Nishihara's mission wasn't just
about sealing up the border.

407
00:30:09,840 --> 00:30:11,480
Reconnaissance
was part of the mission.

408
00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:15,360
The Admiral voiced his concerns
to the Vichy government.

409
00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:17,840
"The Japanese army
wastes no effort

410
00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:21,600
gathering information
in every region they traverse.

411
00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:23,960
Clearly,
they have an ulterior motive".

412
00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:29,520
The Admiral was right.

413
00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:32,840
The Japanese army
wanted a foothold in Indochina.

414
00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:38,400
It too could use the resources
the West syphoned from its colonies:

415
00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:42,160
rice and rubber
from French Indochina,

416
00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:46,440
oil from the Dutch colonies
of Sumatra and Borneo,

417
00:30:47,160 --> 00:30:49,960
the British territories
of Hong Kong and Singapore

418
00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,760
and iron and sugar
from the US-run Philippines.

419
00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:57,080
As justification for expansion,

420
00:30:57,280 --> 00:30:59,880
Minister of Foreign Affairs Matsuoka

421
00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:02,440
announced the Greater East Asia

422
00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:06,920
Co-Prosperity Sphere
on 1 August 1940.

423
00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:15,360
On the border with China,

424
00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:18,320
Jean realised
that the Japanese troops in China

425
00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:21,200
were preparing
to invade French Indochina.

426
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:24,880
His photos with accompanying
captions show the tension.

427
00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:30,160
Japanese troops need only cross
this bridge to invade Indochina

428
00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:33,240
and are awaiting a simple order
from their superiors".

429
00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:42,680
On 22 September, Japanese
diplomats tore up an agreement

430
00:31:42,880 --> 00:31:46,880
giving France permission to station
6,000 soldiers in the north.

431
00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:56,200
The next day, Japanese infantry
crossed the border,

432
00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:59,080
but French troops
hadn't been made aware

433
00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:00,960
and tried to push them back.

434
00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:10,880
Three days of combat ensued

435
00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:13,800
and the Japanese army took control
of the border outposts.

436
00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:18,160
Jean watched it all play out.

437
00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:23,520
An Asian nation
was invading a Western colony.

438
00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:37,080
A few days later,

439
00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:40,480
Japan signed the Tripartite Pact
with the Third Reich

440
00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:43,200
and fascist Italy
to bolster its upper hand.

441
00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:45,920
SABURO KURUSU
JAPANESE AMBASSADOR TO GERMANY

442
00:32:46,120 --> 00:32:49,560
Tokyo's control of the Pacific Rim
was guaranteed.

443
00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:03,160
Then on 29 July 1941,

444
00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:06,440
Japanese made its takeover
of French Indochina official,

445
00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:10,200
forcing France to let it station
40,000 troops there.

446
00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:13,520
In under a year,

447
00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:17,040
France's colonial might
succumbed to imperial prowess.

448
00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:23,640
French Indochina became a launchpad
for Japan

449
00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:26,600
to begin making forays
into the Pacific.

450
00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:29,640
RAILWAYS

451
00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:33,760
The US felt threatened

452
00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:37,280
and imposed a fuel embargo
on Japan

453
00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:41,040
in an attempt to force Tokyo
to the negotiating table.

454
00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:47,280
Instead, the Japanese drew out talks
while preparing a strike.

455
00:33:50,160 --> 00:33:53,040
War with the US was inevitable.

456
00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:07,880
In the autumn of 1941,

457
00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:09,880
Jean Millot returned to Tokyo.

458
00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:12,920
Daily living was a struggle there.

459
00:34:13,800 --> 00:34:16,320
Food shortages meant rice, miso

460
00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:18,280
and sugar were all rationed,

461
00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:20,400
as was charcoal.

462
00:34:22,720 --> 00:34:23,680
Jean and Emmy

463
00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:27,640
decided Emmy should live with the
children at their holiday home

464
00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:31,680
some 100 kilometres from Tokyo
in the town of Karuizawa.

465
00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:41,800
Regardless of nationality,
all ex-pats were treated as spies.

466
00:34:42,640 --> 00:34:44,200
In December 1941,

467
00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:47,040
a dozen French nationals
were arbitrarily imprisoned.

468
00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:56,600
Like all foreigners,
Emmy lived in fear.

469
00:34:58,040 --> 00:35:02,240
In the summer of 1940,
Jimmy Cox, husband of Emmy's friend

470
00:35:02,440 --> 00:35:03,520
Anne-Françoise

471
00:35:03,720 --> 00:35:07,000
and Reuters correspondent,
was taken into police custody

472
00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:11,480
and killed himself by jumping out
of a window during an interrogation.

473
00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:16,560
His friends and family believed
he was thrown to his death.

474
00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:18,360
Emmy wrote to Jean:

475
00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:21,240
"Anne-Françoise feared for her life.

476
00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:24,120
She took refuge
at the British Consulate.

477
00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:28,320
I went to her home
to retrieve her clothes and papers.

478
00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:31,960
She was sent back to London
within two days".

479
00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:39,240
The Japanese population

480
00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:41,080
was likewise under surveillance.

481
00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:44,840
Democratic institutions
were done away with.

482
00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:48,760
The Konoe government
created a single party

483
00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:52,200
that was essentially
a propaganda mouthpiece.

484
00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:57,240
It preached

485
00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:00,560
reverence to the emperor
and unconditional service to him.

486
00:36:00,760 --> 00:36:02,120
Everyone had a role to play.

487
00:36:10,240 --> 00:36:14,160
Neighbourhood alliances
helped carry out mass surveillance

488
00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:15,480
spying on every inhabitant

489
00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:17,680
and turning in anyone opposed
to the war.

490
00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:24,000
The Japanese army was so ubiquitous
it even shaped school curriculum,

491
00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:25,400
making it mandatory

492
00:36:25,720 --> 00:36:28,600
for children
to receive battle training

493
00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:30,880
and teach them the beauty of death.

494
00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:33,760
Spurred by propaganda,

495
00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:36,800
all of Japan was on board
to join the fight.

496
00:36:48,240 --> 00:36:52,040
Jean felt isolated
with Emmy and the boys so far away.

497
00:36:52,240 --> 00:36:56,200
Robert Guillain barely recognised
the lively optimist

498
00:36:56,400 --> 00:36:57,840
he had known before the war.

499
00:36:59,760 --> 00:37:01,720
"Millot spent a lot of time at home,

500
00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:04,600
alone, rarely stepping out,
only reading indoors.

501
00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:07,960
I'd run into him now and then
at classical music concerts".

502
00:37:11,080 --> 00:37:13,040
As an antidote
to hunger and anxiety,

503
00:37:13,240 --> 00:37:16,680
the people of Tokyo were
avid attendees of cultural events.

504
00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:19,200
That's when Jean
would see Robert Guillain.

505
00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:23,440
"Friday nights
at the Hibiya Concert Hall,

506
00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:25,080
we'd go to hear Beethoven,

507
00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:27,880
Debussy, or Stravinsky

508
00:37:28,520 --> 00:37:29,640
and forget about the war".

509
00:37:43,960 --> 00:37:46,720
On the morning
of 8 December 1941,

510
00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:49,960
the people of Japan
turned on the radio to learn

511
00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:52,800
about the surprise attack
on Pearl Harbour.

512
00:37:54,440 --> 00:37:57,240
Jean watched how the people reacted.

513
00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:00,640
"Amid the mass morning commute,

514
00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:04,840
a newspaper seller
waved a copy of the paper about.

515
00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:07,800
'Senso! Senso! War! War!'

516
00:38:08,120 --> 00:38:10,480
No-one in earshot reacted,
but knowing them,

517
00:38:10,800 --> 00:38:13,880
they were bewildered
and dismayed".

518
00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:25,560
The Imperial Army
felt victory would be swift

519
00:38:25,760 --> 00:38:29,760
and for months the field was theirs.

520
00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:34,640
In no time at all,

521
00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:37,040
Hong Kong, Singapore,

522
00:38:37,240 --> 00:38:39,520
the Philippines and Malaysia

523
00:38:39,720 --> 00:38:41,760
became occupied by Japanese troops.

524
00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:52,680
The Japanese people were enthralled
and hailed their emperor.

525
00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:09,440
Robert Guillain watched on.

526
00:39:11,440 --> 00:39:15,600
"In Tokyo, droves of people
marched to the Imperial Palace.

527
00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:18,720
They came alone, in groups,
or as whole families,

528
00:39:19,640 --> 00:39:22,240
the men half
in khaki combat uniform,

529
00:39:22,440 --> 00:39:25,560
women in colourful kimonos
and children by the hundreds

530
00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:27,680
bowing their heads at the moat.

531
00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:37,000
Drunk with success,

532
00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:40,040
Japanese officers believed
that the US

533
00:39:40,240 --> 00:39:43,200
would come to the negotiating table
in short order,

534
00:39:46,200 --> 00:39:49,320
but the Imperial Army's defeat
at Midway on 19 June 1942,

535
00:39:50,240 --> 00:39:52,320
only six months
after Pearl Harbour,

536
00:39:52,520 --> 00:39:55,600
marked the end of Japanese dominance
in the Pacific theatre.

537
00:39:58,760 --> 00:40:01,360
Then ensued one defeat after another
for the Japanese.

538
00:40:08,840 --> 00:40:12,280
General Tojo, the famed
prime minister of wartime Japan,

539
00:40:12,480 --> 00:40:15,760
mandated student enlistment
to ensure ultimate victory.

540
00:40:21,520 --> 00:40:23,280
The day has come for you,

541
00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:25,920
young men and women

542
00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:28,160
of this kingdom,

543
00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:31,480
to take courage as you set out

544
00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:36,920
and honour your ancestors
on this mission.

545
00:40:38,880 --> 00:40:42,000
Defeat your enemies.

546
00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:44,680
Defend and serve

547
00:40:44,880 --> 00:40:47,480
the fortunes of the empire,

548
00:40:47,680 --> 00:40:51,040
you, the one billion people

549
00:40:51,240 --> 00:40:54,720
of Greater East Asia,

550
00:40:54,920 --> 00:40:56,440
for love of morality...

551
00:41:10,920 --> 00:41:14,120
The war room devised a new weapon:
kamikazes.

552
00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:20,400
These young, elite students
were the strength of Japan

553
00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:23,680
and sent to their deaths
to honour the emperor.

554
00:41:41,200 --> 00:41:42,760
Yet the kamikazes' courage

555
00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:45,880
was no match for US military might.

556
00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:49,680
In November 1944,

557
00:41:50,240 --> 00:41:53,960
the US Air Force bombed
Tokyo's civilian districts.

558
00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:06,440
Millot and Guillain

559
00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:09,440
lived through one bombing
on a night in February.

560
00:42:13,440 --> 00:42:16,720
"In a single night,
700 bombs rained down

561
00:42:16,920 --> 00:42:19,480
destroying thousands
of wooden homes

562
00:42:19,680 --> 00:42:22,760
whose inhabitants were civilians
of little means".

563
00:42:31,720 --> 00:42:34,640
Then on the night of
9 to 10 March 1945,

564
00:42:34,840 --> 00:42:35,840
the US Air Force

565
00:42:36,040 --> 00:42:39,720
firebombed
the Japanese capital city.

566
00:42:40,760 --> 00:42:42,520
The result was devastating.

567
00:42:50,880 --> 00:42:54,400
Following Tokyo, US forces
wielding napalm destroyed

568
00:42:54,600 --> 00:42:55,760
Osaka,

569
00:42:56,080 --> 00:42:58,400
Kobe and Nagoya.

570
00:43:08,120 --> 00:43:10,600
Emperor Hirohito
came out of his palace

571
00:43:10,800 --> 00:43:14,320
to take stock on the damage
to the capital.

572
00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:18,280
He could have ended the war
then and there.

573
00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:24,720
Instead, he let the commanders have
their way and keep up the fighting.

574
00:43:28,920 --> 00:43:31,560
The day after the bombing of Tokyo,

575
00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:35,320
the government evacuated
foreign nationals in the capital.

576
00:43:36,200 --> 00:43:39,680
Officially, the purpose
was to shelter them, but in reality,

577
00:43:39,880 --> 00:43:43,640
it was to keep them from informing
their governments of the damage.

578
00:43:46,040 --> 00:43:49,800
Jean Millot was sent to Karuizawa
alongside other French nationals.

579
00:43:56,160 --> 00:44:00,160
The government was holding
nationals of the Axis powers

580
00:44:00,360 --> 00:44:01,240
and non-aligned countries.

581
00:44:03,280 --> 00:44:05,560
Swiss, Italians and Germans

582
00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:08,360
were able to live freely,
yet under surveillance.

583
00:44:13,440 --> 00:44:15,640
Robert Guillain
was likewise sent there.

584
00:44:17,600 --> 00:44:20,640
The village is crawling with police
in civilian dress

585
00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:22,040
and police spies.

586
00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:24,360
Their purpose

587
00:44:24,560 --> 00:44:25,960
is to ensure nationalities

588
00:44:26,160 --> 00:44:30,160
are kept apart and unable
to communicate with one another.

589
00:44:35,720 --> 00:44:37,880
Jean's holiday home was abandoned.

590
00:44:38,680 --> 00:44:41,360
The time apart
got the best of his marriage.

591
00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:46,080
Emmy and the children
moved to a different district.

592
00:44:46,720 --> 00:44:50,320
Life in Karuizawa
was difficult for all present.

593
00:44:51,840 --> 00:44:55,280
"We live within the limits
of the commune.

594
00:44:56,120 --> 00:44:58,800
For all living here,
we're rationed

595
00:44:59,000 --> 00:45:01,880
a cube of black bread
and a bit of soy soup".

596
00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:06,520
Piece by piece, Emmy had
to sell her jewellery for food.

597
00:45:08,560 --> 00:45:12,080
"I have to buy everything we eat
on the black market

598
00:45:12,280 --> 00:45:14,640
run by speculating Japanese

599
00:45:14,960 --> 00:45:16,880
with the blessing of the police".

600
00:45:23,960 --> 00:45:27,360
Beyond the threat of hunger,
another danger loomed.

601
00:45:29,320 --> 00:45:31,000
The Swiss Embassy

602
00:45:31,200 --> 00:45:33,760
had a radio
that picked up US news radio.

603
00:45:34,720 --> 00:45:36,840
US troops landed at Okinawa.

604
00:45:39,080 --> 00:45:40,880
They were preparing an attack.

605
00:45:44,120 --> 00:45:47,240
All were terrified
in the tourist city.

606
00:45:47,880 --> 00:45:49,920
Would they be slaughtered
by Japanese

607
00:45:50,120 --> 00:45:52,320
or bombed by Americans?

608
00:45:54,520 --> 00:45:57,720
The concerns of the Swiss ambassador
echoed those of everyone else.

609
00:45:59,120 --> 00:46:00,560
"I'd be obliged to you

610
00:46:00,760 --> 00:46:03,640
if you would look
into protecting the village

611
00:46:03,840 --> 00:46:05,120
of Karuizawa.

612
00:46:05,800 --> 00:46:09,400
There's a chance that,
under the heavy bombing of Japan,

613
00:46:09,600 --> 00:46:13,520
Karuizawa will be collateral damage
if we don't contact Washington".

614
00:46:17,480 --> 00:46:19,880
Karuizawa was ultimately spared.

615
00:46:23,200 --> 00:46:25,320
Europe watched the final weeks

616
00:46:25,520 --> 00:46:27,480
of the war with bated breath.

617
00:46:29,240 --> 00:46:31,360
On 27 July 1945,

618
00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:33,880
at the Potsdam Conference,

619
00:46:34,480 --> 00:46:37,760
the Allied powers demanded Japan's
unconditional surrender,

620
00:46:38,400 --> 00:46:40,840
offering no guarantees
the empire would survive.

621
00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:44,120
The Japanese government
didn't heed the demand.

622
00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:46,600
The emperor remained silent.

623
00:46:50,920 --> 00:46:55,360
The US decided it was time to show
the world its new weapon,

624
00:46:55,560 --> 00:46:56,840
the atomic bomb.

625
00:47:05,520 --> 00:47:07,600
On 6 August 1945,

626
00:47:07,800 --> 00:47:10,680
the US dropped an uranium bomb
on Hiroshima.

627
00:47:10,880 --> 00:47:13,120
On 9 August it hit Nagasaki

628
00:47:13,320 --> 00:47:15,160
with a plutonium bomb.

629
00:47:17,520 --> 00:47:19,600
The cities were razed and

630
00:47:19,800 --> 00:47:22,560
men, women and children
died in their tens of thousands.

631
00:47:24,720 --> 00:47:26,160
Jean was beside himself.

632
00:47:26,360 --> 00:47:30,560
He kept albums of press photos
of Hiroshima's destruction.

633
00:47:31,240 --> 00:47:34,680
His friend Robert Guillain
felt a new age had dawned.

634
00:47:35,760 --> 00:47:36,800
He wrote:

635
00:47:39,040 --> 00:47:41,160
"With the bombing of Hiroshima,

636
00:47:41,720 --> 00:47:44,840
new heights of wartime atrocities
have been achieved.

637
00:47:45,680 --> 00:47:48,320
War as a collective crime
has shifted.

638
00:47:49,400 --> 00:47:52,440
Humanity has now entered an age
of mass murder.

639
00:47:53,320 --> 00:47:55,960
Military operations
estimate deaths in the millions.

640
00:47:57,280 --> 00:48:01,000
The horror of Hiroshima may be
even worse for future generations.

641
00:48:01,600 --> 00:48:04,520
All humanity may suffer poisoning
from atomic radiation".

642
00:48:17,640 --> 00:48:20,840
Considering the current state

643
00:48:21,040 --> 00:48:23,760
of the world and the empire,

644
00:48:24,400 --> 00:48:27,600
I will take extraordinary measures

645
00:48:27,800 --> 00:48:30,240
to bring the current situation

646
00:48:30,440 --> 00:48:32,240
under control.

647
00:48:32,440 --> 00:48:34,960
I hereby appeal

648
00:48:35,160 --> 00:48:40,080
to my loyal subjects,
as I am the imperial government.

649
00:48:40,280 --> 00:48:42,360
On 15 August 1945,

650
00:48:42,680 --> 00:48:44,760
Japan accepted
unconditional surrender.

651
00:48:46,320 --> 00:48:49,720
General MacArthur's 8th Infantry
assumed governance of Japan.

652
00:48:56,040 --> 00:48:59,600
The Japanese quickly saw
the Americans as liberators.

653
00:48:59,800 --> 00:49:03,360
A new day of democracy
and peace had dawned.

654
00:49:06,400 --> 00:49:08,800
As a communications engineer,

655
00:49:09,000 --> 00:49:11,040
Jean was given a crucial role

656
00:49:11,760 --> 00:49:14,640
in the telecommunications bureau
of the 8th Infantry.

657
00:49:15,840 --> 00:49:17,600
His two sons, Louis and Marc,

658
00:49:18,240 --> 00:49:20,240
age 16 and 15,

659
00:49:20,560 --> 00:49:23,240
were trilingual
and hired as interpreters.

660
00:49:32,840 --> 00:49:35,640
The country
was swiftly democratised.

661
00:49:35,840 --> 00:49:38,800
The first multi-party elections
in the wake of the war

662
00:49:39,000 --> 00:49:41,440
were held in April of 1946.

663
00:49:41,640 --> 00:49:43,720
The voting age was lowered to 20

664
00:49:44,040 --> 00:49:46,520
and for the first time
women could vote.

665
00:49:51,080 --> 00:49:53,960
The Japanese were divided
on the role of the emperor.

666
00:49:54,880 --> 00:49:58,560
Some wanted him put on trial
for war crimes.

667
00:49:59,760 --> 00:50:01,800
Others wanted him to abdicate.

668
00:50:06,840 --> 00:50:08,440
General MacArthur, however,

669
00:50:08,640 --> 00:50:10,880
had a mind to use the emperor

670
00:50:11,080 --> 00:50:12,560
to complete his mission.

671
00:50:13,760 --> 00:50:16,480
Hirohito was a symbol
uniting all Japan.

672
00:50:16,680 --> 00:50:19,760
If he got crushed,
the nation would crumble.

673
00:50:26,680 --> 00:50:28,400
Under US oversight,

674
00:50:28,600 --> 00:50:32,400
the International Military Tribunal
for the Far East convened in Tokyo

675
00:50:32,600 --> 00:50:34,360
on 3 May 1946.

676
00:50:36,680 --> 00:50:38,600
The Tribunal lasted over two years

677
00:50:38,800 --> 00:50:42,520
and revealed to Japan's people
the imperial army's war crimes:

678
00:50:43,600 --> 00:50:47,120
pillaging in Manchuria,
the Nanjing Massacre,

679
00:50:47,320 --> 00:50:49,480
executions of civilians and more.

680
00:50:49,800 --> 00:50:51,600
Responsibility for all decisions

681
00:50:51,800 --> 00:50:53,880
fell at the feet of the military.

682
00:50:57,240 --> 00:50:58,760
The emperor was not in attendance.

683
00:50:58,960 --> 00:51:02,280
He would not stand judgement
for his role as army commander.

684
00:51:08,880 --> 00:51:11,680
One former soldier
wrote in his diary,

685
00:51:12,960 --> 00:51:15,440
"An incredible number of lives

686
00:51:15,640 --> 00:51:17,760
were sacrificed for the Emperor.

687
00:51:18,680 --> 00:51:19,920
I hate to say it,

688
00:51:20,120 --> 00:51:23,280
but blame should fall on him
more than anyone

689
00:51:23,600 --> 00:51:25,840
since he is the head of state".

690
00:51:39,080 --> 00:51:41,560
The Millots wouldn't stay
to watch Japan move on

691
00:51:41,760 --> 00:51:43,400
without confronting its past.

692
00:51:45,040 --> 00:51:46,640
The family disbanded.

693
00:51:59,400 --> 00:52:02,200
Louis moved to Paris
and became an architect.

694
00:52:07,840 --> 00:52:10,640
Marc had a career in the US army

695
00:52:11,200 --> 00:52:12,800
as a reconnaissance officer

696
00:52:13,000 --> 00:52:15,760
and trained in Japan
to fight in Korea,

697
00:52:15,960 --> 00:52:17,520
eventually moving to the US.

698
00:52:18,960 --> 00:52:20,880
Jean Millot moved to Geneva

699
00:52:21,080 --> 00:52:24,560
to work at the International
Telecommunication Union.

700
00:52:24,760 --> 00:52:26,760
He started a new family.

701
00:52:28,080 --> 00:52:30,160
Emmy fell in love
with a Japanese man

702
00:52:30,360 --> 00:52:33,320
and stayed in the country
until 1952

703
00:52:33,520 --> 00:52:36,320
when she moved to Brighton, England.

704
00:52:39,040 --> 00:52:41,560
The family only came together
a few times after that.

705
00:52:42,160 --> 00:52:43,560
Every member bore the memory

706
00:52:43,760 --> 00:52:47,480
of the happy times
and the tormented times.

707
00:52:56,320 --> 00:52:58,440
Robert Guillain remained in Japan

708
00:52:58,640 --> 00:53:01,840
and captured the feeling
of this people he knew so well.

709
00:53:04,120 --> 00:53:07,480
"We Japanese smile
because we are suffering.

710
00:53:08,560 --> 00:53:11,400
Here, a smile is not necessarily
a sign of joy.

711
00:53:12,040 --> 00:53:16,040
Injury and failure
likewise call for a smile.

712
00:53:17,160 --> 00:53:19,160
We have a polite bearing
facing the worst.

713
00:53:19,360 --> 00:53:21,680
That's how we take revenge
on adversity

714
00:53:22,320 --> 00:53:25,840
so as to not give it
the satisfaction.

715
00:53:27,360 --> 00:53:30,600
There are millions of smiles
around Japanese nowadays

716
00:53:31,280 --> 00:53:33,960
because in Japan

717
00:53:34,600 --> 00:53:36,640
millions of hearts
have been devastated".

718
00:54:32,080 --> 00:54:36,520
Subtitle translation: Timothy Stone

719
00:54:37,305 --> 00:55:37,740