Canadian Women Film Directors Database
home search browse about contact français

Quick search by surname

Quote:
"The Mask of Nippon employs the logic of mask and true nature, which is a tactic to integrate the imperial images of Japan into the role of war enemy against Canada. By setting up this dualist framework, the film claims that, although the individual bodies of the Yamato-race appear to have become civilized, their true savage nature has never ceased to exist. Therefore, they can't be assimilated into Western civilization. In this way, The Mask of Nippon not only supported Canada's involvement in the war against Japan, but also authorized the segregation and displacement of Canadians of Japanese origin in Canada."
-- Chikako Nagayama


Source:
Nagayama, Chikako. "Imagined War and Nations: Canadian Wartime Propaganda Films and Representation of 'Yamato Race'." In Changing Japanese Identities in Multicultural Canada, edited by Midge M. Ayukawa, Joseph F. Kess, Helen Landsdowne, and Hiroko Noro. Victoria, British Columbia: Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives, University of Victoria, 2003. (p. 133)