An Uneasy Propaganda Alliance
The doomed film collaboration between Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan resulted in two very different features serving the same fascist agenda: The Daughter of the Samurai and The New Earth.
It was supposed to be a prestige project for Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, a way to convince their people – and the world at large – that the newly signed Anti-Comintern Pact was more than empty words. To prove that both countries were indeed Brüdervölker (brother nations), a German and a Japanese filmmaker would together create a film showing how the two nations aligned politically and culturally. So, in 1936, a German crew landed in Yokohama ready to make cinema history.
To continue reading this article you need to purchase a subscription, available from only £5.
Start my trial subscription now
If you have already purchased access, or are a print & archive subscriber, please ensure you are logged in.
Please email digital@historytoday.com if you have any problems.
![‘Scientific Researches! New Discoveries in Pneumaticks! [sic] or an Experimental Lecture on the Powers of Air, May 23, 1802’, by James Gillray. Minneapolis Institute of Art. Public Domain.](/sites/default/files/styles/teaser_list/public/2025-03/lecture_history_today_0.jpg?itok=mHN_obPV)