Ah Manmo kaitakudan

A Story of Manchurian Settler Communities

嗚呼　満蒙開拓団

(c)

(c)

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Release Date: June, 13th, 2009

Running Time: 120 min

Genre: Historical , Documentary

Color: Color

Screening Format: DVCAM

Screen Size: Standard (1:1.37)

Sound Processing: Stereo

[ Directed by ]

HANEDA Sumiko

[ Produced by ]

KUDO Mitsuru

[ Staff ]

SOMA Kenji ── Cinematography
HANEDA Sumiko ── Editor
TAKIZAWA Osamu ── Sound
TAKAHASHI Aki ── Piano
HANEDA Sumiko ── Narration
KITA Michie ── Dubbing Narrator
NISHIO Kiyoshi ── Assistant to Cinematographer

[ Production Company ]

Jiyu Kobo

[ Distributor (Japan) ]

Jiyu Kobo

[ Production Studio ]

Jiyu Kobo

[ Story ]

Following a reckless state policy imposed after the Manchurian Incident in 1931, the Japanese government dispatched Japanese civilian settlers to the then Manchuria and Inner Mongolia of mainland China. Approximately 270,000 Japanese citizens crossed the sea with a profound sense of vocation, only to be ‘discarded' by the nation when the Pacific War situation worsened. Consequently, over 80,000 Japanese were left behind after the war, leading to long resonating issues such as the orphaned children who were to be brought up by Chinese families. This documentary is directed by Haneda Sumiko, aged 83 at the time of production, who was born in Manchuria in 1926 and experienced the mass exodus of Japanese after the war.
Taking the memorial for the Japanese built by Premier Zhou Enlai in Heilongjiang Province into focus, the filmmaker conducts interviews with Japanese and Chinese people who testify to the severe hardships of the settlers after the Japanese army abandoned them, and chronicles episodes from the building of the memorial. The film was awarded the Kinema Junpo Prize for Best Bunka Film, the Japanese Cinema Pen Club Award for Best Bunka Film, and Documentary Grand Prize of the Bunka-cho Film Prizes.