The military press officer, Tadao Yoneyama realized the efficiency of animated films in enhancing the appeal of National Mobilization, legislated in 1938, and the strategy of the Great East Asia Co- Prosperity Sphere, among the common Asian people, by eliminating a kind of language barrier. Animated films be found to be good tools to achieve the purpose above and had the increased attention by the military and the film reviewers. So, not live-action films but animation films, including shadow picture films, came to be preferred (Yoneyama 1942: 84−85).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During World War II, around ten animated films were produced with extended assistance by the military. In 1942, the animated feature film “Momotaro no Umiwashi” was produced and screened as the main program for the first time in Japan. The purpose of this film was to justify the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Before the war, animation films had been screened only as a supporting program which followed a main film. According to the director Mitsuyo Seo, the film could be shown in theaters under pressure from the military2). Thanks to the unification of film distribution by Eiga Haikyusha under the control by the government, the military increased its impact on not only production but also distribution of the films.