# Looking for a WWII Japanese propaganda film, about the midget submariners at Pearl Harbor...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wwii-japanese-propaganda-film-about-the-midget-submariners-at-pearl-harbor/661459>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [June 20, 2013, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wwii-japanese-propaganda-film-about-the-midget-submariners-at-pearl-harbor/661459 "2013-06-20T13:57:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wwii-japanese-propaganda-film-about-the-midget-submariners-at-pearl-harbor/661459/1 "2013-06-20T13:57:37Z")

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…I know it _exists_, but I don’t know the title. A clip of it was shown in the old National Geographic documentary “Untold Stories of World War II,” at about the 35 minute mark, mentioning that the Japanese propaganda machine deified the fallen crewmen as the “Nine Young Gods of Pearl Harbor” (the _tenth_ sub crewman, [having been captured,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazuo_Sakamaki) was ignored).

So—by any chance, would anyone happen to know if a full version of that propaganda film is available, anywhere? If nothing else, one thing’s stuck with me, ever since I saw it as a kid…it actually had a [really pretty choral piece sung](http://home.comcast.net/~Ranchoth/midgetsubpropagandachorus.mp3) in the background, and I’d like to hear the whole thing without a narrator talking over it.

I know, I know…like about everything else I’m interested in, it’s a fool’s errand. But I at least had to ask. ☹

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**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\
**Post date:** [June 20, 2013, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wwii-japanese-propaganda-film-about-the-midget-submariners-at-pearl-harbor/661459/2 "2013-06-20T15:14:58Z")

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Dumb question, but was the choral background original in the propaganda film, or added by NatGeo in the documentary?

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**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wwii-japanese-propaganda-film-about-the-midget-submariners-at-pearl-harbor/661459/3 "2013-06-21T01:20:34Z")

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> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#):
>
> Dumb question, but was the choral background original in the propaganda film, or added by NatGeo in the documentary?

It’s an _excellent_ question, my friend—but, as it exactly overlayed the clip of footage from the propaganda film they used, and was of similarly scratchy quality, I assumed it’s from the original film.

Superb point, though, and I really _don’t_ know for sure.

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**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\
**Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-a-wwii-japanese-propaganda-film-about-the-midget-submariners-at-pearl-harbor/661459/4 "2013-06-21T01:40:25Z")

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Just clarify: was it the sub that was a midget, or the sailors?