Refereed Original Paper
Comparative Analysis between the Japanese American
and the Japanese Canadian Internment Documentaries
Keywords:
documentary film, multicultural coexistence, cinema analysis, Japanese internment, cross-national study

Yasuaki TSUJI, University of Tsukuba

Abstract
During the Second World War, the internment of people of Japanese descent occurred in the
U.S.A. and Canada simultaneously. Each country produced a documentary film about theinternment. Although these documentaries were superficially similar, the two countries’ politicaland cultural difference were reflected in them. In this study, a combined qualitative and quantitative
analysis was conducted for the two films for a systematic comparative assessment. Consequently,
substantial differences were observed in the two films on several respects. First, the number of“Frontal view of the internees” shots in the Canadian film exceeded those of Americans where
people looked away from the camera and face the other direction. This phenomenon may beconsidered as a reflection of the cultural difference such as a family-like-co-existence and asymbolic assimilation. Second, when people of Japanese descent and Caucasian are in the same
frame, they face opposite directions in the American film. However, the Japanese Canadians andCaucasians in the Canadian film face the same direction and are placed in an equivalent positionon the screen. Third, based on the outliers, i.e., characteristic shots of the films, descriptions ofJapanese and Western culture coexist in the Canadian film. In contrast, the U. S. documentary has
only Western ones. In general, a reflection of the American way of assimilation and the Canadian
co-existence in the content of the two war-time propaganda documentaries is observed. This
study confirmed by combined qualitative and quantitative analysis the political and culturaldifferences of the two countries as reflected in their documentaries, which appeared similar on
the surface. Although this study focused on documentaries produced during the Second World
War, the method used here may be applied to the analysis of other video contents and contributeto future research in film-video media studies.
Received Jun 25 2022, Accepted Nov 29 2022

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Comparative Analysis between the Japanese American and the Japanese Canadian Internment DocumentariesTSUJI

North American internment and the Nazi

1. Introduction

concentration camps, which sparked the human

1.1 Research Topic
This

comparative

rights question (Gittings, 2002; Pendakis &cross-national

study

Wilson, 2018). The internment camps were

examines two documentary films on Japanese

gradually vacated, and attempts were made tointernment in North America.

assimilate

From the end of the nineteenth century,theresidents

into

the

generalpopulation.

Japanese people immigrated to the U.S.A. andDuring the Second World War, governments

Canada primarily as railroad workers. Many ofaround the world produced propaganda films tothem settled mainly as agricultural workers orincite nationalistic fervor toward their ideologies,

commercial fishers.

thus the politicizing of documentary was a world

After a surprise attack at Pearl Harbor by thephenomenon (Barnouw, 1993). As Jowett andJapanese air force on December 7, 1941, people

O’Donnell stated, “Propaganda itself, as a form ofof Japanese descent were interned in the two

communication, is influenced by the technologicalNorth American countries almost simultaneously.

devices for sending messages that are available

In the U.S.A., on February 19, 1942, the relocation

in a given time” (Jowett & O’Donnell, 2012, p. 15),of Japanese Americans began. Five days later, onmovies were the latest and most powerful tool for

February 24, 1942, that of Japanese Canadians

propaganda at the time.

commenced (Daniels, 1981). In the U.S.A., “justThus, documentary films about the internment

over 125,000” people of Japanese descent were

were produced in both countries. In the U.S.A., A

sent to relocation centers. In Canada, “fewer than

Challenge to Democracy was released in 1944

25,000” Japanese Canadians were evacuated andwhile in Canada, Of Japanese Descent was released

sent to internment camps and farms (Daniels,

in 1945. The U.S. and Canadian films are1982).

approximately

Takeya Mizuno pointed out that Japanese radio

18

and

21

minuteslong,respectively.

broadcast insisted that the American policy of

Their title shots are shown in Figures 1 and 2.

assimilation was hypocritical.
The May 1 broadcast, for example, noted thatthe race-specific policy conflicted with thenation’s long-cherished “melting pot” concept ofdiversity. (Mizuno, 2013, p. 97)

Figure 1: U.S. title

Figure 2: Canadian title

Bothproduced

Although the internees were provided basic
amenities, the camps are sometimes referred toas concentration camps.

films

were

to

providejustification for the Japanese internment andAs the war drew to a close, the governments

promoting assimilation to their own citizens andneeded to manage domestic and international

to the rest of the world (Gittings, 2002; Hayashi,

anxieties around the potential symmetry between2004).
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Journal of Socio-Informatics Vol. 16 No. 1 Sep. 2023

1.2 Literature Review

Most of the films recording the internment ofJapanese descent is fragmentary news footage,

To the best of our knowledge, no studies have

however these two documentaries are the official

compared American footage with Canadian one.

records put together by the authorities. Both can

However, comparative studies on the immigration

be said to be representative of the Japanesepolicies of the two countries and such studies oninternment documentary films.

the Japanese internment in both countries have

Both were created in almost the same way inbeen conducted. There are also several methods

two countries for the same event at the samefor comparative research on visual content intime. In fact, these two films are quite similar.

general. This study refers to these three in order.

The purpose of production, theme, topics andobjects of these films have close parallels. Both1.2.1 Comparative studies on the immigration

being genuine propaganda films, the sufferings

policies between the U.S.A. with Canada
Thomas E. Kierans stated that Canadians haveof the internees are not shown.
They also have formative similarity. Neither

long used the language of metaphor to describe

film include interviews of the Japanese internees.

their society as a “mosaic” and the United States

Instead, they have narrations and backgroundas a “melting pot” to distinguish the two North

music. The narrations emphasize the legitimacy

American countries. Furthermore, Canadiansof the internment and portray that it was different

think of themselves as being more tolerant offrom the Nazi treatment of the Jews.

racial minorities and more respectful of culturaldifferences than their southern neighbors

With the above points considered, both films(Kierans, 1994).

recording the internment in North America i.e. A

In other words, while American melting pot is

Challenge to Democracy (hereinafter, referred to
Descent

a symbol of its national conformity or assimilation,(hereinafter, referred to as Descent) were underCanadian mosaic is that of ethnic coexistence or

the control of authorities and “the type ofplurality.

as

Challenge)

and

Of

Japanese

propaganda of public information as one of the

In 1994, Jeffrey G. Reitz and Raymond Breton

most powerful forms of directive statesmanship”

reviewed the exhaustive amount of the available

as Gittings points out regarding the latter

public opinion and concluded that there was an(Gittings, 2002, p. 72). Therefore, the intention ofillusion of difference between the United States

the authorities was reflected strongly at the timeand Canada. According to them, there are certainof shooting and editing.

important beliefs about Canada as follows.

The cultural difference between the twocountries should be reflected to some extent in

One of these beliefs is that minority groups inthese two films. If it is possible to clarify how the

Canada are encouraged to maintain theirdifference is expressed by image media, it will be

distinctive cultures, whereas minority groups inmeaningful

the United States are under pressure to abandon

tocontributetointernational

their traditional cultures and “melt” into thecomparative research through video content.

broader society. In short, Canadians show
tolerance for diversity and even encourage it.
3Comparative Analysis between the Japanese American and the Japanese Canadian Internment DocumentariesTSUJI

Consequently, minority groups in Canada moretreated its Japanese. In one minor respect, atfreely participate in traditional cultural practices,

least, Canadian policy was less racist.” (p. 185)

and maintain ethnic community institutions andDaniels specifically pointed out differences in

activities, than do minority groups in the United

the degree of involvement of Japanese descent on

States. (Reitz & Breton, 1994, p. 5)

the battlefield.

Milton Gordon describes the term “melting

The U.S. Army and its political leadership, [...]

pot” as follows.

was providing in the 100th Battalion and the442nd Regimental Combat Team, a public means“the melting pot theories had envisaged theby which Japanese Americans could demonstrate

disappearance of the immigrants’ group as atheir loyalty. Only a handful of Japanesecommunal identity and the absorption of the later

Canadians were allowed to perform militaryarrivals to America and their children, as

service in World War II. (Daniels, 1981, p. 193)

individuals, into the existing ‘American’ social
structure.” (Gordon, 1964, p. 132)

Blake Morgan Young also compared thetreatment of Japanese descent in North American

Regarding the term “cultural pluralisms,”

countries and illustrated some of the differences

Gordon describes it as “the acceptance of cultural

between the two.

differences both religiously and in terms of
ethnic and cultural groups.” (Gordon, 1964, p. 17)

The practice in the US camps of having all

These above concepts, metaphors and beliefs

occupants of each block take their meals in a

may also be reflected in the two films, althoughcommon mess hall had a weakening effect on

their visual representation is not clear.

family ties, but in the Canadian camps meals
were prepared and eaten in the individual housing

1.2.2 Comparative studies on the Japaneseunits. (Young, 2004, p. 92)

interment in the U.S.A and Canada
Regardingtheinternment

itself,afew

While the involvement of Japanese Canadianscomparative studies between the internment ofin the war effort was negligible, and almost totally

Japanese Americans and that of Japanese

unreported by the press, Japanese Americans

Canadians have been conducted.

made a contribution that offered unchallengeable

Roger Daniels stated that although theproof of their loyalty and was a major factor inexperience of Japanese Americans and Japanese

their postwar acceptance by American society at

Canadians was both quite similar, there werelarge. (Young, 2004, p. 95)

important differences and most of those depend
much more on institutional differences between

Greg Robinson stated that “a study of thethe two countries (Daniels 1981), and points out

similarities and differences across the borderthat “Despite basic similarities in the approaches

provides a greater and more balanced perspectiveof the two North American democracies there

on any number of overall questions relating towere policy differences in the ways that each

the Japanese Americans” (Robinson, 2009, p. 6)
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Journal of Socio-Informatics Vol. 16 No. 1 Sep. 2023

and pointed out the differences as follows.

pointed out that while Miyatake ‘s object looked
away from the camera, Manbo’s object was

Despite various self-justifying assertions bylooking straight at the camera. According toPrime Minister King and political leaders in

Alinder, Miyatake’s image brings a symbolic

Ottawa that their arbitrary wartime treatment ofimpression and Manbo’s image has a character

Japanese Canadians was designed to coordinate

as a portrait photograph.

with Washington’s, the two countries’ policies
were quite distinct from the start. The WRA (WarManbo takes a much more straightforward

Relocation Authority of the U.S. government)

approach, setting up the shot to emphasize

provided housing and education for campfrontality through the position of the fence andinmates, sponsored camp newspapers, andhis son. His son’s expression and gaze straightsupported leisure activities and cooperatives.

back at the camera create an image that is more

Japanese Canadians did not receive suchof a portrait than a metaphor. Miyatake’s subjects

assistance and had to rely on religious andlook away from the lens as if they are unaware ofnonprofit groups for aid or use their own funds.

the camera’s presence and their gazes beyond

Furthermore,

the confines of camp function symbolically totheirlarge-scale

official

confiscation and forced sale of properties ofcommunicate injustice. (Alinder, 2012, p. 97)

Japanese Canadians had no parallel south of theborder, while there were no battalions of Nisei

This kind of difference might be identified

soldiers in Canada to demonstrate their loyalty of

between the two internment documentaries as

the group. (Robinson, 2009, p. 286)

movie is composed from a series of still pictures.
There are several methods for comparative

All three mentioned here pointed out thecontent analysis of movies,

degree of participation in military service as a

Among them, one of the most authentic andsignificant difference between the Japanesebasic method is the “Same frame” heuristic.

American and Japanese Canadian internees.

David Bordwell pointed out the presence ofApparently, this point is reflected in the films,

film critics’ routine tactics, which he named thethough it is not clear how it was expressed and“Same frame” heuristic (Bordwell, 1989, p. 178).

what its significance is.

The heuristic is explained as “If two figures areshown in the same frame, a bond is established1.2.3 Comparative analysis methods for visual

between them.” This heuristic can be applied tocontent.

analyze the relationship between the characters

Although no comparative studies have beenin the footage.

conducted on the two films, several analysis

Recently, a new statistical method, named

methods to compare visual content can be applied

Cinemetrics, has been introduced to compare

to compare them.

movies.

In

2012,

JasmineAlindercomparedAs early as in 1974, Barry Salt issued “Statisticalphotographs taken by Toyo Miyatake and Bill

Style Analysis of Motion Pictures” and advocatedManbo at Heartmountain internment camp. She

applying a quantitative approach. Although this5Comparative Analysis between the Japanese American and the Japanese Canadian Internment DocumentariesTSUJI

approach had been neglected for a long time, in

Various kinds of data to compare films are

the 21st century, as movies became available onavailable with Cinemetrics.

the internet and able to be analyzed any time

Average shot length (ASL) is frequently used

when necessary, the statistical analysis of visual

to compare the cutting pace of films andmedia studies appeared one after another.

distinguish the creator’s tendency. If ASL of a

In 2001, Salt applied his statistical theory tofilm is lower than the other film, then the cutting

television drama analysis. In 2005, Yuri Tsivian

pace of it is high, and the phenomenon willdeveloped

andindicate the feasibility of creator’s aim ofestablished its website. In 2012, Mike Baxter

cramming more content into the work than the

published “Film statistics: some observation” inlower cutting pace case.

the

Cinemetrics

project

which he summarized and described various

Cinemetrics

features of Cinemetrics.

is

also

usefulto

extract

systematically the characteristic shots which

According to Baxter, “the main purpose ofdetermine the specialty of the film. It focuses on

quantification is to aid (objective) comparison”

the shots which are indicated as outliers in shot

(Baxter, 2012, p. 19). Actually, Cinemetrics as alengths distribution.

tool of quantitative analysis is extremely useful to

There is no disagreement among scholars on

distinguish the difference between two or more

the importance of outliers i.e. extra-long takefilms in an objective manner.

shots as the characteristic shots.

Examplesofcomparative

researchwith

Cinemetrics are provided as follows.

These long take shots could reasonably be

In 2006, Warren Buckland published a bookreferred to as “outliers” in this particular case,about Steven Spielberg. He compared the style ofbut to disregard their existence in an investigation

Poltergeist to that of Spielberg’s and Tobe

is to shut your eyes to the very thing that makes

Hooper’s other films using statistics to determine

this film special. (Salt, 2011)

who directed the film. In 2012, Nick Redfern
examined the impact of sound technology by

Uncontentious outliers may be among theexamining the shot lengths in Hollywood cinema

more interesting aspects of a film’s “style.”

to compare 1920s silent films with early sound(Baxter, 2012)

films and identified significant differences
between them. In 2014, Jeremy Butler analyzed

Outlying shot lengths may be a significant

the editing rhythm of a television program. Butler

element of a film’s style: removing the opening

compared the cutting rates of single-camera

shot from Touch of Evil (Orson Welles, 1958) orrecorded shows to multiple cameras shows andthe tracking shot of the traffic scene fromfound a significant difference between the two. In

Weekend (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967) from our2019, Taylor Arnold, Lauren Tilton, and Annie

analysis would be to take away the mostBerke examined the visual style in two sitcoms

distinctive (and certainly the most famous)with a statistical approach and illustrated how

aspects of these films’ style. (Redfern, 2012)

formal elements served to differentiate the roleof characters within each series.

Considering these assertions above, outliers
6Journal of Socio-Informatics Vol. 16 No. 1 Sep. 2023

1.3 Research Purpose

can be a clue to identifying distinctive shots thatmake the film special. Regardless of whether the

From what has been examined so far, previous

cutting pace is higher or lower, the outliers canstudies regard the United States and Canada as

be equally distinguishable to the film because

having differences in both their immigration

they are statistically abnormal to the otherpolicies and the treatment of internment of

average shots. Thus, they can make a strong

people of Japanese descent. These differences

impression on the audience who can memorize

are apparently reflected in the documentaries

them as the characteristic shots.

produced in both countries on the theme of theJapanese internment, though superficially the

Extra-long take shots as outliers in shot length

two films appear to be similar.

distribution exist above the third quartile and can

Nonetheless, no comparative studies havebe calculated by multiplying the interquartile

been

range.

conducted

on

these

documentaries,

So far, Cinemetrics has been mainly used foralthough photographs of the camps have beenfictional content such as dramas and feature

examined. In addition, studies that compare

films, though it can also be applied tomultiple video contents include those based on

documentaries.

traditional content analysis methods and thoseDocumentaries tend to be considered purebased on new statistical methods, both of which

non-fiction, as opposed to dramas and featureare considered effective for comparative study offilms that represent fiction. However, despite

documentaries.

theirapparent

representationof

As a hypothesis, the differences between two

reality,

countries should reflect in their films in visual

documentaries tend to have hidden intention.
Daniel Arijon defines, in his established classic

form. Thus, the purpose of this study is towriting “Grammar of the film language,” threeobjectively clarify the differences inherent in two

types

similar documentaries made during the war

of

film

forms,

namelynewsreel,through combined analysis.

documentary, and fiction. He states that in
documentary “manipulation is necessary” andElucidating this issue is significant as a visual“facts have to be arranged to be shown at their

media approach to comparative research on thebest and an event is often repeated to be filmedinternment of Japanese descent. It is also

several times. Repetition means staging” (Arijon,

supposed that this will contribute to international

1976, p. 13) and “documentaries have profitedcomparative research on video content.

from a dual approach that blends unadulterated

This study is intended to examine how thereality with carefully recomposed fiction” (Arijon,

differences between the two countries are

1976, p. 14).

reflected in the video content as images and does

According to Arijon, as documentaries havenot aim to criticize the policies of the twotraits of recomposed fiction that reflect thecountries or the actual conditions of the camps.

intentions of the creator, Cinemetrics can beapplied to them like in dramas and feature films.

2. Methods
This study uses three approaches described
7

Comparative Analysis between the Japanese American and the Japanese Canadian Internment DocumentariesTSUJI

above in a combined way, as it is better to use thetraditional

qualitative

methodandThe shots obtained as a result of the extraction

newly

may include subtitles and shots for simply

quantitative method in tandem rather than treat

introducing scenery. Since these shots are notthem as competing techniques.

deeply relevant to the content, they will not be

In this study, the two documentaries will betreated as subjects in this study.

analyzed in the following three steps.

In addition, various previous studies andFirst, in accordance with Alinder’s study, thismaterials will be used supplementarily forstudy measures the number of “Frontal view ofconsideration, when necessary.

the internees” shots in which the internees were

3. Results

looking at the camera in each film to evaluate thesymbolic or familiar nature in the footage.

3.1 “Frontal view of the internees” shots

Although Alinder’s method was intended for still

Table 1 shows the “Frontal view of thepictures, it can be applied to each shot in movies

internees” shots appearing in the two films.

as each movie is a conglomeration of still shots.
Second, based on the traditional way ofanalyzing, this study measures the number of theTable 1: “Frontal view of the internees” shots“Same frame” shots, that is, the number of shots

Challenge

recording the Japanese internees and Caucasiansupervisors simultaneously in the same frame to

Descent

Number of shots

2

93

Ditto / 500 shots

6103

evaluate the relationship between them.
As for indicators of “Same frame” shots and

The number of “Frontal view of the internees”“Frontal view of the internees” shots, this study

shots per 500 shots in Descent exceeded those of

calculated their number per 500 shots following

Challenge more than 17 times. The two films have

Salt (Salt, 1974, p. 15).

shots in which people just glanced at the camera.

Third, this study adopts a quantitative approach

The number of such shots is 2 in Challenge andi.e. Cinemetrics. After measuring fundamental

10 in Descent. Without those “just a glance” shots,

descriptive statistics of the films such as length inthere are no “Frontal view of the internees” shotseconds, the number of shots, this study

in Challenge.

calculates average shot length, range of shot
lengths,

standard

deviation(S.D.)

3.2 “Same frame” shots

andTable 2 shows the “Same frame” shots

interquartile range. A t-test compared the averageappearing in the two films.

shot lengths of the two films. Then, this study
compares the formula of the films and extracts
outliersascharacteristic

shots

in

Table 2: “Same frame” shots

each

Challenge

documentary.
The greater the length, the more impressive
the shot. Therefore, this study extracts extreme

Descent

Number of Shots

18

7

Ditto / 500 shots

52

8

outliers that lie more than 3.0 times the
In contrast to the case of “Frontal view of theinterquartile range above the third quartile.
8

Journal of Socio-Informatics Vol. 16 No. 1 Sep. 2023

internees” shots, the number of “Same frame”

The plots of the shot length dispersity indicate

shots per 500 shots in Challenge scored 6.5 times

that some data further explode in the righthigher than that in Descent.

direction in both figures. These data are outliers
and represent characteristic shots of the films.

3.3 Statistically characteristic shots
Table 3shows

fundamental

As shown in Table 3, the higher quartile ofdescriptive

Challenge is 7.26, and the interquartile range isstatistics of the films.

4.15. Thus, the outliers as characteristic shots tobe selected for Challenge are those that have a

Table 3: Fundamental descriptive statistics
Challenge

Descent

Lengths

1064

1286

Number of shots

174

451

Average shot lengths

6.1

2.9

(t-Statistics 8.08
1

1

Maximum shot length

41

17

Range

40

16

5.17

1.98

(S.D.)

approximately. Similarly, the data to be selected
for Descent are those that have a value of over
7.01 seconds of shot lengths approximately.
Tables 4 and 5 show these statistically singular

p<.000000)

Minimum shot length

Standard deviation

value of over 19.71 seconds of shot lengths

Lower (First) quartile

3.11

1.73

Higher (Third) quartile

7.26

3.05

Interquartile range

4.15

1.32

and characteristic shots of the two films indescending order.

Table 4: Statisticallycharacteristic

shots(extreme outliers) in Challenge
Shot Description

Length (seconds)

Loyalty questionnaire document of

41

internees
Caucasian supervisor paying wage

Time data are in seconds

32

to Japanese internees

Figures 3 and 4 show the box plots of the shot
length dispersity of the two films.

Internment Camp barracks

23

Inside of a barrack

22

In Tables 4 and 5, both films have common
explanatory shots such as the “pan of internment
camp barracks” and the “image of globe” orordinary landscape shots, such as a lake, pond,

Figure 3: Box Plot of the shot length dispersity

or tree. When these shots are excluded, theof Challenge

genuine characteristic shots of the films remain.
In

Challenge,

those

are

the

“Loyalty

questionnaire document of internees” (Figure 5)
and “Caucasian supervisor paying a wage toJapanese internees” (Figure 6).
In Descent, those are the “Baseball game fieldwith players” (Figure 7), “Two ladies performing

Figure 4: Box Plot of the shot length dispersity

Bon (Japanese summer festival) dance” (Figureof Descent9Comparative Analysis between the Japanese American and the Japanese Canadian Internment DocumentariesTSUJI

8), “Smiling faces of Japanese Canadian children”(Figure 9), and “Two ladies in kimonos
performing Bon dance” (Figure 10).

Table 5: Statisticallycharacteristic

shots(extreme outliers) in Descent
Shot Description

Length (seconds)

Image of globe describing the17

spread of war to pacificFigure 5:

Figure 6:“Loyalty questionnaire“Caucasiandocument ofsupervisor paying

Baseball game field with players

14internees” shot inwage to Japanese

Two

12

Challenge

internees” shot inladiesperforming

Bon(Japanese summer festival) danceLandscape of a pond
Smiling

faces

Challenge

11ofJapanese

10

Landscape of a lake near the10

Canadian childreninternment camp
Internment camp barracks

10

Interior of a sawmill

10

Bus arriving at the internment

9

Figure 7:

Figure 8:“Baseball game field “Two ladies
with players” shot in performing Bon

camp
Two ladies in kimonos performing

9

Bon dance (up size)
A tall tree
Internees

Descent

9on

thestreetof

8

Truck with log load in a log camp

8

A man welding a machine8

dance” shot in
Descent

internment camp

Internment camp barracks
Internment

camp

7barracks

7(different shot)
Two

boys

on

the

streetof

7internment camp
Men relaxing under a tree

7

Men cutting a log

7

4. Discussion

Figure 9:

Figure 10:“Smiling faces of“Two ladies inJapanese Canadiankimonos performing

children” shot in

Bon dance” shot in

Descent

Descent

Canadian film. In the dialogue between twopatients in the tuberculosis ward, despite editing

This study first considers the “Frontal view ofwith the shot/reverse shot combination, both are

the internees” shots in the films. As shown infacing the front. It is out of the dialogue axis like

Table 1, the abundance of “Frontal view of thea movie by Yasujiro Ozu. In contrast, in the U.S.

internees” shots is a considerable feature of thefilm, people look away from the camera and face10

Journal of Socio-Informatics Vol. 16 No. 1 Sep. 2023

the other direction.

which characters appear simultaneously indicate

Figures 11 and 12 illustrate a typical contrast of

their unity, the U.S. film depicts the people united

the look in the “Frontal view of the internees”

visibly much more than the Canadian one. Thisshots of the two films.

suggests that the former reflects the ideal policyof assimilation in its visual description more thanthe latter.
Nonetheless, as Bordwell noted (Bordwell
1989, p. 251), even if characters are in the same
shot, one can deliberately say that they are united(by being in the same shot) or separated (by the

Figure 11:

Figure 12:

space between them). Therefore, an elaborate

Typical “Frontal view

Typical “Frontal view

analysis is needed here. Figures 13 and 14 showof the internees” shot of the internees” shotin Challengein Descent

the typical “Same frame” shot of each film.

While the children in the Challenge shot lookaway from the camera, those in Descent directly
look

at

Therefore,

thecameraortheDescent

commemorative

picturecinematographer.

shot

resembles

showingapeoplegathering for a memorial day.
This fact seems to correspond with what

Figure 13:

Figure 14:

Typical “Same frame”

Typical “Same frame”

shot in Challenge

shot in Descent

Alinder stated in her previous study. Alinderconsidered that the shot in which the internee is

As shown in Figure 13, the shot of a guard andlooking out of the screen gives a symbolic

an interned mother holding a baby is a typicalimpression, while the shot in which the internee

composition of the ruler and the ruled. In thisis looking straight back at the camera resembles

shot, a giant image of a guard with a gun facing

a portrait image. From this point of view, thethe right side occupies the foreground on the left

frontal views in the American documentaryside of the frame. In contrast, a small image of arepresents the ideal assimilation as a symbol

mother and a baby walking slowly in thesomewhere far away, and those in the Canadian

background is visible on the right side of the

documentary expresses its tendency of co-frame.

existence in the family-photo-like composition.

Also, in the American film, as in the payment

This study now discusses the second issue ofscene shown in Figure 6 or the shopping scene at

the result: the “Same frame” shots in the films. As

the Purchasing Department, the Caucasian andshown in Table 2, the number of “Same frame”

the Japanese are separated on either side of the

shots in Challenge records is 6.5 times more thancounter. They are classified as rulers and ruled.

those of Descent. If, as Bordwell quoted as a

In 13 shots among 18 “Same frame” shots (72%)

widely used heuristic statement, the shots inin Challenge, the faces of Japanese Americans
11Comparative Analysis between the Japanese American and the Japanese Canadian Internment DocumentariesTSUJI

and Caucasians face opposite directions. Even if

items.

they face the same direction, there is a strict

The average shot length for Descent is almost

differentiation between the Caucasian and thetwice of that in Challenge. Comparing theJapanese as the supervisor and the supervised,dispersion, the data of Challenge scatters moreas in the scenes of classroom or workplace forsparsely than those of Descent. In contrast, theexample. These shots of Challenge can bedata of the latter squeezes more densely thanregarded as corresponding to an internee’s

those of the former. This means that Descent iswords as recorded by Mizuno in a temporary

cut more quickly than Challenge. In other words,

assembly center of Japanese descent in the

the Canadian editor tried to cram about twice as

U.S.A...

much content into the film as the American one.
Now, this study considers the characteristic“a profound feeling is developing among theshots extracted as outliers from the descriptive

Japanese at Santa Anita that the Caucasians instatistics.

camp suffered a definite superiority complex.”

For the American film, the loyalty questionnaire(Mizuno, 2003, p. 102)

document shot of Challenge and for the Canadianfilm, ladies performing Bon dance shot of Descent

Meanwhile, in the Canadian film, in thecan be considered as representative of eachconstruction planning scene, as shown in Figure

documentary. This study discusses these two

14, or the scenes at the front of the clinic building,shots in comparison.

the Japanese and the Caucasian face the same

In the American documentary, the loyalty

direction. Both appear to be colleagues. In 6

questionnaire document shot in Challenge has

shots among 7 of the “Same frame” shots (86%) in

the longest duration (41 seconds). It is a close-up

Descent, the faces of the Japanese and Caucasianof a hand leafing through documents entitled theface the same direction, and they are in equivalent“leave clearance docket.” During this shot, thepositions on the screen.

narrator states that “only those evacuees whose

In Challenge, the Japanese and the Caucasianstatements and whose acts leave no question offace opposite directions. However, in Descent,their loyalty to the United States are permitted toJapanese descent and Caucasian face the same

leave.” The docket should record the result of thedirection. Here, the two films contrast visually.

loyalty questionnaire that sought information

This difference is considered to be a visual

allowing the authority to decide whether anreflection of how the American footage representsinternee was loyal enough to be trusted outsidea hierarchy in assimilation, whereas the Canadianof the camp (Muller, 2007, p. 32; Robinson, 2009,

footage represents a parallel coexistence.

pp. 185-188). This shot symbolizes the American

This study finally considers the third issue of

way of assimilation of internees just as Alinder

the result indicated by statistical data.

notes that “the categories of American andFundamental descriptive statistics (Table 3)

Japanese were then aligned with the categories of

revealed that the U.S. and Canadian internment

loyal and disloyal” (Alinder, 2012, p. 91). This candocumentaries were significantly different in

be seen as reflecting the U.S. policy “a sometimes

numbers and ratios. They made clear contrasts incoercive policy of ‘Americanization’, that is,
12

Journal of Socio-Informatics Vol. 16 No. 1 Sep. 2023

Japanese assimilation to white American values”

and 12 seconds in the film which has a total(Robinson, 2009, p. 185).

duration of 21 minutes and 26. It begins after 61.6

This shot is regarded as a nodal point of the% of the total duration of the film has elapsed.

film. It begins at 12 minutes and 21 seconds in theAlong with this Japanese cultural shot, Descentfilm that spans a total duration of 17 minutes andhas a shot of baseball game players that lasts 14

43 seconds. It begins after 69.3% of the total

seconds and is the second-longest shot in the

duration of the film has elapsed. Until this shot,

film. It is in the middle of a baseball gamethe film mostly depicts the interior of the campsequence with 54 seconds of duration with otherwith a few exceptions showing seasonal work on

20 shots. This indicates that both the Bon dancea nearby farm. After this shot, the film depicts theand the baseball game are highlight shots of thecamp’s outdoors, i.e. American society where ex-scenes in the point of their length.

internees work in various places. The film thenThis phenomenon, such as the coexistence of

illustrates the training of the Japanese American

Japanese and Western cultures is a vital feature ofsoldiers with a voice-over: “The Americanism of

Descent. This Canadian documentary has otherthe great majority of America’s Japanese finds its

Japanese traditional culture scenes such as Shogi

highest expression in the thousands who are in(Japanese chess) and Japanese bath, along with

the United States Army, almost half of them are

Western activities such as boy scouts and football.

in

These shots reflect the point Pendakis andaJapanese

Americancombatteam….

Hundreds of them volunteered while they were

Wilson noted as follows.

in relocation centers…. They know what they’refighting against and they know what they’reThis called for a re-visioning, quite literally, offighting for -- their country and for the American

the Canadian national imaginary, one no longer

ideals that are part of their upbringing --exclusively grounded in the project of a puredemocracy, freedom, equality of opportunity

white British ideal. Though clearly steeped inregardless of race, creed, or ancestry.” Itmany of the racist, nativist ideals whichfunctions as a gateway to the normal world,

characterized the pre-war period in Canada, “--Of

filtering out those who lack loyalty andJapanese Descent” is at the same instant one of theaccordingly cannot assimilate into American

first attempts on the part of the state to openly

society. Military images exist only in thetransition the Canadian national imaginary

American film, which is consistent with what has

towards a more diverse and tolerant multicultural

been pointed out in previous research on

ideal. (Pendakis & Wilson, 2018, p. 19)

Japanese internment.
In the Canadian documentary, the longest shot

In contrast, the U. S. documentary has only

has two ladies in kimonos performing Bon dance,

Western ones, such as boy scouts, football, andand in combination with the subsequent close-up

baseball. It has no Japanese cultural activity

shot of the ladies, spans for a duration of 21

comparable to Bon dance; instead, it has aseconds. It is the introductory shot for the Bon

Westernized beauty contest winner parade scene.

festival sequence lasting 82 seconds as a whole

It is similar to what Mizuno noted for thewith the other 22 shots. It begins at 13 minutes

newspaper in an assembly center of Japanese13Comparative Analysis between the Japanese American and the Japanese Canadian Internment DocumentariesTSUJI

American.

other direction. These shots may be considered
as symbolic of the American way of assimilation“news that could be associated with Japan orfor internees.

things Japanese, no matter how newsworthy it

Second, the number of “Same frame” shots inmight be, was often ignored or played down. (…)

Challenge is 6.5 times higher than in Descent.

On the other hand, patriotism to the UnitedThis suggests that the former reflects theStates was played up.” (Mizuno, 2003, p. 101)

idealism of assimilation in its visual description
more than the latter. Nevertheless, further

Thus, Japanese and Western cultures coexist

analysis revealed that in Challenge, Japanesein the Canadian film, while Japanese culture is

Americanseliminated from the U.S. film. Here again, a

directions while in Descent, Japanese Canadians

contrasting difference which correspond to

and Caucasians face the same direction. Theseprevious research on policies and camp lifestyles

shots of Challenge place Japanese descent andin the two documentaries is observed. The

Caucasian in the same frame but divide them as

results of the fundamental descriptive statistics

supervisor and supervised. In contrast, in(Table 3) showed that Descent had a shorter ASL

Descent, the Japanese and the Caucasian face thethan Challenge, and that there were approximately

same direction, and they co-exist in equivalent

twice as many shots per unit time in the former

positions on the screen.

andCaucasians

face

oppositethan the latter. This is considered to be a

Third, characteristic shots of the two films

phenomenon that corresponds to the fact thatindicate their difference clearly. While thewhile only Western culture is depicted in the

Canadian film has shots depicting the Western

American film, both Western and Japaneseand Japanese cultures evenly, the American film

cultures are depicted in the Canadian film.

has only those of the Western one. Suchcoexistence of ethnic cultures is a vital feature of

5. Conclusion

the Canadian film and it is similar in crucial shotssuch as “Japanese Canadians play baseball” andThis study compared the documentaries about“Japanese Canadian ladies perform Bon dance.”

the internment of Japanese Canadians andThese shots showing cultural plurality may be

Japanese Americans using combined analysis

considered as metaphorical of Canadian society.

method and visually analyzed the differences

On the other hand, a characteristic shot of the

between the two countries reflected in them.

American film shows a questionnaire on loyalty

Following the analysis, significant differences

to the United States, and this shot is followed by

between the two films were observed.

the process of assimilation into American societyFirst, the number of “Frontal view of theand participation in the military as its ultimate

internees” shots in Descent exceeded those ofform.

Challenge more than 17 times. In the CanadianIn all cases, contrast between American

film, these shots of internees resemble family

idealism of assimilation and Canadian cultural

memorial pictures. In contrast, in the U.S. film,

diversity was observed in the two films. Bothpeople look away from the camera and face thedocumentaries positively reframe the internment
14

Journal of Socio-Informatics Vol. 16 No. 1 Sep. 2023

of Japanese Americans and Canadians and re-Incarnation in World War II (83-91). Chapel Hill:

integrate the Japanese into society, however the

University of North Carolina Press.

visual expressions of the two are different,

Arijon, Daniel. (1976). Grammar of the film language.

reflecting the cultural differences between theLos Angeles: Silman-James Press.

two countries. Thus, the hypothesis that the

Arnold, Taylor, Lauren Tilton, and Annie Berke.

differences exist in the films as a visual(2019). Visual Style in Two Network Era Sitcoms.

description was supported.

Journal of Cultural Analytics 4.2, 1-29.

Through data analysis, this study verified that

Barnouw, Erik. (1993). Documentary: A History of The

the statistical method like Cinemetrics was fairly

Non Fiction Film. Second Revised Ed. London andefficient for analyzing documentaries when

New York: Oxford University Press.

combined with traditional content analysis.

Baxter,This study was intended to be exploratory onlywith

AmericanandCanadianMike.

(2012).

Film

Statistics:

Some

Observations. Retrieved June 24, 2022, frominternment

https://cinemetrics.uchicago.edu/dev/

documentary films. Therefore the footages from

ASLdebate.pdf

other countries were not covered. Despite these

Bordwell, David. (1989). Making Meaning: Inference

data limitations, the comparative method of thisand Rhetoric in the Interpretation of Cinema.

study may offer opportunities to examine theLondon: Harvard University Press.

differential quality of other documentary films

Buckland, Warren. (2006). Directed by Stevenand contribute to assessing characteristics inSpielberg: Poetics of the Contemporary Hollywood

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and

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Acknowledgments

Daniels, Roger. (1981). Concentration Camps: North

This study was supported by JSPS Grants-in-

America: Japanese in the United States and Canada

Aid for Scientific Research Grant Number

during World War II. Revised Ed. Florida: Robert

JP18K18327.

E. Krieger.

I would like to express my gratitude to Doctor

Daniels, Roger. (1982). Japanese Relocation and

Chieko Mizoue, Professor Emerita of the

Redress in North America: A Comparative View,

University
informationof

Tsukubaregardinghervaluable

Japanesefor

Canadian

The Pacific Historian 26.1, 2-14.
Gittings, Christopher E. (2002). Canadian National

internment film “Of Japanese Descent.”

Cinema: Ideology, Difference and Representation.
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