By far the most memorable scene in Kamei’s documentary (one that Capra surely would have applauded) was a dissolve in which Emperor Hirohito was transformed before the viewer’s eyes from the nation’s rigid, uniformed commander into a benign, slightly stooping civilian figure, modestly garbed in necktie, overcoat, and soft felt hat. The major studios Tōhō, Shōchiku, and Nikkatsu all refused to show the documentary in their theaters, apparently more for financial than ideological considerations, and Kamei later recalled how at early screenings some viewers hooted and one threw a wooden clog at
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