japanese
Kamei Fumio Retrospective [Post-War Documentary Films]

Children of the Base

(“Kichi no kotachi”)
- 1953 / B&W / 16mm / 29 min

Photography: Inoue Kan, Ushiyama Kunikazu, Yamagata Shu, Segawa Hiroshi, Sakazume Yasuo
Editing: Kamei Fumio, Tanaka Toru, Tomizawa Takao, Jinbo Harue, Yamazaki Seikyo
Sound: Katayama Mikio
Music: Hara Taro
Producers: Saito Mika, Ube Takashi
Production Company: Tokyo Kino Productions
Source: Japan Document Film

-“Japanese Entry Prohibited”military bases have proliferated to more than 700, occupying an area equivalent to the island of Shikoku and completely encircling Japan’s children. The film depicts the situation at several bases through the eyes of children: Chitose in the north, a base in the mountain village of Tozawamura in Yamagata Prefecture, urban bases in Yokosuka and Tachikawa and Uchinada in Ishikawa Prefecture. This was Kamei’s first documentary film after a foray into feature filmmaking, so many scenes operate as in a narrative film. This is the first time Kamei worked with Kikuchi (a.k.a. Yamagata) Shu, who was in charge of the B camera unit. Kikuchi’s recollections, including some on the situation on the eve of the Korean War, are included in the separate Kamei Fumio Retrospective catalog.


• Kamei Fumio Retrospective [Pre-War Works] Hiking Song | Shape without Shape | An Introduction to Radio: The Audience | School Broadcasting | The Geology of Fuji | Airspace [Pre-War Documentary Films] Shanghai | Peking | Fighting Soldiers | Kobayashi Issa [Post-War Documentary Films] A Japanese Tragedy | Children of the Base | The People of Sunagawa | Wheat Will Never Fall | Still It’s Good to Live | Record of Blood: Sunagawa | The World Is Terrified: The Reality of the “Ash of Death” | Living in a Rough Sea | Fluttering Pigeons | Voice of Hiroshima | Men Are All Brothers | Towards a World without Arms | All Must Live: People, Insects and Birds | All Living Things Are Friends—Lullabies of Birds, Insects and Fish [Feature Films] War and Peace | A Woman’s Life | Become a Mother, Become a Woman | Woman Walking Alone on the Earth [PR and Educational Films] Poem of Life | Invitation to Japanese Architecture | Penmanship | Quiet Construction Methods | Living with Ideas: A Profile of Sharp | Let’s Weave a Rainbow | Hong Kong, Taipei | Norihei Travel Manners | The Southern Cross Is Calling | Wishing for Tomorrow’s Happiness [Other Works] Underwear Makes the Woman | The Models and the Photographer | Kamei on Kamei: A Record of Yesterday’s Film Production Discussion Group | Human Conceit: The World of Director Kamei Fumio