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「大東亜共栄圏」という言葉を最初に使ったのは、外務大臣の松岡洋右であると言われる。彼は1940年７月に発足した第二次近衛文麿内閣の外務大臣に就任した時の記者会見で、「日満支をその一環とする大東亜共栄圏の確立をはからなければならない」と日本の外交方針について述べている。松岡外相は、この年の９月に日独伊三国同盟を、翌1942年に日ソ中立条約を締結している。「大東亜共栄圏」というキャッチ・フレーズは、アジア全体の繁栄という理想を謳ったものだが、背後にはドイツ、イタリアと組むことで泥沼化した日中戦争の打開を図り、欧州戦争の影響で宗主国の支配力が弱まっていた東南アジアに豊富な資源を求めて進出するという日本政府の意図があった。日本の国民はこの「大東亜共栄圏」という言葉を真に受け、日本の南進政策を正当化していった。現在、太平洋戦争と呼ばれる戦争が、当時の日本では大東亜戦争と呼ばれていたのはアジアの解放が旗印だったためである。
日本に占領されたほとんどの地域では映画の製作が停止した。やがて日本映画が上映され、またニュース映画が製作上映された。占領を免れた地域では抗日映画が製作された。日本を含むアジアの映画史から大東亜戦争を振りかえることは、非常に興味深い試みだが、入り組んだ歴史に絡めとられてしまうやっかいな作業でもある。またアジアの国々ではこうしたフィルムが失われてしまっているという事情もある。この時代に製作されたニュース映画や劇映画は、ほとんど国策に関与させられているという背景を持っているが、歴史論争の盛んな昨今において、特定の史観によって評価を下すことは危険なことなのかも知れない。
この「大東亜共栄圏」と映画の企画では、戦後に製作されたアジア各国の劇映画も多くとりあげた。抗日的な内容ではあるが、その国でその時代が要請した映画という意味では、十分に鑑賞するに値すると思われる。
門間貴志
「『大東亜共栄圏』と映画」コーディネーター
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Matsuoka Yosuke, Minister of Foreign Affairs, was probably the
first person to use the term the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. In July 1940, assuming his service for the second Konoe Fumimaro
cabinet, Matsuoka talked at a press conference and stated the
Japanese foreign affair policy as " to establish the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere, with Japan-Manchuria-China line as its core. "
In September that year, Matsuoka concluded the Tripartite Pact with Germany and Italy, Russo-Japanese Neutiality Pact the following in year 1941. The slogan The Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere proclaims the idealism of pan-Asiatic prosperity, but for the
Japanese government it was also part of their strategy, entering
into alliance with Germany and Italy to break the deadlock situation
in the war with China, and to expand toward South East Asia to
acquire its rich natural resources, in lands where the control
of the European colonizing powers had weakened their influence
because of the war in Europe. The majority of the Japanese people
embraced the idealism of The Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere natively, and justified their government's policy for the expansion
southward. The war that is now called the Pacific front of World
War II was called in Japan then The Great East Asia War, for the liberation of Asia from the European and American colonizers
was the proclaimed Goal.
In most of the areas under Japanese occupation, the film production
stopped. In a short while, Japanese films came to be exhibited,
and soon Japanese-sponsored newsreel were produced and exhibited.
In the areas that were not occupied, anti-Japan films were produced.
To look back the Japanese Imperial war through the history of
Asian cinema including that of Japanese film history is an attempt
of profound interest, but it is also a very difficult process
where there is always the danger of being tangled up in the complexity
of historical and political vision. We also cannot over look the
fact that in many Asian nations, a large body of filmic heritage
is lost. Most of the documentary and fiction films in this era
have the background of being produced to suit national policies,
and it may be a dangerous attempt indeed, to judge those films
by historical perspectives of our day.
In this program Imperial Japan at the Movies (our Japanese title means ' The Greater East Asian Co-prosperity Sphere ' and Cinema) and cinema, we also included many fictional films produced in
Asian nations after the war. They have anti-Japanese characteristics,
but we believe they are worth to seeing, when we keep ourselves
aware of the fact that they contributed to the needs of their
nations in their times.
- Monma Takashi
coordinator, Imperial Japan at the Movies
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