Nishizumi Senshacho-den (“The Story of Tank Commander Nishizumi”)

Imperial Japanese Army Captain Kojirō Nishizumi (January 13, 1914 – May 17, 1938), of Kumamoto Prefecture, was a hero of the December 1937 attack on Nanking. Commanding a Type 89 I-Go medium tank, he was killed in action by a Chinese sniper during the Battle of Suzhou. Renowned for his compassion, the film depicts him calling for medical attention for a Chinese woman, which is ironic considering the actress, Michiko Kuwano, would later die of an ectopic pregnancy due to lack of medical care post-war. His Commanding officer, Imperial Japanese Army Koreo Hosomi (April 9, 1892 – August 1, 1963), returned to Japan from the front and praised his intiative and leadership, which was picked up by the Japanese national press. After his death, Nishizumi was a Nationalist hero. His tank was exhibited at Yasukuni Shrine and was said to have 1,300 bullet holes. was anointed Gunshin (“War God”).

Playwright Toku Gōda (May 25, 1905 – July 18, 1966) wrote the first play about Nishizumi, called ”Tank Commander Nishizumi: Warrior God,” for Naka no Shibai (“Central Theater”) one of the major kabuki companies in Osaka in April 1939. A promotional still from that production shows a fearless Nishizumi surveying the battlefield from the open hatch of a tank.

Kogo Gōda (November 19, 1893 – September 23, 1968) adapted the Kabuki stage play into a film script. Nishizumi Senshacho-den was promoted by the Japanese Ministry of the Army and the Ministry of Education upon its release in 1940.

The poster for Nishizumi Senshacho-den would become the cover for Japanese historian Saburō Ienaga’s (September 3, 1913 – November 29, 2002) seminal book, The Pacific War: 1931-1945.