Earlier this month, on December 8th, a blog entry was published covering the Canadians at the Battle of Hong Kong. This date was chosen as it was the same day as the beginning of the battle. To close that battle, which ended on December 25th, it would be good to look at one Japanese piece (JN070 - Japanese Sergeant With Sword) and talk about one “Christmas” POW movie.

The JN070 depicts a Japanese Sergeant presenting his sword in a very formal way. The dirt on his shiny boots shows and his uniform show that he is currently campaigning. The traditional katana and the rigid body pose are really what makes this piece interesting. Together, they remind us of the influence of the bushido code during that era. This warrior ethical code dates back to the Edo period (1603–1868) and was greatly used in Japanese propaganda during World War II. By doing so, it was possible to establish a fanatical mindset based on tradition amongst the troops. Representing that strict way of living is hard to do on a figure, but in this case, it is visible!

This figure was released in June 2021. When I first saw it, it reminded me vaguely of Captain Yonoi in the 1983 movie Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence. So I figured it would be a good time to talk back about this motion picture as many prisoners from the Battle of Hong Kong ended up in similar conditions as those seen in this story. Plus, it might qualify as a Christmas movie.

Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence takes place in a POW camp of Japanese-occupied Java. It was a British-Japanese production and one of the concepts was to have one top music star of both countries playing a main character. This is why you find David Bowie (one song here) playing Maj. Jack "Strafer" Celliers and Ryuichi Sakamoto from the Yellow Magic Orchestra (one song here) as Capt. Yonoi. The scenario, based on the autobiographical book of Laurens van der Post, is about the clash of cultures between the bushido influenced Japan of that time and the british/commonwealth way of life. For many Japanese of that time, it was inconceivable to surrender as fighting to the death was more honorable. Therefore war prisoners were not seen as respectable human beings. At the heart of the story is a weird hate/fascination relation between the two characters played by the rock stars. And somehow, it’s a Christmas movie… a very dark Christmas movie.

Ryuichi Sakamoto on the left and David Bowie on the right.

To conclude, if you want to get a figure that transcends the Japanese mind set of that era, this is the figure you are looking for. I now leave you with the trailer of Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence. But first, Merry Christmas to you!