All language subtitles for Rise of Tokyo in Color 1080p EN SUB

♪ ♪

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hNARRATOR:
\hFor over 60 years, Tokyo has
been the world’s largest city.

\h\h\h\hToday, its gigantic
metropolitan area is home to

more than 36 million people.

The already overpopulated
expanse is still rising.

\h\h\h\hSome observers believe
that Japan’s resolutely global

\h\h\hcapital city, embracing the
avant-garde, embodies the future

\h\h\h\hof our urbanized,
technological societies.

\h\hYet, only 150 years ago,
Tokyo was still Edo: a sprawl

\hof wooden dwellings with
a population of 1 million,

the seat of power for the Shogun
ruler and his samurai knights.

The city’s spectacular
\hexpansion accompanied

the rise of modern Japan...

but seems to have obliterated
\h\hall memories of the past.

♪ ♪

\hThese rare photographs
capture a pivotal moment

\hin Japan’s history... the
era when Edo became Tokyo.

\h\hFor over two centuries,
Edo, Japan, had flourished,

intentionally isolated,
ruled by feudal lords.

\h\h\hForeign contact was
limited to two countries,

China and Holland.

\h\h\hSuddenly, in the
mid-19th century, the

great colonial empires forced
\hJapan to open its seaports

\h\hto international
trade and exchanges.

\hThe supporters of Emperor
Meiji adopted a new credo:

Japan had to be modeled
on the Western nations,

\h\h\hlike Britain,
France and the U.S.,

to maintain its independence.

In 1868, the emperor moved his
government from Kyoto to Edo,

\h\h\hrenamed "Tokyo,"
the "eastern capital."

Tokyo’s calling was to
both drive and display

\h\hthe development
of a modern Japan,

capable of confronting the great
Western nations as a peer.

\h\h\hThirty years later, the
first motion pictures of Tokyo

were made by Western visitors.

\h\h\h\h\hSamurais slung with
swords, who worried the Edo’s

\hfirst foreign visitors, no
longer strolled the streets.

The government had revoked their
right to carry weapons openly.

\h\hDuring this time the most
common means of transportation

was the rickshaw.

These carts were invented in
Japan three decades earlier.

Newly built roads and bridges,

\h\h\hone of the first
signs of modernization,

\h\hcontributed to
their development.

\h\h\hThe first Western
mode of transportation

\h\h\hto appear in the
city were streetcars.

\h\hHere, they are
still horse-drawn.

\h\h\hThe lines would
later be electrified.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hThese are
traditional wooden buildings,

typical of the Edo period,

\hstill lining the sides of
the city’s many waterways.

\h\h\hTokyo’s fish market,
feeding the whole capital,

operated from these wharves.

\h\h\h\h\h\hForty years had
passed since Japan decided

to take a running jump
into the modern world,

\h\h\hand many things
had already changed:

The official slogan of these
\htimes was "Fukoku Kyohei,"

\h\h"Enrich the state,
strengthen the army."

When Japan adopted
Western techniques

\h\h\h\h\h\hit launched the
development of its industry

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hand the
modernization of its army,

consulting with French, British,

Prussian, and American advisers.

It began to build
a colonial empire.

♪ ♪

\hIn 1895, victory over
China positioned Japan

\h\h\h\has the new military
superpower of the Far East.

\h\hJapan captured the island
of Formosa -- today’s Taiwan.

\h\h\h\h\hIn the ensuing ten
years, Japan doubled the size

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hof its armies and
rapidly built more battleships.

In February 1904, Japan declared
war on the Russian Empire.

\h\hAfter more than a year
of especially grim combat,

Japan triumphed, to
everyone’s surprise.

\h\h\hIt was the first
time a European power

had lost a war to
an Asian country.

The Empire of Japan established
a protectorate in Korea

\h\h\h\h\hand gained control
over the Liaodong Peninsula

\h\hand half of the
island of Sakhalin.

\h\h\hIn 1914, as an ally of
the United Kingdom, it easily

captured German possessions
\hin China and the Pacific.

By 1919, Japan was invited
\hto the negotiating table

\h\h\h\has one of the
five great victors --

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hthe only
non-Western nation there.

♪ ♪

\h\hGinza Dori was the
first Tokyo boulevard

\h\hto adopt a Western
style of architecture.

It has played a starring role in

\hspreading foreign cultures
in Japan, and is still today

a showcase shopping area for
international luxury brands.

\hOrange trolleys, now
electrically powered,

\h\h\htrundled along the
major downtown arteries.

\hThey had supplanted the
rickshaw as rapid transit.

\h\h\h\hNew metal bridges,
based on European models,

span the Sumida River,

underscoring the productivity
\h\hof Japanese steel mills.

\h\hThe fish market
is unrecognizable.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hThe docks and
wharves have been widened,

and three-story warehouses,
\h\h\hpainted bright white,

have appeared on the waterfront.

The massive modernization
\h\h\heffort also spawned

a new business district,
\hwhere office buildings

\h\hsprang up to house
growing corporations.

\hToday, Marunouchi is the
heart of Japanese banking.

Back in 1920, its new red brick
façades earned it the nickname

"Little London."

The most emblematic
of these structures

\his the famed Tokyo train
station, completed in 1914.

The development of railways,

\hwith the help of
British engineers,

\h\h\h\hwas at the center of
Japan’s modernization effort.

\hBy 1917, a 5,000-mile rail
system was already operating.

\hUeno Park is the home
of a beloved sculpture

\h\h\h\hillustrating the strong
attachment to traditional values

\hthat accompanied Japan’s
leap into the modern world.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h"The last
samurai," Takamori Saigo,

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hwas a fervent
partisan of Emperor Meiji.

The posh downtown neighborhoods

\hwere not the only ones to
show signs of rapid change.

\h\h\h\h\hThe Tokyo of the
masses was also evolving.

Asakusa was a shopping area

\h\halready flourishing
during the Edo period.

Urban renovation created a
new street: Asakusa Rokku,

\h\h\h\ha theater district,
which instantly drew crowds.

It was Tokyo’s Broadway.

\h\h\h\hSince 1890, Asakusa
boasted modern Tokyo’s first

Western-style spire,
the Ryounkaku Tower,

\h\h\h\hwhose name means
"Surpassing the Clouds."

Designed by a Scottish engineer,

\h\h\h\h\h\hit was then the
capital’s tallest building.

\h\h\h\h\hIt quickly became the
city’s most popular attraction.

\h\hSix floors were
occupied by stores

\hselling goods imported
from all over the world.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hThe new
360-degree terrace offered

a massive overview of the city.

\h\h\hBarely 55 years after
the end of the Edo period,

\hthe first aerial footage
of Tokyo was shot in 1923.

The city had been transformed
into a huge modern metropolis.

\h\h\h\h\hIts population of 1
million had more than doubled,

to 2.2 million people.

But Tokyo still lagged behind

\hthe great Western
cities of its time.

London was the world’s largest,
with 7.5 million inhabitants.

\hNew York was booming,
with 5 million people.

Paris’s population
stood at 3 million.

\h\hBut Tokyo was catching up
quickly with its modernization

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hwhen its
development was abruptly halted

by a horrific disaster.

\h\h\h\h\hOn September 1st,
1923, Tokyo was devastated

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hby an unusually
violent natural catastrophe:

the Great Kanto Earthquake.

At 11:58 AM, the first tremor,
\hmeasuring 7.9 in magnitude,

wrought havoc downtown, causing
the first wave of casualties.

\h\h\hA few minutes later, it was
followed by a strong aftershock.

Total chaos was unleashed

\h\h\h\hwhen the ground
shook for a third time.

\hOne hundred and thirty of the
wooden houses of the lower city

\h\h\h\hwere ablaze in
less than half an hour,

\h\h\h\hmainly due to the
lunchtime cooking fires.

\hHigh winds from a typhoon
that had just hit Tokyo Bay

fanned the flames.

Half of Tokyo was burning.

\h\h\hFor the inhabitants
trapped in the firestorm,

it was utter horror.

[alarm bells ringing]

By late afternoon that day,
the city was in total panic.

\h\h\h\h\h\hHundreds of
thousands of Tokyoites

\h\h\h\hwere trying to flee to
safety, by any means possible.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hAll the fire
hydrants had been destroyed,

so It took two whole days to
get the fires under control.

\hNothing could be done to save
the historical center of Tokyo.

It was entirely destroyed.

\hThe evidence of the last
three centuries of history

went up in smoke.

The death toll was appalling.

In three days and two nights,

\h\h\h\hover 105,000
lives were wiped out.

Most people were killed by fire.

\h\h\h\hNearly all of the
buildings that symbolized

\h\h\hthe 50-year push towards
modernization had been leveled.

The city was in ruins.

\hIn 1923, nearly half of the
dwellings in Tokyo were gone.

\h\h\h\h\hThe Great Kanto
Earthquake caused damage

on such a huge scale

\h\hthat even today, it
is a traumatic memory.

Tokyo still lives in fear
of an enormous earthquake

\h\h\hthat could, once
again, level the city.

One-point-four million of the
city’s 2.2 million inhabitants

were homeless.

\h\h\h\hUeno Park became the
city’s largest refugee camp,

\h\h\h\hhousing a half million
people who had lost everything.

\hTo overcome, it would take
fortitude, order and unity.

\h\hAnother mammoth struggle
had begun for the Tokyoites,

\h\h\h\h\h\honly 50 years
after the city had raced

to win a place in
the modern world.

\h\h\h\hWith nearly all of the
urban infrastructure destroyed,

everything was in short supply:

water, food, clothing,
shelter, and latrines.

♪ ♪

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hThe army was a
valuable source of manpower,

\herecting temporary dwellings,
rebuilding transportation lines,

\h\h\h\h\h\hand clearing away
rubble and unsafe structures.

[explosions]

[explosions]

\h\hBut most of the
labor was supplied

by the residents of Tokyo.

\h\h\hOver half a million
people simply returned to

their property and camped there,
in improvised structures...

until they could rebuild homes,

\h\hoften identical to
the ones they had lost.

The Tokyo of this time
was a vast shantytown.

\hBut these images
show the pragmatism

and resilience of its people.

NARRATOR: The death in
1926 of Emperor Taisho

marked the end of
an era for Japan.

\h\hIn Tokyo, hundreds
of thousands of people

from throughout the country
\hlined the mile-long route

of the funeral motorcade, paying
their respects in silence.

\hBut the event was
also an opportunity

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hto symbolically
reassert Japan’s determination

to press on towards
its goal of renewal,

despite the ordeal.

\h\h\h\hWhen Emperor Taisho’s son
Hirohito ascended to the throne,

a new period began for Japan.

He was the first Japanese prince

to have spent six
months in Europe.

For seven years, he had already
been the regent of an empire

\h\h\hthe world’s third
largest naval power and

one of four permanent members
\h\hof the League of Nations.

But Tokyo still lagged behind

\hthe great Western
cities of its time.

♪ ♪

\h\h\hOnly seven years after
the great Kanto earthquake,

\h\h\hTokyo’s reconstruction,
carried out largely thanks to

\h\hthe development of
credit, was complete.

\hNew avenues, adapted
to automobile traffic,

crisscrossed the capital.

The new Tokyo emphatically
\h\h\h\hasserted its status

as a big, modern,
20th century city.

\h\h\h\hThe entire time,
Ginza and downtown Tokyo

adopted Yankee ways.

\h\h\hIts streets looked
more and more like those

of its Western models,

\h\h\h\h\hwith the addition of
hundreds of new cabs and cars.

Some of the structures

that have become emblematic
\h\h\hof Tokyo had appeared.

They are still visible today,

\h\h\hparticularly the
bridges over the Sumida

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hthat had been
destroyed by the earthquake.

\h\h\h\h\hEitai Bridge was
rebuilt in steel in 1926.

Kiyosu Bridge was built in 1928.

\h\h\h\h\hIt is a copy of a
bridge in Cologne, Germany.

Tokyo’s main train station,
\h\hmiraculously preserved,

was restored.

\h\h\hThe Kabuki-za Theater was
rebuilt in reinforced concrete,

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hsheathed in
traditional wooden trim.

\h\h\hEven today, it is the most
famous kabuki theater in Tokyo.

A newly reconstructed Ginza

\h\h\h\h\h\hwas again serving to
showcase Tokyo’s modernization.

\h\h\h\h\h\hStyle and fashion
became increasingly important.

\h\h\hJapanese women looked to
liberated, provocative flappers

for a new image.

\h\h\h\hSome of them
relegated the kimono

to the backs of their closets,
\h\h\hadopting Western dress.

They were nicknamed "Mogas,"

\h\h\h\han abbreviation for
the epithet "Modern Girl,"

translated into Japanese.

Japanese nationalism fed upon
the economic difficulties that

had followed in the aftermath of
the Great Depression of 1929.

But the rapid Westernization was
accompanied by the development

\h\h\h\hof a hostile, warlike
trend within Japanese society.

\hYoung officers, accusing
legislators of corruption,

called for the expansion
\hof the Japanese empire.

\h\h\h\hColonial conquest would
help Japan overcome the crisis.

\h\h\h\hIn 1931, Japanese army
officers who had been stationed

in southern Manchuria since
the war with Russia in 1905

had staged a sham attack.

\hIt was an excuse for a
swift invasion of China.

[gunfire]

\hThree Chinese provinces
fell into Japanese hands,

almost without a battle.

\h\h\hThe territory
was named Manchukuo,

"The Great Manchu State."

\h\hIt immediately
seceded from China,

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hto be ruled by an
emperor chosen by the Japanese.

\hMost countries refused to
recognize the puppet state.

The League of Nations declared
\hit was still part of China.

\h\h\h\h\hAs a result,
Japan decided to resign

from the organization in 1933.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hHowever,
Mussolini’s fascist Italy

did recognize Manchukuo in 1936.

\h\h\hThat same year, there
was a coup attempt in Tokyo.

\hIt is remembered in Japan
as the February 26 Incident.

Radical young officers took
over the government offices

in the center of town and shot
\hseveral leading politicians.

\h\h\h\h\h\hThe rebels
claimed that their goal

\h\hwas to restore the
Emperor’s omnipotence.

\h\hBut Hirohito himself called
for the repression of the coup.

Two officers committed suicide.

\h\h\h\hSeventeen others
were tried and executed.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hSeventy were
sentenced to imprisonment.

\h\hBut the neon lights still
sparkled in Ginza, advertising

the country’s enthusiasm
\hfor all things Western,

\h\h\h\hdespite the looming
shadow of totalitarianism.

Pressure from hawkish elements,

agitating for a war of conquest
against China, was growing.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hGovernment
propaganda fanned the fires

of Sino-Japanese hostility.

\h\h\h\hThis film was shot in
1937, in a Tokyo kindergarten.

\h\h\hWearing paper gas masks,
the children act out an attack

\h\hon a cardboard pagoda --
clearly symbolizing Nanking,

the capital of China.

♪ ♪

Militaristic elements prevailed
within Japanese society.

Tensions with China were rising.

\h\h\hThey would soon lead to
the Second Sino-Japanese War.

\h\h\h\hThe United Kingdom,
France and the United States

warned of reprisals.

\hOthers, however, were
discovering the country

as a potential new ally.

♪ ♪

\hIn this film, Nazi
Germany heaps praise

\h\h\h\h\hupon Japan’s
imperialist ambitions.

"Japan: Engine of the Far East.

\hFor a long time now, these
islands have been too small

\hfor their people.
Japan must expand."

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hThe year it was
screened for the first time,

\h\hGermany recognized
the state of Manchukuo

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hand cut
diplomatic ties with China.

\h\h\h\h\hTrains loaded
with Japanese soldiers

\h\h\hleft Tokyo for the Chinese
front, cheered on by the crowd.

In early August, the Japanese
army took Peking and Tianjin.

Shanghai fell in November,

after three months
of deadly bombing.

\h\h\hBetween December
1937 and January 1938,

\h\h\h\hthe Japanese marched on
Nanking, where they perpetrated

\h\hone of the most horrible
massacres in modern history,

\h\h\hkilling between 40
and 300 thousand people.

But a stalemate soon ensued.

\h\h\h\h\hDespite its military
superiority, the Japanese Army

proved incapable of controlling

the immense lands
it had conquered.

\hThen the ashes of the
first Japanese soldiers

\hto die on Chinese soil
began to return to Tokyo.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: In 1938, the National
Mobilization Law was decreed.

Each act in the daily life of
a Tokyoite became an extension

\h\h\h\hof the war effort, as
shown in this propaganda film.

\hJAPANESE AUDIO (translated):
Japan lacks natural resources,
\h\h\h\hso we have to secure

the resources needed to
make the nation strong.

Waste recycling is a
source of materials.

Please carry tin cans
and other scrap metal

to the collection points.

\h\hThey will be transformed
into a valuable raw material.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hNARRATOR:
That year, the inhabitants
of Tokyo formed long lines

\h\h\h\h\h\hto dispose of their
metals, in order to participate

in Japan’s victory and the
prosperity it would bring.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hSendoff
ceremonies for the soldiers

\hbegan to increase
at a frenetic pace.

\h\hWomen wore somber robes
over their colorful kimonos.

\h\h\h\h\h\hSoon, the new air
defense law imposed blackouts.

\h\hUltimately, the war would
deprive Tokyoites of the event

\hthat was supposed to
symbolize their success

in the eyes of the world:

JAPANESE AUDIO (translated):
\h\h\h\h\hWith great regret,
\hthe government announces

\h\h\h\h\hits decision to
cancel the Olympic Games.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hNARRATOR:
\hFunding was re-allocated
to the war effort in China.

\h\hIn 1940, instead of
the scheduled Olympics,

the people of Tokyo were treated
to a gigantic military parade.

Officially, the occasion was

the 2,600th anniversary
\hof Japan’s founding.

\h\hPropaganda now embraced
the theme of the superiority

\h\h\hof the Japanese race,
entitling it to rule Asia.

\hThat same year, Japan
signed the Berlin Pact

with the Axis powers: Nazi
Germany and Fascist Italy.

\h\hFrom the end of
1940 to July 1941,

\h\h\hJapanese troops gradually
encroached on French Indochina.

\hUS president Roosevelt
demanded Japan withdraw,

\h\hand slapped an embargo
on oil exports to Japan --

\h\hwhich had no oil
deposits of its own.

\h\hOn the morning of December
8th, 1941, the people of Tokyo

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hheard how the
Imperial General Headquarters

\h\hhad chosen to respond
to the American embargo.

\hJAPANESE RADIO (translated):
In this official announcement,
\hthe imperial army and navy,

early this morning, on December
8th, entered into combat.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hNARRATOR:
\h\h\hThe Japanese Air Force and
Navy launched a surprise attack

\h\h\h\hon the US Navy base at
Pearl Harbor in the Pacific...

an act that forced the United
\h\hStates into World War II.

\h\h\h\hBack in Japan,
the nation mobilized.

\hJapanese air-raid defense
doctrine required civilians

to serve as firefighters...

medical rescuers...

\h\h\hand to prepare for
chemical weapon attacks.

\hAir-raid shelters were dug
into the sidewalks of Ginza,

\h\h\h\h\hwhere months earlier
style-conscious Japanese women

strutted their Western finery.

♪ ♪

\h\h\h\h\h\hWithin six
months, the superiority

of US military strength became
\hevident to Japan’s generals.

But ordinary citizens
were kept in the dark

about the war’s realities.

In 1943, while popular fervor

\h\hwas being stoked by
patriotic ceremonies...

\h\h...the country was pounded
by a series of painful defeats

in the Pacific islands.

Due to heavy combat losses,

\h\h\hall the country’s youth
are now pressed into service.

This film, from October 1943,

\h\h\his entitled "Student
Mobilization," focusing on

\h\h\h\h\h\ha ceremony for young
soldiers heading off to battle.

JAPANESE AUDIO (translated): We
do not expect to return alive.

We simply hope to honor
our debt to the Emperor

for his infinite kindness.

[crowd singing]

\hJAPANESE AUDIO (translated):
Long live the Emperor! Banzai!

[crowd echoes the cry]

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hNARRATOR:
\hThe Americans had recaptured
the Pacific islands one by one.

Now their bombers were
within range of Japan.

\hStarting in November 1944, air
raids on Tokyo became a reality.

The night of March
9th to 10th, 1945,

\h\h\h\hwas one of the most
horrific in Tokyo’s history.

\h\h\hIn a matter of hours,
334 B-29s dropped 1,700 tons

\hof incendiary bombs, an
early version of napalm.

\hThey leveled more than
half of Tokyo’s old city,

\h\h\hkilling over 100,000
people in a single night.

\h\h\hIn the daylight,
the toll was shocking.

\hJust 22 years after its first
destruction, the heart of Tokyo

\h\hwas again reduced to ashes,
and its population annihilated.

\h\h\hThe city was bombed
periodically for months.

\h\h\h\h\h\hIn all, over 115,000
people perished in the attacks.

\h\h\hYet Japan still
refused to surrender.

\hOn August 6th, 1945,
the Americans dropped

the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

On the morning of August 9th,

\hthe Soviets began
to invade Manchuria.

\hThe same day, another atomic
bomb was dropped, on Nagasaki.

\hOn August 15th, 1945, all
over Tokyo, amid the ruins,

people listened to the
Emperor’s announcement

\h\hover the radio that
Japan had surrendered.

JAPANESE RADIO (translated):
\h\h\h\h\h\h\hBy enduring the
\hunendurable and suffering

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hwhat is
insufferable, we have resolved

\hto pave the way
for a grand peace

\h\h\h\hfor all the
generations to come.

\h\hNARRATOR: For Tokyo, a
terrible cycle was ending,

and its people were overwhelmed
by feelings of humiliation.

\h\h\h\h\h\hAnd once again, they
would be rebuilding their city.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: August 30th, 1945,
only 24 days after Hiroshima,

General Douglas MacArthur,

\h\hSupreme Commander for the
Allied Powers in the Pacific,

arrived in Japan to serve
as the military governor.

Based in Tokyo, MacArthur was to

\h\h\h\hdemilitarize and
democratize the country.

The United States
was now determined

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hto wipe out
communism in the region.

\h\h\h\h\h\hWith the Soviet
Union presenting a threat,

\hJapan would become a valuable
ally in US strategy and policy.

\h\h\h\h\h[♪ United States
national anthem playing ♪]

MacArthur tried to spur the
country’s reconstruction --

\h\h\hand the redevelopment
of its national economy --

based on the capitalist model.

But he faced a daunting task.

Japan was in a state
of wretched poverty.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hTemporary
housing was constructed

to shelter Tokyo’s inhabitants.

There were aching
needs everywhere.

For a gigantic population of
weak and destitute survivors,

\h\h\h\hsanitation and
health care treatments

were necessary to
prevent epidemics.

\h\h\h\h\hMeanwhile, in
exchange for a promise

that the imperial family
would never be prosecuted

\h\h\hfor war crimes, the Emperor
signed a "Humanity Declaration."

\hOn January 1st, 1946, in
his greeting to the public,

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hhe officially
denied he was a living god

\hand gave up all
political powers.

♪ ♪

The occupation of Japan,

and close cooperation between
US and Japanese authorities,

continued for seven years.

\h\h\h\h\hThe whole time,
Ginza and downtown Tokyo

adopted Yankee ways.

But for years, there
were stark contrasts

\h\h\hbetween the luxury of
the Americans’ neighborhoods

and the reality of
the rest of Tokyo.

American authorities imposed
\hsevere austerity measures

to restore the Japanese economy.

\h\h\h\hFood rations for the
population were insufficient,

\h\hand a parallel
economy developed.

Tokyo citizens often had to
resort to the black market.

\hDespite the hardships they
experienced, most residents

of Tokyo felt the dark years
of the war were behind them.

\h\h\h\hIn November 1946, a
crowd of over 100,000 people

\h\h\hgathered in front
of the Imperial Palace

to celebrate the proclamation of
the new Japanese constitution,

\h\h\hin the presence of
the Emperor and Empress.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hDemocracy --
including freedom of the press,

\h\h\hwomen’s suffrage and
the renunciation of war --

\h\hwere at the heart
of this constitution,

\hinfluenced by the
American occupiers.

In order to encourage the spread
of these democratic values --

\h\hwhich were totally
new to the Japanese --

education received
special attention.

Supervised by the United States,

\h\h\h\h\hcurricula and
textbooks were revised.

The classes in nationalist
\h\h\hmorale were abolished

\h\h\h\h\hand replaced by
civic education courses.

Students were both learning

\h\hthe egalitarian
ideals of democracy

and developing pride in being
citizens of the only country

\h\h\hwith pacifism written
into its very constitution.

\hThe country was also
disposing of its past.

\hWithout shedding any tears,
the people of Tokyo watched as

the statue of Japan’s military
\h\hhero Hirose was destroyed.

\hOnce again, the people
of Tokyo had gone to work

\hto rebuild their capital,
but times were still hard.

\h\hThen, suddenly,
everything changed.

[heavy artillery fire]

NARRATOR: In 1950, the United
States went to war in Korea,

using Japan as an operations
base and equipment supplier.

\h\hThe burgeoning demand
was an ideal opportunity

for Japanese industry.

\h\h\hOn April 16th, 1951,
General Douglas MacArthur

left the country, and a crowd
\hof Tokyoites waved goodbye.

\hSince dawn, 200,000 people
have been lining the streets.

♪ ♪

Five months later, Japan signed
the San Francisco Peace Treaty

\h\h\hand the Mutual Security
Treaty with the United States.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hThe enemies of
yesteryear had become allies,

\h\hand the new, pacifist
Japan would be protected

\h\hby the American
"nuclear umbrella."

On April 28th, 1952, Japan’s
\hindependence was restored.

\h\hOnly ten years after its
destruction, Tokyo is now the

beating heart of the country’s
\h\h\heconomic reconstruction.

\h\hDuring the war,
the country’s youth

\h\h\hleft for the front
lines from Ueno Station.

A decade later, Ueno is
where they now converge

from everywhere in the country,
bringing their determination

\h\hand eagerness to
jobs in the capital.

By 1955, Tokyo’s population
\hreaches over 8.5 million,

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hmaking it the
world’s most populous city.

\hOnly three years
after the departure

of the US occupation forces,

\hJapan has embarked on a
phase of rapid expansion

\hwith no parallel
in modern history.

The Ginza shopping district
\hhas risen from its ashes,

and is glamorous again.

\h\hTokyo is subject to wave
after wave of fashion trends,

\h\h\h\h\hthe product of an
American monopoly on ideas.

Its Western-style shops attract
fashionable young ladies

for a pleasant stroll.

In 1964, the choice of Tokyo

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hto host the
Olympic Games is pivotal.

[all cheering]

\h\h\hThese are the first
games to be held in Asia.

\h\h\h\hTo ensure their
success, Tokyo launches

\ha vast infrastructure
modernization program.

♪ ♪

The metamorphosis
aims at two goals:

to reinforce the
country’s growth

\h\h\hand impress upon
the world the image of

a peaceful, prosperous Japan, at
the cutting edge of modernity.

\h\hOne great badge of
technological progress

is the Shinkansen bullet train.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hOne hundred
percent "made in Japan,"

\h\hit’s a high-speed link
shooting from city to city

at over 150 miles per hour.

\hWhen the Japanese
capital stood before

\h\h\hthe TV cameras of the
world, it looked stunning.

It joined the ranks of the most
modern cities of the world.

\h\h\hThe opening ceremonies
unfolded beneath blue skies,

at the National Olympic Stadium.

This Olympiad was the first

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hto be telecast
internationally via satellite.

\hIt attracted some
600 million viewers.

\h\h\hBetween 1954 and 1973, the
country went through a dazzling

\h\h\h\heconomic growth spurt,
unparalleled in world history.

\hThe spectacular boom was
stimulated by two factors:

massive public investment

\h\hand massive orders from
the United States military,

mired in the Vietnam War.

\h\h\h\h\h\hTokyoites saw the
city’s first skyscrapers rise.

\h\hIn two decades, Japan’s
rural population plummeted,

\h\h\has "salary-men"
flocked to the city.

\h\h\h\hTo house all of these new
residents, new towns sprouted up

\h\h\hfaster than weeds on
Tokyo’s western periphery.

\h\h\h\h\hIn 30 years,
these satellite cities

\h\hgrew by almost
20 million people.

The tide of commuters traveling
to central Tokyo every morning

\h\h\h\h\h\hand riding home
every night to the suburbs

\hrequired exponential growth
in the rail transport system.

\hToday, Tokyo’s public
transportation network

is by far the world’s largest.

\h\h\h\hDaily ridership in
the greater Tokyo area is

double the figure for all of
the major US cities combined.

Frenzied consumerism, which
stimulated economic growth,

became a patriotic attitude.

\hThe oil crisis of
1973 crippled Japan,

\h\h\h\hwhich had always
lacked energy resources.

In Tokyo, the fear that consumer
goods would be in short supply

led to a rush on supermarkets.

\h\h\h\h\hThe country reacted by
developing energy-efficient cars

\h\h\h\h\hand miniaturizing
their industrial products.

It also undertook

\h\h\h\h\h\h\ha vast atomic
energy generation program.

\h\h\hTo supply Tokyo
with light and power,

the second reactor at Fukushima
Daiichi went online in 1974.

\hJapan’s rise reached
its apex in the 1980s,

known as the period of
the "economic bubble."

\h\hThe automobile and
electronics industries

\h\h\hwere generating
astronomical profits,

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hincreased
exponentially by investment

in real estate and finance.

\h\h\h\hIn 1989, the
Tokyo stock exchange

became the world’s largest.

The following year, Japan’s GDP

\h\hwas second only
to that of the US.

Tokyo had fulfilled its mission:

\h\h\hfinally surpassing its
European and American models

as a modern megalopolis,
and inspiring Westerners

with its futuristic globalism.

1991 was the year
the bubble burst.

\hJapan was in the midst
of an economic recession,

\h\hand plagued with
rising unemployment.

\h\h\h\hOne by one, values and
promises that were the bedrock

\h\h\h\hof the rise of
modern, postwar Japan

\h\hwere undermined
by dramatic events.

\h\hThe myth of the country’s
domestic harmony and security

\h\hwas shattered when,
in 1995, 12 people died

and 5,500 were injured

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hin a sarin gas
attack in the Tokyo subway.

\hIt was perpetrated by
well-educated Japanese.

During the winter
holidays in 2008,

\h\h\hthe first postwar
soup kitchens appeared,

\h\h\hgiving support for the
jobless residents of Tokyo.

Since the adoption of democracy,
citizens have thought of

\hthemselves as members of one
vast egalitarian middle class.

\h\h\h\hBut suddenly drastic
social inequalities appeared.

\h\h\hFinally, the Tohoku
earthquake of March 2011,

\h\hfollowed by the Fukushima
nuclear power plant disaster,

\h\h\h\h\h\haroused sharp
doubts in the population:

\h\h\hCould they still
trust the authorities?

\h\h\h\hFor the first
time since the 1970s,

\h\h\h\hdemonstrations
were staged in Tokyo.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hCrowds marched to
protest the government decision

\h\hto reopen Japan’s
nuclear power plants.

In 2012, the Tokyo Skytree,

the second-tallest tower in
the world, was inaugurated.

\h\h\h\hAnd in 2013, Tokyo was
chosen to host the 2020 Games.

\h\h\hBut the popular mood
was much less enthusiastic

than it was in 1964.

\hTokyo has risen
from annihilation

\h\h\hand given birth to a
unique form of modernism.

\h\hBut today, some of
its citizens question

\h\h\h\h\hthe wisdom of the
constant rush to the future.

The whole country must confront

the problem of an
aging population.

\hIdeas that had been set
aside for over a century,

for the sake of a
collective effort,

\h\h\hhave again become
central preoccupations:

the relationship to nature,

the quality of life,

\h\h\h\h\h\hindividual
fulfillment, harmony...

\h\h\h\h\h\hAnswers to those
questions cannot be derived

from any Western model.

\hAnd Tokyo, born of Japan’s
leap into the modern world,

is now wondering how to redefine
"being modern" for its future.