NOTEBOOK · THE IMPACT OF JAPANESE AND SOUTH KOREAN AUDIOVISUAL PRODUCTION
REEDITING THE WAR IN ASIA:
JAPANESE NEWSREELS IN SPAIN
(1931-1945)*
MARCOS P. CENTENO MARTÍN
1. INTRODUCTION
The fifteen years of conflict in Asia (1931-1945)
were characterized by an unprecedented promi-
nence of images, fuelled by the appearance of a
new type of modern newsreel based on immedi-
acy and a closeness to reality. The iconography
generated became not only a key element for
media representations of current affairs, but also
an essential tool for social mobilization. The big
screen acquired an extraordinary semantic load,
subject to all kinds of powerful ideological con-
straints, transgressions and manipulations.
Today, the international reach of the iconog-
raphy produced during the Spanish Civil War
(1936-1939) is well known. However, the recep-
L’ATALANTE 29  january - june 2020
tion in Spain of images from abroad, and particu-
larly those related to the war in Asia, has received
little attention. The distribution of newsreels
made by the Japanese Empire reached unprece-
dented dimensions, especially after 1937, when
the focus of the international press turned from
Spain to East Asia (Sánchez-Biosca, 2007: 76). Ja-
pan, which had the most powerful film industry
in the world after Hollywood in the 1930s, mo-
bilized its best operators and directors, providing
them with the most advanced filming technology
for newsreel production, and the transnation-
al circulation of this material also included film
screens in Spain.
The purpose of this article is to assess the pres-
ence of the Japanese newsreel industry in Spain
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