Japan's War in Colour

Japan's War in Colour earns highest rating

On Wednesday, July 7, KOPB in Portland aired the two-part documentary series, Japan's War in Colour, and had great ratings success. The first episode aired at 9:00 pm and earned a 6.1 household rating. The audience grew during the second part of the series and captured a 6.4 household rating, the highest-rated show on a public television station in primetime that night.

"Acquiring Japan's War in Colour was an easy decision for me. Military history has always played well for us. Remember, Oregon was the only state fired upon by the Japanese in WWII," said Tom Doggett, director of programming at KOPB.

Japan's War in Colour is a comprehensive view of the rise, defeat and ultimate rebuilding of a devastated country. The program dispels the myth that color footage did not exist in Japan until United States forces arrived in 1945. This series features never-before-seen footage to provide a remarkable color record of Japan from as early as 1931. The recently discovered film material portrays Imperial Japanese troops in Manchuria in 1931, domestic scenes of Japan in the 1930s, preparations for war in 1939 and occupation troops in Shanghai in 1940. Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Midway and Japan's ultimate surrender are also vividly traced.

Japan's War in Colour debuted July 1, 2004 through APT Syndication. The program is a co-production between TWI/Carlton and NHK and is licensed through TWI. Stations interested in adding this program should contact Loretta Davidson at Loretta_Davidson@APTonline.org.