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HIROSHIMA EYE

Honor & Sacrifice: The Roy Matsumoto Story

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Details


<Synopsis>

Honor & Sacrifice is the true story of Roy Hiroshi MATSUMOTO, born in the US but raised in Hiroshima. He demonstrated perseverance in the face of adversity and true courage and self-sacrifice during his wartime experiences in Burma. Roy’s father Wakaji MATSUMOTO emigrated to America to work on his father’s farm, but returned to Hiroshima in the 1920s to establish a successful photography business.

The film includes many of Wakaji’s recently discovered photographs of early Japanese immigrants in rural California and life in Hiroshima before the atomic bomb. Roy was one of five brothers, three of whom fought on the Japanese side during the war.

Honor & Sacrifice illustrates the racial prejudice and legal discrimination Japanese Americans experienced during WWII and how Roy in particular had to overcome injustice and deep personal and family conflicts to prove his patriotism.

<Staff>

“Co-producer: MATSUMOTO Karen
Music: Goodman Joel
Advisor: OHUCHI Hitoshi”

<movie information>

Year of Production:2013
Running Time:28min
Country/Region:United States
Language of Dialogue:English
Subtitle Language:Japanese
Film Rating:General (All Ages)

  • Lucy Ostrander

    ＜Director＞

    Lucy Ostrander

    Stourwater Pictures is an award-winning documentary production company that specializes in meticulously crafted historical and social-issue films, with a recent focus on Asian and Indigenous Americans in the Pacific Northwest. We uncover the essential narratives buried within our subjects—and produce accurate and entertaining films that best honor and reflect their most important themes.

    We focus on discovering and telling the stories of everyday people who have lived extraordinary and meaningful lives. With an emphasis on social justice, our award-winning films have screened at numerous festivals and universities and have been broadcast nationally on PBS as well as internationally.

  • MATUSMOTO Karen

    ©︎Matsumoto Karen

    ＜Film Co-producer＞

    MATUSMOTO Karen

    Karen MATSUMOTO is daughter of Roy MATSUMOTO. She has worked with Stourwater Pictures to produce five short documentary films on the Japanese American WWII experience and designed corresponding classroom curricula for the films. She also helped produce over 40 video oral histories of internees from Bainbridge Island,the first community on the U.S. West Coast to be relocated to concentration camp at Manzanar.

    Karen was also an instructor for the National Japanese American Historical Society, and, more recently, developed an online photographic exhibition of her grandfather, Wakaji MATSUMOTO's work at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, California.





  • OHUCHI Hitoshi

    大内斉 Ohuchi Hitoshi

    ＜Film Advisor＞

    OHUCHI Hitoshi

    Nephew of Roy MATSUMOTO and grandson of MATSUMOTO Wakaji, OHUCHI Hitoshi retired last year from his position as photography and media specialist for the city of Hiroshima.

    In 2010, he discovered the photographs of MATSUMOTO Wakaji that had been stored for over 65 years at the former residence of Wakaji. The photographs are now held in the Hiroshima City Archives. He served as an advisor for Honor & Sacrifice and the documentary film The Family History of MATSUMOTO Wakaji, providing stories about the photographs and the history of the MATSUMOTO family.