In early 1943, Frank Capra hired Ivens to supervise the production of "Know Your Enemy: Japan " for his U.S. War Department film series "Why We Fight". The film's commentary was written largely by Carl Foreman. Capra fired Ivens from the project because he felt that his approach was too sympathetic toward the Japanese. The film's release was held up because there were concerns that Emperor Hirohito was being depicted as a war criminal, and there was a policy shift to portray the Emperor more favorably after the war as a means of maintaining order in post-war Japan.