While most documentaries about Imperial Japan focus on Pearl Harbor and the war that followed, this solid BBC production covers Japanese activities in Asia in the 1930s. Without sensationalizing or demonizing, it shows how the Japanese notion of racial superiority and the military's inhumane training of its own soldiers made it easier to brutalize civilians following the 1937 invasion of China. After indiscriminate bombing of Chinese cities by Japan's air force, the empire's army invaded and began committing atrocities to rival Nazi crimes in Europe. Thousands of women were gang raped and living men were used for bayonet practice. I'd recommend it for high school classroom use, although teachers should be aware it contains graphic images of Chinese casualties.
