Why do post-war Hollywood WWII-themed movies ignore Japan?

1. Resources: Many accessible US locations are good dupes for European battlefields. It's more difficult to recreate tropical island fights or big naval battles believably and cheaply.

2. Bias: There are fewer established Japanese actors who studios would trust as a big draw to a historical movie.

3. Thematic content: Americans like to see themselves beating up the Nazis. It's the most black and white conflict we've ever been in, so the audience can watch the heroes struggle and triumph and feel good about themselves. The Pacific theater had fewer clear-cut victories and triumphant moments. It was even more of a miserable, violent, endless slog than the European theater. The conflict isn't resolved through the valiant courage of everyday Americans (like all the D-day movies), but through America's greatest war crime and the slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians through technology.

An interesting comparison could be how many WWII movies show the battles against Germany near the end of the war versus the battles in Italy. Italy was more like Japan, a protracted conflict with lots of tactically unimportant loss of life and no clear resolution brought about by the infantry.