“Visual Puppeteer: Japanese Propaganda During World War II” by Nickii Wantakan Arcado

 

While World War II was fought between economic, social, and political lines, often times we forget one of the main mediums in which encourage and influence both soldiers and individuals themselves to participate in wartime efforts; propaganda. On the social front, propaganda was used either as a mechanism to heighten a sense of nationalism or as a weapon to demonize and dehumanize enemies. While we are familiar with U.S. propaganda, the most famous being—but not limited to—the feminist icon Rosie the Riveter or spunky Uncle Spam, much U.S. propaganda centered on a domestic front and never really dispersed internationally. One nation, however, due to their need to promote their idea of the “Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere”. Japan did this on three main fronts—via posters, literature, and film.

Japanese Posters and Pamphlets

Japanese propaganda differed quite a bit from its Western counterpart. On one front, Japanese artwork was somewhat simplistic, focusing black and white images with an occasional color spot to highlight key areas. As what will be mentioned below, Japanese propaganda also differed in terms of its audience, as the country was aware that it had the difficult job of creating propaganda both to amass approval from within its borders as well as its neighboring Asian community. For example, the photo above sought to promote the harmony between Manchukuo, Japan, and China, displaying the flags of each region (for China, the Five Races Under One Union flag). The words "With the help of Japan, China, and Manchukuo, the world can be in peace" can be spotted on the bottom.

In addition, Japanese artwork and posters tackled various subject matters, including urging citizens to conserve resources, encouraging the increase of production, and short slogans that elevated the spectators' spirit and boost their sense of national pride. These posters were located in every corner of public life, including at subways, bus stations, phone poles, and school gates. In one example, the pamphlet below calls for citizens to meet production goals so that the Japanese army can product weapons to counter Western forces. These pamphlets were often handed out during rallies, lectures, or panel discussions. Banners were also hung around popular businesses to gain traction, including the one below which criticizes Western consumerism reading, “Luxury is our enemy”.

Other posters focused more on physical wartime action and military recruitment. Examples of wartime posters included one of a Japanese soldier trampling over both a British and American flag, an act that was deemed highly disrespectful. The poster, printed by the Army Ministry, reads “Fire and Never Quit”. Another poster shows a soldier pointing towards the audience and encouraging them to enroll in Japan’s Young Men’s Military Brigade, a recruitment slogan somewhat quite similar to that of Uncle Sam.
                                                              
A highly stylized and popular pamphlet style was the Kokutai (国体). Directly meaning ‘national body’ the concept of these pamphlets were to promote the idea that Japanese nationalism and polity is issued through a divine leader and that the country has a spiritual origin. As such, people were instructed to put the nation before themselves, dedicate themselves to the Japanese family polity structure of government, and praise the apex that is emperor. The artwork would display animals with a backdrop of the Japanese flag or other distinctive Japanese symbols, and sometimes had writings promoting the traditional Japanese way of life. Kamikaze model planes were also named after this distinctive Japanese artform.

Examples of kokutais can be seen below:

                             

Posters also contained caricatures that carried racist undertones set to dehumanize their Western enemies. Westerners were often depicted as hairy, demonic monsters (鬼, pronounced "oni") who were irrational and power hungry, caring for no one but themselves. President Roosevelt was often the target of ridicule. In one photo, he is depicted with pale, grey skin almost lifelike, akin to the monster in Frankenstein. The photo was used to show how heartless yet American forces were during the war. Another photo shows President Roosevelt removing his ‘human mask, with skulls around his neck, and horns protruding from his head. This depiction seeks to emphasize that the President’s true form is that of a monster who sees no problem in taking innocent lives, either his own or the people he’s fighting against.
                                                 
The depiction of Americans as ‘Oni’ was common practice, as seen in the photos below. This, of course, was a response to America’s depiction of the Japanese as rodents or monkeys due to the difference in the shape of their eyes compared to Caucasians.

Reference:

Wantakan, N. (2019). Japanese Propaganda During World War II. Pacific atrocities education. Retrieved from: https://www.pacificatrocities.org/blog/visual-puppeteer-japanese-propaganda-during-world-war-ii#comments