Japanese War Propaganda

 

                                                                           Japan as the liberator of East Asia

 

 

 

      During World War II there were many different forms of propaganda to support the war effort in Japan. Some of these were leaflets that were dropped over the enemy soldiers in an effort to get them to surrender, while others were for the Japanese that were fighting and were meant to instill valor in the soldiers. Then there were those that were to encourage workers in factories that their country needed them to work as hard as they could and ignore all Western vices that might be present. There were also many pamphlets showing Japan as a liberator of the East Asian nations from the Western colonizers. Government control over the production of art required most artists to work in propaganda to avoid being punished for producing manga comics. All of the resources that the Japanese had were being directed at waging war. When looking at art from the World War II time period it is important to look at what was considered propaganda and physiological operations because that was where all the talented artist were employed. The Japanese used propaganda as a way to both encourage the Japanese soldiers to fight and also to make the allied soldiers lose hope and want to surrender and go home. It showed the difference of Japanese culture in contrast to Western culture by making the Asian values part of the world agenda. The propaganda extolled the rights of the people and their religions, rituals, and languages to show that the Western way was inferior. The style of the Japanese propaganda is not always original in the way it is presented but it does show what was thought to be important by the government in waging war.

 

 Japanese Propaganda for the Japanese Soldier

 

 

                                

                                                           Postcard of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor                 Samuria warrior as the Japanese army sinking enemy ships

 

 

   Propaganda directed at the Japanese soldiers showed the strength of the Japanese and the weakness of the Allied forces. This type of propaganda was used to make the Japanese feel like they had morals on their side and they were fighting against non-humans. This is a tactic that both sides used. Dehumanizing the enemy made it easier to justify killing them. This was not a new tactic and is still used today when wars are waged. There were postcards made of the bombing of Pearl Harbor so Japanese could celebrate Japan's victory over America. It was a show of Japanese power, and the postcard was meant to remind people that they were part of a great nation and they should be proud of it. When the American soldiers invaded the Pacific, the propaganda that was given to the Japanese soldiers was of the samurai. This was meant to make them look back to that part of their history and remember the code that samurai used when they were in battle. Most of the time the samurai is depicted much larger than the enemy, which is small and being crushed by this one giant samurai. Other propaganda showed the Japanese soldier as a hero for defending his country. It is important to note that not all of what was created was serious. Some of it made fun of the enemy and was comical. Some of the pictures of the enemy were drawn in a way that made light of the intelligence of the Allies by making them less human and at the same time making the Japanese force seem more powerful.

 

 

                                Japanese soldier walking over British and American flags                  The Japanese sun is blowing away the allied forces.

 

 

 

Japan As the Liberator

 

     Another part of the propaganda directed at the Japanese was the view that they were the liberator of the entire East Asia region. They saw themselves as being able to free the Asian people from the Western colonizers that were oppressing the people. However, when the Japanese got really involved in the area they were no better at helping set up a rule of law than the British. The Japanese propaganda portrayed them as having good intentions when they went to liberate East Asia. The manifesto below details their purpose in being the liberator, showing that the intention was to free Asia of Western influence so that the countries could have common ground and share culture much like the West was doing. This was not achieved but Japan's actions did bring East Asian countries together against the West and Japan as colonizers.

 

 

 

 

Greater East Asia Cooperation Manifesto

(Pictured are children of ten nations that are part of the Japanese mission to stop Western colonization.)

 

Japan on its mission to free East Asia

 

Look! Using their military might, America, Britain and the Netherlands have done all these bad things to us.

 

TICKET TO ARMISTACE

USE THIS TICKET, SAVE YOUR LIFE AND YOU WILL BE KINDLY TREATED.

Follow these instructions:

1. Come towards our lines waving a white flag.
2. Strap your gun over your left shoulder muzzle down and pointed behind you.
3. Show this ticket to the sentry.
4. Any number of you may surrender with this one ticket.

This is followed by Japanese text:

Surrender ticket

 

The bearer(s) of this ticker has surrendered.

It is strictly forbidden to kill him (them).

Commander, Japanese Army forces

The leaflet ends with the English sentence:

Sing your way to Peace pray for Peace.

 

Translation and English courtesy of: http://www.psywarrior.com/JapanPSYOPWW2b.html

        The Japanese propaganda, no matter who the intended audience, was well thought out and meant to encourage people to bend to the will of the Japanese government. Part of the appeal of the propaganda is that the art is well designed and the images are impressive, funny, and emotional. The emotion that is created is different for each of the images but they are all meant to have some kind of reaction that stems from this emotion. The ability of the Japanese to do this is what made the propaganda have meaning when it was distributed.