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Modern warfare is no longer only between soldiers on a battlefield, but it is also between nations and their ideas.  In order to make an entire nation support the war effort, there needs to be influence.  That influence is called propaganda. World War II can be seen as the start of modern war, and the first war where propaganda was used by all sides to influence support for the war effort on the home front – this can be referred to as “social warfare.”  I think we have all seen the propaganda posters of Rosie the Riveter or Uncle Sam in support of the United States war effort, but other involved nations also had their own propaganda posters.  I am going to focus this entry on the propaganda posters of Japan during World War II. Much of the social warfare between the United States and Japan involved instilling within their people both a strong nationalistic pride for their own country as well as an incendiary hatred for the other country.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the images generated from World War II propaganda would speak endless volumes.  Words are powerful, but some of the images in wartime posters drew attention more vividly because they attracted an audience on a wider scale.  The United States used Uncle Sam in propaganda posters like the one here to inspire Americans to enlist in the military.  Japan had a similar propaganda poster showing a soldier, like the Uncle Sam poster, encouraged people to join the Japan’s Young Men’s Military Brigade.

Catchy slogans and catch phrases quickly became part of popular culture.  The United States had “Loose Lips Sink Ships” and Japan had “Fire and Never Quit,” both of which were used on a variety of propaganda posters.  The Japanese poster below shows a charging Japanese soldier trampling over the British and American flags with a bayonet.  The poster, issued by Japan’s Army Ministry, reads “Fire and Never Quit!”

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the images generated from World War II would speak endless volumes.  Words are powerful, but some of the images in wartime posters drew attention more vividly because they attracted an audience on a wider scale. Japan has traditionally been noted for its artistic advancements especially in prints and paintings, as the war commenced, Japanese art shifted its motif and focused its efforts on the war.  Similar to America’s were Japan’s own call to arms.  The two posters below exhibit the Japanese military might at sea and in the air.  The poster depicting Japanese Navy ships claims “We Rule the Seas,” and the poster with the Japanese aircraft proclaims “Our Enemies Can Not Hide.”

Of course Japanese propaganda art did not neglect to target the enemy.  In a manner similar to what American did by depicting the Japanese as subhuman apes, the Japanese countered with their own depiction of Americans (and the British as well) as hairy, demonic mongrels.  The following posters demonstrate such imagery.  In the first poster, a demonic figure with skulls around its neck wears a mask of President Roosevelt.  In the second poster below, President Roosevelt is shown with the hands and feet of a monster with a horn protruding from his head.  He sits atop the “Grieving Statue of Liberty,” the title of the picture.  She grieves because in the President’s one hand, he waives the banner of democracy while in the other he tenaciously grips the stick of dictatorship.  Hanging from the crown of the statue is a striking worker, and a lackadaisical sailor having a good time with the ladies.  The sullen face of the statue reflects the despicable state that the United States is in.  It shows that America is not as strong as she presents herself to be and that its own folly will result in its ultimate demise.

Japan, on the other hand, wished to represent that they were anything but weak.  They would bring light to the world, ridding it of the evil Allied forces, represented by the United States, Britain, China, and the Netherlands in the below poster.  As pictured, Japan’s rising sun blows them away.  The single wooden shoe represents the Netherlands; the Chinese character has an animal’s tail, which was a common insulting depiction of the Chinese; Britain is depicted as a portly figure with a Scottish tam on his head; and the United States is pictured as a prisoner in a striped shirt.  Notice the crown falling off the head of the American – an indication of our wealth and opulence that will soon be lost in defeat.

The goal of war is to be victorious.  Propaganda of the day during World War II was used to instill confidence in gaining this victory.  The final two posters I would like to exhibit show the famous “V” for victory that was displayed in many forms.  In the case of these two posters, the “V” is used for the same purpose but from different origins.  The first is a United States poster inferring the message of victory through production – showing thousands of bombers coming out of the “V” and proclaiming numbers of war planes built in 1942 (60,000) and 1943 (125,000).  The other poster exhibits Japan’s Rising Sun flag and the German Swastika at the top of each side of the “V” with the world in between the “V,” exclaiming a global victory.

Ultimately, propaganda was used in World War II to boost the morale of the troops, sell ideas and concepts, and give hope and confidence to its intended audience.  It did not fight the battles directly, but was a key part of the formula for victory.  But the affects of propaganda, especially negative propaganda, lasted well after treaties were signed and the dust of war settled.  Japan, though defeated, still held the same hatred for the United States it had before the war, if not more so.  The same can be said for the United States’ feeling towards Japan.

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