Pictorial propaganda in Japanese comic art, 1941-1945: Images of the self and the other in a newspaper strip, single-panel cartoons, and cartoon leaflets

Japan's wartime comic art—newspaper strips, single-panel cartoons in magazines, and cartoon leaflets—presents a powerful narrative of the Pacific War from the Japanese perspective. The visual and verbal elements that conveyed Japan's propaganda message reveal a constant interplay between “the pure Self” and “the demonic Other,” terms used by John Dower in his groundbreaking 1986 study focusing on race and power reflected in Japanese and Western popular culture during the Pacific War. As seen in wartime Japanese comic art, “the pure Self” and “the demonic Other” are aligned along a single continuum. At one extreme is the superhero Japanese soldier. At the other extreme is the monstrous enemy. In the middle are the ordinary Japanese people enduring hardship and together defending the country. Also in the middle are the pitiful foreign victims of Japan's enemies.; Three texts produced between 1941 and 1945, the period when Japan's aggression in China extended to the Pacific, best represent the comic art medium of the time. Fuku-chan was a popular, long-running newspaper strip targeting families. In its detailed portrayals of the characters' daily activities, Fuku-chan supported the government's domestic propaganda campaign. The single-panel cartoons in Manga, the only cartoon magazine with a national circulation, were directed at an adult audience. The cartoons sought to arouse animosity toward the enemy by ridiculing leaders such as Roosevelt, Churchill, and Chiang Kai-shek. Propaganda cartoon leaflets produced by the Japanese Army General Staff were targeted at foreign troops and civilians. Their purposes included demoralizing enemy soldiers and heightening antagonism of Asians toward their Western oppressors.; The research material by its nature is ephemeral. Sources were scattered through libraries and the collections of individuals. The research was supplemented by interviews with four comic art creators who provided first-hand information on the production process and the nature of state censorship.