Manga, Satire, and Propaganda
Mapping Japan's Worldview in 1932
In 1932, as Japan’s imperial ambitions were on the rise, an exceptional satirical world map was created by Shishido Sako - a Japanese manga pioneer. High resolution image
His perspective was shaped by the nine years he spent in the US, beginning in 1912. According to his memoirs, he went to the movies almost every day - and it shows.
A work of satire, humor, and propaganda, the map reflects Japanese imperial ambitions. And it’s filled with amusing caricatures (don’t miss Gandhi overpowering two puny British colonials).
It was eventful year, with a global depression underway and fascist powers on the rise across the globe.
The US is a montage of cultural snapshots, from Olympic athletes and filmmakers on the West Coast to black jazz musicians in the Southeast and an imprisoned Al Capone in Chicago. Babe Ruth, Jack Dempsey and a cowboy fill the Great Plains. Yet while America’s cultural power is highlighted, the seas around the US bristle with naval power.
Europe is torn with political turmoil and social unrest with the rise of fascism, communism, and nationalism in the aftermath of WWI.
Hitler and Hindenburg wrestle in front of a German throne. Mussolini looms over Italy. Stalin rises from the factories. But the League of Nations (headquartered in Switzerland) is a fortress isolated from the realities of the world.
Shishido centers Japan in the map. It’s (red) territories loom large over Asia - already having conquered Taiwan, Korea and Manchuria. A modern radio tower broadcasts Japanese cultural dominance while ominous air and sea forces signal broader imperial ambitions.
Hitome de wakaru sekai genjyo chizu. (The world present map intelligible at a glance). (By) Shishido Sako. David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
Another artist 10 years later
The Art of War
“The Map Maker” is a satire attacking the Axis by the artist Arthur Szyk, published in Esquire Magazine in 1942. It shows Hitler, Mussolini, and Tojo as grotesque caricatures, with Hitler painting a swastika over a map of South and Latin America, while Goebbels welcomes Tojo to the Axis. “ Now that. you’ve joined…
Wow this map is fascinating! Such an interesting snapshot in time I could look at this forever.
It’s always fascinating to see how maps change depending on who draws them. What gets emphasised, or left out, shows so much about what they deemed important.