Name/Title
Japanese Propaganda [Cover]Description
Gladys Adler hand painted cover of a Japanese caricature stating ”You Tojo’s Friend If You Don’t Buy War Bonds”. Postmarked on November 16, 1944 in Saginaw, Michigan.Context
In the immediate aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941), the United States government and public media began an all-out propaganda campaign targeting the Japanese. While some propaganda focused on the military differences between the two countries, most was designed with racism in mind. To evoke a sense of cultural superiority, American propagandists portrayed the Japanese as weak, feeble, and as animals. This cover, decorated by Gladys Adler, makes a purposeful attempt to portray the Japanese people with subhuman features - large, sharp teeth and targeted the Japanese accent by pointing out their difficult pronunciation of the letter “r,” a move calculated to appeal to racist Americans. Keep in mind how racism affects how a war is waged and what kinds of consequences racist imagery would have had on the home front.