Japanese-American Joint Restructuring of National Steel Corporation

Propaganda Performed: <i>Kamishibai</i> in Japan's Fifteen-Year War

“…26 Moreover, in both Britain and the U.S. keeping young women attractive was also seen as important to the morale of the male soldiers-reminding them of the sweets of life, for which they were fi ghting. 27 But there was a larger symbolic resonance here as well. As visual culture historian Antonia Lant puts it, "the survival of femininity is a patriotic sign of strength and perseverance," and therefore the confi dence and mood of the whole nation is boosted by the maintaining of feminine beauty in a time of war.…”

“…When some tachi-e performers switched to telling stories with illustrations cut from children's books-a form of performance originally called hira-e (fl at pictures) as opposed to tachi-e (standing pictures)-kamishibai was born. 27 By 1930, this had developed into street corner kamishibai as I have described it above, distributed through the kashimoto system.…”

“…91 (Plays designed for performance to colonial subjects were known as "pacifi cation [senbu] plays." For an example intended for a Chinese audience, see fi gures 26,27,28,29 in Chapter Two. ) Matsunaga also wrote the scripts for some of the most eff ective wartime propaganda plays intended for domestic audiences, such as Chokoreeto to heitai (Chocolate and Soldiers, 1939) and Tsume moji (Fingernail Writing, 1943), discussed in Chapter Four.…”

“…In the fi nal years of the war even school children were recruited for work in the munitions factories or raising food. 27 Many kamishibai plays were intended to encourage parents to send their children off to work enthusiastically in the munitions factories, or to encourage parents to assuage their grief for lost sons by going off to do war work themselves. Others encouraged young people who had been drafted for factory work to labor arduously and carefully, avoiding costly accidents and not getting distracted by thoughts of loved ones they had left at home.…”

“…Japan is depicted as the savior who can subdue the British and free China. 58 (See fi gures 26,27,28,and 29. ) instructions for performance…”