The following contains wartime
propaganda images. Readers are warned that these images can be offensive to view.

请注意以下内容含有战时宣传图像,
浏览时或许会给您带来心理不适感。

この章では戦時中のプロパガンダの
画像が含まれてい ます。不快に感じ
るような表 現もありますので、
先に 進む前にご注意ください。



Warning: On viewing images of
a potentially disturbing nature


請注意:圖片或許會為帶來心理不適
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Visual Narratives
Visual Narratives
Sequences from the Essay

The Second Army Attacking and Occupying Port Arthur

The Predictable Pose of the Hero

The Compassionate Hero

The War at Sea

Mirror of Army and Navy Heroes

Kiyochika’s Manga

The Devil in the Details

Orientalism

MIT Visualizing Cultures
Making a Woodblock Print
Sequences from the Essay

The Second Army Attacking and Occupying Port Arthur

The Predictable Pose of the Hero

The Compassionate Hero

The War at Sea

Mirror of Army and Navy Heroes

Kiyochika’s Manga

The Devil in the Details

Orientalism

MIT Visualizing Cultures
Making a Woodblock Print
The Compassionate Hero: Captain Higuchi


One of the most celebrated Japanese heroes of the Sino-Japanese War was Captain Higuchi, who reportedly rescued a Chinese infant in a crucial battle near Weihaiwei. As the story was told, Captain Higuchi heard the abandoned child crying on the battlefield, scooped him up in his left arm, and led his forces to victory flourishing his sword with his right arm. After the battle, Higuchi returned the child to his parents.

Captain Higuchi became a symbol of the bravery and benevolence of the Japanese forces and, as seen here, was celebrated in a number of woodblock prints (often with enemy bullets streaking around him). At a deeper symbolic level, he exemplified the whole notion of a righteous war against China. The implication was that the child had been left in peril by its own irresponsible parents and caretakers. Thus, even as they were depicted overthrowing the Chinese, the propaganda message of such prints to Japanese viewers was that their fighting men not only were strong and resolute, but also were protecting and preserving China’s future.

The “benevolent conqueror” is a familiar conceit in war propaganda in general.



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