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American Anti-Japanese Propaganda in WWII

Intro: Throughout their active involvement in World War II (1941-1945), The United States of America used multiple types of propaganda in order to rally their citizens and troops against the people of Japan. Usage of print, video, and other forms of media pushed the citizens to not only rally against the Japanese people, but to rally behind America. Different types of propaganda ranged from propaganda that directly attacked the Japanese people as well as propaganda that urged the citizens of the United States to get war jobs and raise general morale about the war. The main theme of anti-Japanese propaganda was slandering their appearance, and the theme that encompassed the morale-boosting propaganda was patriotism.

Background: During World War II the United States and their allies were at war with the countries Japan, Italy, and Germany. During this period of time, propaganda was used frequently to get brave soldiers to come together and fight these brutal forces in order to win the war. This was a popular way to get citizens to enlist in all different countries, not just the United States. Japan had propaganda campaigns against the United States and Germany had propaganda against the Jews. It’s one big circle of every country giving their all to get people to join the armed forces to win their war.

Each type of propaganda can range from a video, a poster on the wall, or even cartoons. There was endless possibilities for the American artists to belittle the Japanese forces, and they did it perfectly. Most of the cartoon propaganda showed Japanese soldiers with big teeth smiling, with squinty eyes, and large glasses. This was a traditional cartoon used during WW2, as it was the stereotype of a Jap.

Hollywood: Within the years of anti-Japanese propaganda in the United States one of the most effective medias used was the cinema. There were multiple factors in those films that had an impact on the audience, even a factor such as music had a great impact. The music played during these cinemas played a huge role on depicting the Japs as the evil-doers. Much more than just the role of music creating a negative perspective on the Japanese culture, a way to get these patriotic citizens excited about the war, or even angry, was a propaganda film titled “My Japan.” This film was recorded in 1945 from the perspective of a Japanese officer talking to the United States.

As a result of this racist propaganda, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 that forced all Japanese-Americans to move out of their houses

Within this Hollywood community they started to release propaganda pieces like “My Japan” and “Know Your Enemy”. My Japan is narrator by a man using a fake Japanese accent that talks about how his country is beautiful and how his people are stronger/better than the american people. The film was first made to increase sales of war bonds to help raise monetary support for the war. In turn, the Know Your Enemy propaganda film was actually very racist in many ways. The movie at one point tries to explain the emperor of Japan and does so by saying imagine a man with the power of the President of the United States, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Premier of Soviet Russia, and the Pope. The movie also says the emperor is a divine being to his people and that you would not look at the emperor just like you wouldn’t look at the sun. The movie tries to use the Japanese flag of the sun to say the people consider the emperor their own sun. Know Your Enemy was a controversial film in the sense that the United States government did not know exactly what angle to take the film in. They had ideas of portraying the emperor as a war criminal, but knew they would have to deal with him later on so they did not want to go that way. The film tried to focus on teaching american soldiers about Japanese history and customs and relate them back to modern Japanese culture. Both films Know Your Enemy and My Japan definitely would be considered culturally insensitive by modern rules. It was also common practice to have a white narrator use a stereotypical accent to portray a Japanese man rather than just hiring a Japanese man to be the narrator. In many ways, the propaganda films of the time were completely culturally insensitive.

� Works Cited

Know Your Enemy: Japan. Directed by Frank Capra, commissioned by the U.S. War Department. 1945.

My Japan. Produced by War Finance Division. 1945.

Sheppard, W.Anthony. An Exotic Enemy: Anti-Japanese Musical Propaganda in World War II Hollywood. Journal of the American Musicological Society, vol. 54, no. 2, Summer 2001, p. 303. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1525/jams.2001.54.2.303.

When Art Meets Army: The Dangerous Propaganda of World War II. Ohio History Connection. 2017. Accessed on 8 May 2019. Available from: https://www.ohiohistory.org/learn/collections/history/history-blog/2017/august-2017/ralphwilliams

Yam, Kimberly. These Anti-Japanese Signs From World War II Are A Warning Against Bigotry Today. HuffPost, 2017. Accessed 8 May 2019. Available from: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pearl-harbor-japanese-americans_n_5a283fb8e4b02d3bfc37b9f6?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJCyMcfAfekbJHFX2NyPqkNDhOJ5fafhx02o5B3j9mCus4gbfsn3oeP34uCTSOxOnUvZ8kuFNgIZlYsT4m0ax4Ol0v08Uqna4oE2LhhhK1toEMxtpXVKPWGFXuqiWvUrzSV2C3fCBhMfE8liX3bXbRKSzOmCayJV4vBwYs6RlK6O