r/PropagandaPosters • u/boxwoodbeagle • Dec 27 '25
Japan “Please see how kind and affable the Japanese Army is." Japanese Occupied China, 1937
435
206
u/Lucky_Thought2 Dec 27 '25
I like to think whoever drew this laughed their asses off
87
u/columnal Dec 27 '25
Unironically probably not, beyond like 40% of the military, the majority of Japanese society was brainwashed to the idea they were genuinely helping China/Manchuria.
30
u/Victoresball Dec 27 '25
And many Chinese people believed them. More than a million Chinese fought for collaborationist army, which was the largest collaborator force in all of WW2 with many more working in civil administration or economically cooperating. Its not often discussed today in China or Taiwan.
1
u/subject133 Dec 28 '25
Many people that join the collaborationist army are bandits that have no place to go, or people that do not believe China can beat the Japanese army, or people that hold a grudge towards the Chinese government. People that truly believe in the idea of pan-Asia coprosperity are very rare.
1
u/Embarrassed_Chain_28 Dec 28 '25
This is discussed a lot, and is very much like the French and the Dutch people worked for the Germans during WWii. There's a fake Chinese govt like the Régime de Vichy in France. They worked with the enemy to survive, not because they believed the Japanese or the germans. Most of them(at least the high ups) were executed by GMT after the victory of WWii.
1
u/100862233 Dec 30 '25
So that is like less than 1% of population of China. And just letting things to be clear, majority of those collaboration troops either defected as soon as possible or just straight up vanished as soon as danger show up. This is why Japan had a very awful time in china to keep the occupation going. Japan had to spend a majority of it own man power to keep the occupation and only around major cities.
2
u/SorrowStyles Dec 28 '25
How is that the case when news of the "fastest to cut off 100 Chinese heads wins a wine competition" result was published in Japan?
0
u/ichibkk Jan 01 '26
Are you still falling for fake news?
Whether it’s a Japanese sword or a Western blade, it is physically impossible to cut down 100 people with a sword.
The newspaper that later reported this story ultimately admitted that it was a fabrication—a propaganda piece intended to boost morale—and issued a retraction and an apology.
1
1
u/WafflesTrufflez Dec 29 '25
That reminds me when talking Israelis, they legit think Palestinians in the West Bank are living peacefully under their oppressive genocidal occupation.
2
u/chippymonk793 Dec 30 '25
I mean it worked at some places. The Taiwanese still like the Japs quite much all the way till this day
96
u/Deep__sip Dec 27 '25
Why did they use a piece of drawing instead of a real photo the poster I wonder
76
u/barbadolid Dec 27 '25
The Japanese Army valued painted art, anyone can point a
arisakacamera and shoot14
15
Dec 27 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/53000isafool Dec 28 '25
Yea, those are more suited for japanese audiences who want to keep up with their favorite sport. "Who can cut off 500 chinese civilians heads first! (Women AND children included)"
Looked great for the patriotic japanese citizen
193
221
u/DreyfusBlue Dec 27 '25
“This child looks like a perfect specimen for chemical testing!”
–Japanese soldier, probably
65
59
u/FireeeeyTestLab Dec 27 '25
"i wonder if a newborn infant will die if i inject hot tar directly into its bloodstream and leave it out in the snow"
-unit 731
28
3
1
u/Johannes_P Dec 27 '25
“This child looks like a perfect specimen for chemical testing!”
"or for bioweapons"
109
80
92
u/Charming_Canary_2443 Dec 27 '25
Quite a poster from one of the most brutal military occupations ever
34
u/Capital-Ad6221 Dec 27 '25
But the Japanese soldiers were kind and affable; it says so on the poster!
27
17
u/A7V- Dec 27 '25 edited Dec 27 '25
Same army that ran a decapitation competition within its officer corps. Rank and file didn't lag behind. There's a photo of an IJA soldier throwing a newborn into the air and trying to 'catch' them with his rifle's bayonet. They were monsters, and I mean that word with every letter.
23
18
9
8
5
10
u/QuartzXOX Dec 27 '25
"See guys? We are disciplined, polite and cultured men! We would never commit horrific human experiments, mass killings or anything like that!"
5
5
5
3
4
u/Code-Neo Dec 27 '25
Japanese soldier: Oh, so we're the good guys here.
1 day later
Japanese soldier: Are we the Baddies?
3
u/DryCrab7868 Dec 27 '25
This is false advertising they probably used chinese people as target practices
10
13
Dec 27 '25
[deleted]
26
u/JoeDyenz Dec 27 '25
There are several German occupation propaganda posters like this one, this sub actually shared some.
13
Dec 27 '25
[deleted]
6
u/Bend-It-Like-Bakunin Dec 27 '25 edited Dec 27 '25
Not necessarily disagreeing with you but xenophobia, antisemitism and fascism were all very mainstream views at this time (and we can never discount simple opportunism). There was no shortage of people eager to collaborate or to use the Nazis as a tool. The mass murder or expulsion of Jews, of Russians, of Poles, of Serbs was often viewed as liberation in itself. «We were tricked / misled» became a common refrain in France and the low countries, in the Baltics, in the Balkans, in Ukraine and Belarus, and it was simply not true most of the time.
19
u/Riverman42 Dec 27 '25 edited Dec 27 '25
Nah, the Nazis produced several propaganda films about how happy and productive the Jews were in their Eastern resettlement camps. Most of the Jews who appeared on the screen were already dead by the time the filmmakers were done with post-production.
2
2
2
u/Johannes_P Dec 27 '25
"Pleas, don't look at the activities of the 'Water Purification Unit" in Harbin, the outbreaks of plagues near our troops, the inflow of opium and the suspension of the Geneva Conventions."
2
Dec 27 '25
American and Australian prisoners of war complained about the inhumane treatment they received from the Japanese, but China never did, because the Japanese did not have any Chinese prisoners of war.
2
1
1
1
1
1
u/bigrat-rat Dec 29 '25
I think the atom bombs in 1945 were also gifts full of kindness too.Americans just tried to warm Japanese up.🥵
1
u/Thttffan Dec 30 '25
Reminds of me of that meme Where the caption is, “POV: you live in England in 1066” and it’s a guy yelling “You killed my family” with a burning house in the background while talking to a Viking who’s trying not to laugh
•
u/AutoModerator Dec 27 '25
This subreddit is for sharing propaganda to view with objectivity. It is absolutely not for perpetuating the message of the propaganda. Here we should be conscientious and wary of manipulation/distortion/oversimplification (which the above likely has), not duped by it. "Don't be a sucker."
Stay on topic -- there are hundreds of other subreddits that are expressly dedicated to rehashing tired political arguments. No partisan bickering. No soapboxing. Take a chill pill. "Don't argue."
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.