Japanese propaganda in Asia was pretty much what you might think it was. The Japanese basically said, “look, the white people have colonized you, and we will free you.” They often said “Asia for the Asians.”
This wasn’t that bad a message, because it was basically true. And, even though Japan lost the war, countries like Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines did gain their independence. However, the propaganda campaign often fell flat for reasons mentioned below.
Let’s look at some of their propaganda:
This poster shows the Americans and British trying to get an Indian to join the fight, he isn’t buying it.
This messaging actually resonated to some degree. At least 40,000 Indian soldiers joined the Indian National Army (INA), which fought with the Japanese army.
Here is the Japanese showing the coprosperity sphere with big arms, with the Japanese and Chinese being friends inside of it. In contrast, the Western fellow on the left is telling the local who is asking about independence to “Be quiet or I’ll smack you.”
I believe the Chinese weren’t falling for this at all, since Japan had been running wild in China and was far from a benevolent ruler.
Another message in the Japanese propaganda was the Greater East Asia Prosperity Sphere, promising trade and education for local countries under a (theoretically) supportive Japanese controlled government.
This messaging was used in Vietnam. It shows young Vietnamese who have been sent to study in the “land of their dreams, Japan.”
This poster is titled Peace Under Heaven: Japan, China and Manchuria
Manchuria had been conquered by Japan and was a puppet state, so it seems hard to believe Chinese would have gone for this one.
A poster with a young boy giving flowers to thank the Japanese soldiers. (not related to Asian countries)
The Japanese propaganda message was weakened most places, because when the Japanese did take over another country, they were barbaric, and/or treated the locals badly/like servants. One comment that stood out is the locals that took jobs with the Japanese administration were required to face the Japanese imperial palace every morning and bow under a threat of a beating….this often didn’t go over well, especially for those whose religion didn't allow them to bow to some other God.
For the Japanese messaging to work, they needed to appear less brutal than the colonizers, and that wasn’t exactly what happened, with a few exceptions.
I’ve touched on Japanese propaganda in my book on Japanese spies here.
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