1944 Japanese Propaganda Map of the Pacific War

This is an uncommon 1944 Hatano Keisuke (畠野圭右) Japanese World War II map propagandizing Japanese victories in the Pacific as well as humorously illustrating resources throughout. Coverage extends from western Sumatra to the Pacific coast of America, and from the Aleutian Islands and Korea to Australia and New Zealand. The map's focus is on the disproportionally enlarged contested Philippine region. The map illustrates ships sunk by Japanese forces, including five in the Philippines and twelve in Hawaii (Pearl Harbor). Red icons highlight Allied naval bases and airstrips.

Resources

In the terrestrial regions feature cartoonish icons representing the peoples, flora, fauna and resources of each region. These include wool, cotton, rice, wheat, diamond, gold, copper, coal. iron, tin, oil, timber, Manila hemp, rubber, copra, salt, pepper, tea, tobacco, coffee, paper, sweet potato, corn, and fruits. Some of them are easy to guess by the pictures. The map also shows pictures of local features such as animals, for example on the map of Australia there is a koala in a gum tree.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by Hatano Keisuke (畠野圭右) and published by the National Education Training Association, a wartime propaganda organization focused in Japanese youth. It was printed on January 15, 1944 (Showa 19) and released 5 days later on January 20. Uncommon.