[Illustrated Bird's Eye View of the Current Situation in East Asia].

Average. Areas of discoloration and loss, especially along fold lines, repaired with infill on verso. Chips along edge. Size 30.25 x 20.25 Inches. An impressive large-format 1939 manga propaganda map of China and Korea compiled by a team led by political activist and union organizer Sengoku Kotaro and published as a supplement to the periodical Ie no hikari . It was published at the height of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937 - 1945) (the Chinese theater of World War II), as Japan's initial advances slowed, and the war settled into a grueling stalemate. A Closer Look Coverage includes China, Mongolia, Manchuria, and Korea, with portions of surrounding territories. Cartoon figures representing farmers, soldiers, and workers of different nations appear throughout. Though outwardly innocuous, these illustrations reflect common, and often denigrating, Japanese perceptions of other Asian peoples, while also endorsing Japan's rationale for invading China in 1937. China is presented as a bountiful land of vast resources and hardy people, whose industriousness, it is implied, is only held back by ineffective government. Chinese farmers and laborers are seen lugging bags labeled 'wheat,' 'salt,' 'rice,' and so on, hinting at the resources that Japan hoped to acquire after the war. Aside from the large puppet state of Manchukuo towards top-right, figures in areas more recently occupied by Japanese troops, such as Beijing, Nanjing, and Inner Mongolia, wave flags and welcome Japan's benevolent influence. The depiction of Koreans is similarly loaded and self-serving, with an indolent yangban figure smoking opium, a peasant uprooting ginseng, and miners digging iron and coal. Conversely, soldiers and civilians of the Mongolian People's Republic (Outer Mongolia) and the Soviet Union are presented as obstinate and menacing, a threat all along the borders of Manchukuo and northern China. Aside from humans, animal figures, boats, and structures like the Great Wall of China are drawn to reflect regional characteristics. For instance, an unlucky goldminer in northern Heilongjiang, the northernmost point in China (or, rather, Manchukuo here), runs from an angry bear. Though Japanese and Chinese soldiers are not depicted, an inset map at bottom-right refers to the intense, ongoing conflict, indicating areas occupied by the Imperial Japanese Army as of the end of October 1938. The Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China, led by Chiang Kai-shek and the Guomindang (GMD, or Kuomintang KMT), and the Empire of Japan. Though generally dated to 1937, some scholars trace the beginning of the war to the Mukden Incident and the September 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria. In the following years, Japan established a puppet regime in Manchuria and extended its influence into northern China through several other 'incidents,' to the extent that it directly or indirectly controlled most of northern China and Inner Mongolia by 1937. Although determined to resist the Japanese, Chiang was eager to eliminate the domestic threat from the Communists first while also buying time to modernize his armies and gain better control over his generals, most of whom were semi-independent warlords. These plans were disrupted when Chiang was kidnapped by one of his own generals in December 1936 and forced to enter a united front with the Communists. Now compelled to turn his attention towards Japan, it was a matter not of if but when a full-scale war with Japan would come. The July 7, 1937 Marco Polo Bridge Incident has traditionally been considered the start of the war, when Chinese and Japanese troops began exchanging fire at the Marco Polo (Lugou) Bridge, along a main access route to Beijing. This exchange of fire escalated to an all-out battle leading to Japanese forces capturing both Beijing and its port city of Tianjin. As the conflict expanded, Chiang aimed to deliver a knockout blow before Japanese reserves could be.…