[The China Incident and Japan-Soviet Relations at a Glance].

Description

This is a 1937 Japanese propaganda manga map of East Asia, published as a supplement to the Women’s Club magazine during the opening phase of the Second Sino-Japanese War. 

Initially, the map appears to be rather lighthearted, given the cartoonish illustrations of people throughout the region. But a closer examination reveals evidence of the geopolitics of the era and the ongoing conflict, including bombings of cities throughout China. The title and content refer to a common Japanese wartime belief that the Chinese government of Chiang Kai-shek was little more than a front for the Soviet Union. This claim seems laughable as Chiang had violently suppressed the Soviet-aligned Chinese Communist movement for years in the lead up to 1937 and styled himself increasingly after European fascist leaders (with Nazi Germany having a large military influence on China), but in December 1936 Chiang was forced by his own generals into an anti-Japanese United Front with the Communists. Shortly afterwards, he signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviets and began to receive military aid from them. For imperial Japan, it was convenient to obscure the distinction between Chinese nationalism and Communism in order to delegitimate the former.

The map traces the rail and air network of East Asia, which had become increasingly Japanese-dominated in the preceding decades. The borders of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo are marked out prominently, with Soviet troops standing menacingly just across the border, a reference to the ongoing tensions between Japan and the Soviet Union in the region (which would erupt into open warfare in 1939, in which the Soviets managed to gain the upper hand). The border is lined with pillboxes (トーチカ) and other fortifications. Japanese troops do not appear, only the peaceful subjects of Manchukuo going about their various economic activities. In China proper as well, the country’s vast natural resources (control of which was Japan’s true aim in the war) are emphasized, though they are overshadowed by the presence of ‘red’ troops (赤軍). 

Much of the map consists in documenting the progress of the ‘China Incident’ (as the war was called in Japan), including symbols recording areas bombed by Japan, areas occupied by Japan, and a timeline of the war on three different fronts at bottom-right. The verso consists of two maps, one of Jiangnan (the wider region around Shanghai and the Lower Yangzi River) and another more specifically of the area around Shanghai and Nanjing. 

At this point (November 1937), the war was going swimmingly for Japan. After nearly being pushed out of Shanghai, the Japanese utilized their naval superiority to rush reinforcements to the city and executed a counter-attack, forcing the Chinese to begin withdrawing in late October. Chinese forces planned a fighting retreat to regroup further inland, but it turned into more of a rout. Rather than defend the capital of Nanjing with his remaining forces, Chiang decided to adopt a Fabian Strategy, moving inland to Hankou (Wuhan) and then far into the interior at Chongqing. Nanjing was left with a limited force and went on to suffer one of the worst atrocities of the entire Second World War. The Japanese also had little difficulty occupying major cities in northern and coastal southern China or winning any large pitched battles. However, even at this point, the grim prospect of trying to occupy China was dawning on Japanese military leaders. The following years would see continued Japanese progress but a porous, tenuous grip on occupied areas, especially in the countryside, where guerrilla movements flourished. As long as Chiang refused to surrender, Japan could not win the war.

Publication information

This map appeared as a supplement to Women’s Club (婦人倶樂部) magazine on November 1, 1937. It was prepared by Ishida Eisuke, who handled the recto map and illustrations, and Ebihara Satoshi, who wrote the text on the recto and made the two verso maps. The map is cataloged with Stanford University, the International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken), the National Museum of Taiwan History, Waseda University, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and is scarce on the market.