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In World War 2, propaganda was produced in Japan to encourage soldiers to fight, win over people in conquered nations, and degrade public perceptions of the West. Propaganda refers to “ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause” (Rudiger, n.d.), and during Total War this meant spreading racist stereotypes and hatred about the enemy. Japanese propaganda focused on people from Western nations, particularly Americans, who were depicted as “evil and greedy” (Darman, 2008). This stereotyping aimed to dehumanise Japan’s enemies and encourage the people of South East Asia to join Japan in taking up arms against their white colonisers. However, this racism also led to acts of extreme violence against people the Japanese thought of as “subhuman” (Rudiger, n.d.).

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A large amount of Japan’s propaganda was aimed at South East Asia to encourage them to support the Japanese army by saying they were friends. However, in reality South East Asia experienced a lot of rape and violence at the hands of the Japanese, so Japan's propaganda was not believed, making it mostly ineffective. Filipinos, who much of Japan's propaganda was aimed at, were "hurt by the war on a very personal level", and around one million of them were killed by the Japanese during the war. Thus, Japan's propaganda was ineffective in persuading Filipinos to support their cause.

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Evil Mickey attacks Japan - A 1936 japanese animation

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Propaganda is often made up of untrue and offensive content to get into people’s heads, mess with their way of thinking and give them strong views, even though a lot of it is false.

Using cartoons as a medium for wartime propaganda is unethical as it sends messages to children that encourage violence and hate. For example, the cartoon from 1936 where an evil version of Mickey Mouse (a famous American character) attacks Japan would have encouraged Japanese children to hate Americans. This was the intention of the propaganda, to create racist and unethical opinions.

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Japanese propaganda was created in order to aid Japan in becoming the most powerful nation in South East Asia. It aimed to convince the indigenous peoples of countries Japan invaded that Westerners were corrupt, and the Japanese were there to save them and unite Asia. These ideas came about because the Japanese resented the Americans for limiting their navy in 1922, treating them like a “second-class nation” (Darman, 2008). However, Japan relied on the US for many resources such as food, rubber, oil and metals (Darman, 2008). The solution was to expand into Southeast Asia, where resources could be found to support the Japanese army in attacking the US. Propaganda was therefore created to attempt to align the locals with this cause and against America. Japanese propaganda was ultimately unsuccessful, as the country was defeated and surrendered to the Allies in 1945. The people of Southeast Asia whom the Japanese were attempting to win over usually didn’t accept their propaganda, as it was contradicted by the extreme violence committed against them by Japanese soldiers (Darman, 2008).

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“You are our Pals” was a leaflet handed out by the Japanese directed towards people living in the Philippines in 1941-1942. It depicts a Japanese soldier lighting the cigarette of a Filipino soldier, signifying unity, trust and friendship between the two countries. In the background, the American Army is shown to be retreating, clearly out of fear of the Japanese, which portrays the power and force the Japanese possess, with the American flag torn and ragged, signifying America’s defeat. The text, “Our enemy is the Americans”, not only reinforces Japan’s view of America, but also supports the idea of unity. By using the word “our”, Japan is strengthening the bond between the countries, giving them a common goal to work towards, that is, defeated the Americans. Japan’s occupation and control over the Philippines relied heavily on media and propaganda, in order to “silence the voice of [the] people by covering it up with biased news and propaganda” (Ong Vaño). “You are our Pals” is an image of hope for a strong partnership between Japan and the Philippines, while repeating the message of America being “our enemy”.

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-  http://www.psywarrior.com/JapanPSYOPWW2.html Japanese PSYOP During WWII, written by SGM Herbert A. Friedman, 11 January 2003, published by psywarrior.com
-  http://www.psywarrior.com/DivideandConquer.html Divide and Conquer PSYOP, written by SGM Herbert A. Friedman, 29 November 2004, published by psywarrior.com
-  https://www.scribd.com/document/298070750/Japanese-Propaganda Japanese Propaganda, uploaded by Gusty Ong Vaño, date unknown, published by scribd.com
- Darman, P. (2008). Posters of World War II. New York: Metro Books.

- Rudiger, C. (n.d.). Stanford University. Retrieved from World War II and Propaganda: https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297a/World%20War%20II%20and%20Propaganda.htm
-https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/13/world/asia/letter-from-the-philippines-long-afterward-war-still-wears.html Letter from the Philippines: Long afterward, war still wears on Filipinos, Carlos H. Conde, 13 August, 2005.