Fanning the Flames

Overview

Explore Japanese propaganda from the Meiji Restoration to World War II. Fanning the Flames: Propaganda in Modern Japan traces the use of graphic arts to promote militarist patriotism among the Japanese people. From the early Meiji period through World War II, this volume illuminates how media technology, artistic standards, and political ideologies changed.

With scholarly essays and materials from the Hoover Institution Library & Archives, this volume details how Japanese propaganda aided in fostering national identity and mobilizing grassroots support for war.

• Examine the role of nishiki-e prints and kamishibai lithographs in shaping public opinion.
• Analyze the impact of censorship on artistic expression.
• Understand the evolution of Japanese propaganda techniques.

For scholars and students of Japanese history, art history, and political science, this volume provides a striking new way to visualize modern Japanese history.

Reviews

"Beautifully illustrated, a most valuable contribution to our understanding of political culture in modern East Asia." —Matthew H. Sommer, professor of Chinese history, Stanford University

"Illuminates the vital roles that mass media have played . . . in the creation of militant imperial Japanese subjects." —Yuma Totani, professor of history, University of Hawaii

"Retells the history of Japan's modern warfare as driven and shaped by the power of spectacle . . . in a compelling dialectic of propaganda and social control." —Jun Uchida, associate professor of history, Stanford University

"Poised at the juncture of political history, art history, and visual culture studies, this readable and highly informative volume [is] richly illustrated and enlightening." —Sharalyn Orbaugh, professor of modern Japanese literature and popular culture, University of British Columbia; author of Propaganda Performed: Kamishibai in Japan's Fifteen Year War

Author Biography