Kamishibai Collection

Ken'ichi dreams of becoming a fighter pilot, while his family wants him to be scholar. When Ken'ichi is older, his mother accepts his wishes as she realizes they all owe their lives and wellbeing to the emperor. Used to normalize military service to children watching, the play largely targets it messaging towards parents in order to promote the nationalized bushido value of self-sacrifice.

The story follows a group of children who are playing at being soldiers in the Japanese Imperial Army. Each child takes on a different role in the war effort: some have weapons, some are nurses and one is even doing logistics. They play at defeating the Americans and the British, as they are the invincible Imperial Army. The narrative teaches children about combat roles and the enemy, in an attempt to use play as a way to inspire loyalty and mentally prepare children to assume these roles in the future.

This is a story about a family whose son was part of the Fujita unit that perished in Samoa. In the son's will he asks that his sister and younger brother go to work in an aircraft factory while the other brother, Shin'ichi, should become a pilot. The story then follows the sister, Masako, as she works at the aircraft factory. Various stories are related about her coworkers and the men relying on their work, which makes Masako worry about production meeting demand. But her boss reassures her that Japan has both the technology and materials to produce enough aircraft to win the war - so she should work with high hopes. Kamishibai produced during World War II illustrated the expanding role of women on the home front, a departure from the relatively limited participation of women in prior armed conflicts.

Kenkichi and Senta are two boys in a group who enjoy playing soldier games. They meet a military veteran who makes them a bamboo dragonfly, but has a hard time making more because of his injuries, so the boys ask him for his war stories instead. Later, they bring him a drawing of a navy ship and in return the veteran makes bamboo dragonflies for everyone in the group. It ends with an inspiration cheer to the victory of Japan. The intention behind this kamishibai was to get children accustomed to war veterans, some who would return home injured, and teach them to treat them with respect. It was created with guidance from the Institute of Military Protection (Gunji Hogoin shidō 軍事保護院指導).

This kamishibai is about the heroic achievements of a military horse in the Imperial Army. The horse, Ao, is beloved by his family but is sent to the military training center. The young boy Shigeru regularly goes to visit him until Ao is sent to the front. Shigeru’s older brother Kentaro also makes his way to the battlefield in a transport unit. During a battle, Kentaro is rescued by Ao and the two are celebrated as heroes. Horses were a popular feature of World War II propaganda, depicted in an attempt to make the war effort more palatable and to appeal to young audiences. The story served to normalize for children the idea that loved ones would leave for the war, and the heroic ending served to uplift the spirits of the home front audiences.

Due to dry weather and a water shortage, farmers have been leaving the area. So five big shōya (estate owners) come together and propose a new irrigation project to save the village. The local bugyō (governor) is concerned about the difficulty of such a project, so he makes it conditional: if the project fails then the five estate owners will forfeit their lives. Five hanging platforms are constructed to remind them of their fate. But everyone works hard on the project to ensure its success and when completed the water runs beautifully. The village is saved, and so too are the lives of the five estate owners. So they burn down the hanging platforms which are no longer needed. [Note: last card is missing from set.]

Tonarigumi (Neighborhood Association) was a community-based mutual aid organization established by the Ministry of Home Affairs under Taisei Yokusankai (the Imperial Assistance Rule Association) in 1940. In this kamishibai, the children of a Neighborhood Association are encouraged to actively participate in home front efforts by assisting families whose fathers have gone to fight the war and mothers working at military factories.

The play Shōnendan (Youth group) explains the founding and function of the Great Japanese Youth Group, a national organization established to control young men (third grade and above) and mobilize them for home front labor.  Established in 1883, it was absorbed into the Imperial Rule Assistance Association in 1942. The kamishibai describes the competitive model of education used in the past, and explains the new collaborative model that emphasizes the importance of physical fitness, education, and practical skills. It encourages children to love working and ingenuity, and to first build healthy bodies, as strong minds and bodies will serve as the foundation of the Great East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. The kamishibai also states four wartime promises: “we will hold firmly to our belief in certain victory,” “we will volunteer to defend our country,” “we will strive to dedicate ourselves to occupational service,” and “we will actively work to train both our minds and bodies.”

This 1944 kamishibai ties a wide range of characters across the huge expanse of the empire from Rabaul in Papua New Guinea to Japan. The story is somewhat absurd, about a useful pair of nail clippers that get used around the empire and are then returned to their original owner. But Japanese propaganda was successful because it focused on more than just the glory of the empire. It linked distant venues of battlefield scenes with the mundane of homelife back on the main islands for children to consume and value as a moral but exciting lesson.

The play’s narrative begins with Sadao borrowing nail clippers from his sister, Harue, as he goes off with the army press team to an area of active fighting—Rabaul, on New Britain island. Some of the soldiers in Rabaul who meet Sadao use his nail clippers while sharing memories of home, leaving a part of themselves behind before they die in the battle. Sadao returns to Japan to boost the home front factory workers’ morale by telling the front line stories. At one of his tour stops, Sadao's sister is taking care of a fellow female volunteer worker, Yoshikawa, who has fallen ill. Although Yoshikawa at first insists on sending a telegraph to her mother to urge her to come, she becomes embarrassed after hearing about Sadao and the front lines and decides to endure her illness and be a part of the proud production force.

This kamishibai communicates directly to the audience, rather than convey its message through a narrative. The play shares information about the war effort and rallies the audience to support the war on the home front. It urges Japanese citizens to prepare themselves for the fighting to arrive on Japan’s home ground, and urges them to unite against American and British enemies in particular. The play reminds citizens they need to stand united, endure hardship, and increase productivity to win the war, whether they are coal miners, factory workers, or farmers. Interestingly, card 14 directly plays on bushidō values as it directs the audience that “the weapon is not enough, behind it is one’s body, train it like Miyamoto Musashi.” Musashi is a kensei (sword-saint) in Japan who lived in the 17th century and was renowned for his double-bladed swordsmanship, founding the Niten Ichi-ryū, and authoring The Book of the Five Rings.

National policy kamishibai deified war heroes in service to the emperor to elevate soldiers’ morale. Dying as a human shield for the emperor was promoted as proof of a man’s true worth. The war hero pilot Major General Katō Tateo 加藤 建夫 (1903–1942) was heralded for his victorious achievements, worthy of being known to the emperor seven times. Katō was a pilot in the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force who fought in both the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. He died in combat while attacking British Royal Air Force bomber aircrafts when his plane was shot down and crashed into the Bay of Bengal. His heroism earned him the posthumous title major general and this play highlights his achievements during the war (as a “samurai of the sky”) until his heroic death for the empire and elevation to gunshin (war god).

A heroic fiction, this kamishibai tells the tale of Japanese pilots and their comradery. Pilot Sawa bravely lands his plane in enemy territory to rescue downed pilot Makimoto, and the two then return safely to base (where their former classmate, now mechanic, Wakayama, eagerly awaits their return). Paper plays depicting bushidō values like honor and responsibility, as seen here, were regularly performed at schools, in military factories, and in towns and cities throughout Japan. To strengthen the connection to samurai ideals, this kamishibai even has the hero Sawa wield a katana in one hand as he fires a pistol in the other to fend off the enemy Chinese soldiers. As a propaganda kamishibai from earlier in the war, the messaging strongly emphasizes the importance of friendship and collaboration as part of respectable military duty—alongside the ever-present unifying duty to empire.