1930's Sino-Japanese War time vintage Postcards " Landscape of Mukden , China "

Japan, at war against China, but the nature China had was too magnificent to ignore for Japanese people.
Many postcards like these ones were made in Japan in the 1930's.

1930's Sino-Japanese War Time Cavalry Art New Year Greeting Postcard "Now the peace matters the most" implying Japan seeks for an exit strategy for the war with its puppet government in China & Chinese civilians support

"Now the peace matters the most" implying Japan seeks for an exit strategy for the war with its puppet government in China & Chinese civilians support

1930's Japanese New Year Greeting Postcard : Art of Army Paratroopers & Remark on the Wartime National Prestige "Now, Yakushin (progress) matters the most."

"Yakushin" was a popular phrase in Japan in the 1930's. 

It literally means "progress , advance ", and politically refers to expansion of the Empire, that is establishment of Manchukuo and other china puppet states. Japan called it "East Asia Unity", implying anti west.

1930's Second Sino Japanese War ( China Japan War ) Menko Card Vintage Toy : Anti China Art " Capturing Chiang Kai shek" ( Chinese Nationalist Party ) & " The ( Chinese ) Communist Party to collapse "

[ 1930's Second Sino Japanese War ( China Japan War ) Menko Card Vintage Toy : Anti China Art " Capturing Chiang Kai shek" ( Chinese Nationalist Party ) & " The ( Chinese ) Communist Party to collapse " ]

Against both Chinese Nationalist Party & Chinese Communist Party,
So, this toy must have been made in the late 1930's, after the political combine in China called  "Kuomintang-Communist collaboration"" to fight Japan together.

Soliders sometimes need amusement. Japanese military postcards with SENRYU ( Haiku ) at Second Sino Japanese War

"Duties" "Missions" "Glory" "Prestige " those words are important but not enough to encourage soldiers in fields.
They sometimes need relaxation & amusement.

The following are postcards with Senryu , one of Japanese traditional literary methods to express something funny, made in & delivered from the homeland along with other military supplies to amuse soldiers.
Some are sarcastic against the enemy.

 (related category in my web site)

1930's Postcard Anti Chinese Soldiers Cartoon 

"The charging enemy stops and dances fifty steps short"

Second Sino Japanese War Anti China Propaganda Art

As far as I know, there are more artworks describing friendship with China ( more precisely, with Chinese civilians) than ones showing hostility against it at Second Sino Japanese Wartime.

That shows Japan was dragged into the quagmire of war against wide China, was trying to avoid facing everything as enemies and was eager for the cause of the war "Asia Unity", totally unlike the war against Russia in 1900's.

These are hostile artworks against China.
More sarcastic than ones at Russo Japanese wartime, but not as much harsh as ones against United States and United Kingdom at Pacific wartime.
No wonder war art really shows how the war was being fought.

(related categories in my website)
 2nd Sino-Japanese War      Friendly to China, Asia     Hostile to China 

1930's Second Sino-Japanese War Postcard : Anti Chinese Army Sarcastic Senryu (Haiku)

1930's Postcard Anti Chinese Soldiers Cartoon "The charging enemy stops and dances fifty steps short"

Second Sino Japanese War Art reflecting China Japan Friendship Propaganda

This week I have listed several paper materials on ebay relating to Japan China friendship & the East Asia Unity propaganda at the Second Sino-Japanese War time.
Especially children books on that matter are interesting.

1930's Japanese Postcards "China rises" Japan-China Friendship & Anti Westerners Propaganda Art

1940 Japanese Children Picture Book on Friendship with China " The New China "

1940 Japanese Children Picture Book on Friendship with China "Neighbor Friend"

Second Sino-Japanese War : The War against China never denied Japan's interest in Chinese culture.

In the late 1930's, Japan was at war against China, yet, its deep interest in Chinese culture was never lost, as it had been lasting since the ancient time.

(Related link in my collection website)
http://japanwarart.ocnk.net/product-list/60

My collection on this subject is inclined towards "Propaganda-like",
yet, it is true many postcards or other art materials on Chinese culture were published in Japan at that time, being away from hostility to China as an enemy country.

Very different from what was happening in the Pacific Wartime.

"Attitude Instructions to Japanese soldiers visiting The Temple of Mencius"

"Attitude Instructions to Japanese soldiers visiting Temple of Mencius"

1 : Mencius, along with Confucius, is the historical person most respected by Chinese people. 

Also, he is our great benefactor for the Japanese spiritual culture.

2 : Therefore, visitors to his temple should be modest in acting just the same way as we do to temples & shrines in Japan.

3 : You soldiers should never forget that your

moral behaviors in this place will contribute to raising the honor of the Imperial Army & putting  familiarity to us in mind of Chinese people 

far more than the activities of our pacification teams.

by Tsugawa, The Unit Commander

"Notice" (about the Yungang Grottoes)

 "Notice" (about the Yungang Grottoes)

"The Yungang Grottoes is the worldwide famed historic site.
Army takes an effort in protecting it. Any looters and destroyers, even Japanese soldiers,  shall be severely punished according to the the martial law."

(1930's Sino Japanese War time Postcards China "Hangzhou West Lake")

(1930's Japanese Postcard : China "Manchuria Region Custom")

(1930's Sino Japanese War time Postcard " Qianshan East Gate")

(1930's Japanese Postcards : Chinese Traditional Culture Art by South Manchuria Railway Co.)

Resource-Consuming "All-Out War" Needed High-Impact Artworks

These are typical 1900's Russo Japanese Wartime artworks, with some taste of Edo Era's Ukiyoe or Nishiki-e

Japanese Traditional Paint

These are 1930's Second Sino Japanese War National Bonds Advertising Artworks.

Fund Raise Artworks      Modern Art

In the late 1930's, Japan was dragged into the quagmire of the Second Sino-Japanese War, consuming national resources far more than the war against Russia in 1900's.

Art might not have been allowed to have some luxury to be just ART itself & to be away from working hard in order to "convey firmly" something to people.

The government needed their people's more attentions to the war, 

using artworks with some unpredictability and impact to people of that time.
The Center of Japan is not Edo, but Tokyo. The Edo Era was literally gone.

I am not an expert in the art history and unable to speak about it from that perspective.
No wonder a world art trend had changed and that affected Japanese art.

Yet, politics apparently took much role in changing Japanese war art trend, I think.
The above 1930's artworks really are working & acting so hard to convey something important and trying to drive people where they were supposed to go to at that war time.

As for my preference.... I like both Russo Japanese war style & the 1930's ones.