1932 SHISHIDO SAGYO - Japanese Stereotype Map of the World from 1932 Share Hitome de wakaru Manga sekai genjō chizu. At a glance: Cartoon Map of the Current World Situation. 目でわかる　漫画世界現状地圖

An extraordinary satirical map of the world was seen through Japanese eyes in the early 1930s as Japanese imperial ambitions strengthened. The map was published as an editorial section of Hi no De [a monthly magazine..." aimed at a less well-educated readership," according to John Dower in War Without Mercy (p. 249.)

Credited as general editors/advisors are Inahara Katsuji (稲原勝治 1880-?), Harvard educated, seasoned commentator) Ōyama Ujirō (大山卯次郎 Japanese consular corps), Noda Ryoji (野田良治 ) and Maita Minoru (米田實1878-1948, newspaper editor), whose credentials lent legitimacy to the publication.

The "current world situation" is visible at a glance thanks to the cartoon ("manga") illustrations of Shishido Sakō (宍戸左 行) and the accompanying text blocks. Figures of the day include Gandhi, Ramsey McDonald, Babe Ruth, Mussolini, Stalin, Hitler, Chiang Kai-shek, Chang Hsueh-liang, Al Capone and sports figures Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey.

The huge figure of Stalin emerges from buildings identified as factories. He faces away from the Ural mountain range and Soviet interior, where text indicates that the churches (with onion-shaped towers) have been turned into factories, farmers have become soldiers, and tractors are being used for large-scale farming – the one in the picture is equipped with three rows of eight tillers cutting a huge swath.
Coal is the caption below a factory with five black smoke stacks belching inky ribbons of smoke with the figure waving from midway up a smoke stack identified as a female worker. A peasant woman with two cows represents Ukraine.
Text below the two giant heads filling Italy says Boss of the Black Shirts: Mussolini and his right-hand man, [Dino] Grandi, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
President Hindenburg is grappling with Hitler – Berlin is spelled out across their locked arms while a zeppelin floats behind them. (A foamy stein of Munich beer seems to ride the rails below the two foes.) The headquarters of the International League appears inside a fortress-like enclosure identified as Bern, Switzerland. The troubled face of a man in white is not named, though he is implied to be the president of France, the caption reading: "France, suffering from having too much money." The Eiffel Tower rises beside a demimonde dancer in stylish bob & risqué attire above a bottle of red Bordeaux wine.

The text takes on a harsh tone in noting that "Shrewd England holds on tight to the diamond-rich South Africa, and [maintains a policy] of absolute exclusion of colored people. Japanese people are treated with discrimination; as the third strongest country in the world, we are considered the same as natives."

In the United States, the lower west coast and interior are taken up with images of Olympic contenders and a film cameraman. In the southeast are black jazz musicians and in the midwest Al Capone in prison. Many forms of travel are pictured, including the Trans-Siberian railroad, zeppelin and ships.
Penguins strut along the lower edge of the map with an image of the South Pole in the lower right corner. Text at lower right states that the American Rear Admiral [Richard E.] Byrd launched a flight to the South Pole and planned to visit again in the autumn of this [1932] year to explore the South Pole further.

To the left of the inset map is a text block indicating the “Current state/actual strength and air lanes of countries in the world, at a single glance.” (text by Elisabeth Burdon, oldimprints.com)

Shishido Sagyo (1888-1969) is a famous Japanese painter, illustrator and cartoonist.
Inspired by American comics, it was Kitazawa RAKUTEN (1876 - 1955), who is considered the founder of Manga. Shishido Sagyo, however, published in 1930 for the first time a title for children, and this started "Manga" as it is known today.

The lithography is published by Shincho-sha, who is one of the oldest publishing houses in Japan.


This world map was published in 1932, which was not only a year of worldwide moving powers. Japan's increasing isolation abroad was exacerbated by the political crisis at home.
The last party prime minister, Inukai Tsuyoshi, was assassinated in May 1932 by right-wing extremists. Political parties survived but were out of power, as 'national unity cabinets' ended the democratic promise of the 1920s.
In January 1932, Japanese forces attacked Shanghai in the First Shanghai Incident.
In Germany, the Nazi Party receives the largest share of the vote in German elections, but they fail to gain a majority.
Franklin D.Roosevelt was elected President of the United States.

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