About this record

This is a black-and-white Australian propaganda poster with the heading 'The hand that waved a fan takes the dagger of the League of Blood'. At the bottom of the poster is the text 'We've always despised them - NOW WE MUST SMASH THEM! At the top of the poster, an illustration shows a Japanese man in traditional dress waving a fan, and, seated behind him, a woman in a kimono. A second illustration shows a Japanese soldier wielding a dagger and a sword.

Educational value

• Is an example of the use of a poster to deliver war-related messages from the Australian Government to its citizens during the Second World War (1939–45) – Australia joined the war in 1939, declaring war on Germany; in 1941 it declared war on Japan.
• Was created during the second phase of Australia's engagement with the war, when Australian troops were brought back from overseas to fight the Japanese in the Pacific and defend the Australian mainland.
• Is an example of wartime propaganda that portrayed the Japanese as cruel and murderous – dehumanising the enemy is a common propaganda technique that is used to incite a country's citizens to hate the enemy, thereby justifying the need to kill enemy soldiers.
• Refers to Japan's plans to control the Pacific region – in 1941 Japan invaded Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaya and Borneo; in 1942 it invaded Singapore and New Guinea and bombed towns in Australia's Northern Territory and the Territory's capital, Darwin, killing 243 people.
• Refers to the League of Blood, the Black Dragon, and the Imperial League of Young Officers, some of Japan's extreme right-wing nationalist terrorist groups – these radical groups, which emerged in the 1920s, wanted a militarist government based on national socialism, and called on Japan to reject modernisation and Western ways.
• Refers to the assassination of the Japanese Prime Minister – in 1932 a radical right-wing group shot and killed two leading Japanese politicians; two months later it assassinated Prime Minister Inukai Tsuyoshi (1855–1932).
• Refers to the 'divine mission of the Emperor' – the Japanese Emperor had been the imperial ruler of the land for centuries and was regarded as having divine power; however, after Japan's defeat at the end of World War II, the title of 'Emperor' became ceremonial only and Emperor Hirohito (1901–1989) was forced to give up his previous claim to the status of a 'living god'.
• Refers to 'our Allies by our sides' – as Britain had neither the will nor the resources to come to Australia's aid, Australia turned to the USA as an ally and protector; after the Japanese bombed the US base at Pearl Harbor in 1942, the US based its forces in Australia for their counterattack in the Pacific, which culminated in dropping atomic bombs at Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945, bringing about the end of the war.
• Uses traditional symbols of Japan well known to the outside world – 'cherry blossoms, goldfish, quaint little towns, Fuji Yama' and the images depict a man dressed in a kimono and waving a fan and a woman dressed as a geisha.
• Shows a man in traditional costume waving a fan – however, his hat and glasses are not traditional, implying that the dress is just a disguise.
• Is an example of the work of the Commonwealth Advertising Division – this was set up in 1941 within the Department of Information, primarily to advertise recruitment drives for men's and women's services, munitions work, war loans and national savings campaigns.