Do Not Be A Victim
A Japanese propaganda leaflet portrays a British soldier taking cover behind the bodies of deceased Indonesians while shooting. The caption warns: “Don’t become a victim for the British.”
Year
c. 1943 - 1945
Design
N/A
Object Detail
N/A
Type
Posters
Collection
N/A
Did you know?
During the Japanese occupation of Java, new forms of media were used as powerful tools of political propaganda. The Japanese military government aimed to “grasp people’s minds” (minshin ha’aku) and “propagate and tame them” (senbu kosaku). Believing Indonesians needed to adopt Japanese ways of thinking, they relied on sensory media, such as films, traditional performances, music, and paper storytelling, to influence the largely illiterate rural population. These formats were seen as far more effective than written materials, which had limited impact in the countryside.
