Warna Djawa

This artwork is called Warna Djawa (Colors of Java) by Saseo Ono, a cartoonist and graduate of the Tokyo Art School (now Tokyo University of the Arts) in 1930. Recruited by the Japanese military, Ono served in the 16th Army's Propaganda Unit and became a key member of its propaganda corps. He produced murals and cartoons for the propaganda magazine Djawa Baroe. In this piece, Ono illustrates the island of Java in a spectrum of colors, gold to symbolize incoming ships, and red to evoke fire, blood, and the violence of war visually narrating the complex realities of occupation and conflict.