Jendā no nihonshi : shinshoban/性差(ジェンダー)の日本史 : 新書版.
This book was based on the exhibition “性差(ジェンダー)の日本史” held in the National Museum of Japanese History in 2020. Several items from the Mead Smith Karras papers were featured in the exhibition.
Featured publication: Jendā no nihonshi : shinshoban
On this day in 1947… (October 1)
This post is part of a continuing series on the Censored Newspaper Articles (CNAs).
On October 1, 1947, Asahi Shimbun submitted an article to the Civil Censorship Detachment (CCD) with the headline, “100 Thousand Japanese Still Wandering in Communist Areas”. The article passed the censorship review with one alteration: 100,000 was changed to 64,000. (Prange Call No. 47-loc-1132).
According to the article, of the 580,000 Japanese detained in Soviet areas, 100,000 were unaccounted for and their repatriation was in question. They were attached to Chinese Communist Forces in Manchuria and North China, and because the Chinese Communist government had yet to be recognized formally, there was no entity with which to negotiate their return to Japan.
Although no Japanese manuscript/galley were stored with this document written by CCD, this article is probably “さまよう日本人 いつの日帰る 中共地区に六万余 なお残留＿復員・引揚” which was published on Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo edition, on 10/7/1947. [Searched in Asahi Shimbun database, Kikuzo II]
Celebrating National Comic Book Day: Felix the Cat
Happy National Comic Book Day! To celebrate the occasion, we’re featuring Felix the Cat (“猫のフェリックス” – Prange Call No. PN-0560). This version by Otto Messmer has speech bubbles in Japanese with English below the frames and pages alternating in full color and black and white.
In case you’re unfamiliar with Felix, he got his start as a silent film star in 1919 and appeared in numerous animated cartoons throughout the 1920s. In 1923, Felix began appearing in newspaper comic strips drawn by Pat Sullivan, the owner of the film studio where Felix got his start. Mr. Messmer took over the comic strip in 1927. He continued creating the strip until 1954, when he retired.
This book has been digitized. In addition to being available in digital form at the University of Maryland, it is also available onsite at the National Diet Library of Japan (NDL) through NDL’s Digital Collection.
On this day in 1947… (September 18)
This post is part of a continuing series on the Censored Newspaper Articles (CNAs).
On September 18, 1947, Jiji Tsushin/時事通信 submitted an article to the Civil Censorship Detachment (CCD) entitled, “Infants Terrible/恐るべき子供たち” (Prange Call No. 47-loc-0846). The article was held for review and one portion was marked for deletion.
This opinion piece by Ozawa Masamoto/小澤正元 begins by noting the surprising increase in the number of juvenile offenders in the immediate postwar years and the abusive treatment of them by the Juvenile Protection Corps.
In the censor’s translation of the Japanese, the passage marked for deletion reads, “Personnel of that institution in question have oak clubs called ‘Jinsen batters’ which they use in lynching children as a disciplinary measure. This club was once used by the Japanese Army and Navy as means of torture. There are other instruments such as leather slippers to box one’s ears, cigarette lighters for burning purposes, and seething hot water baths. It is not surprising, therefore, that little waifs on the street are trying to flee from the hands of the Juvenile Protection Corps.”
Ozawa then turns his attention to an editorial entitled, “Enfants Terrible,” by Emori Moriya/江森盛彌, that appeared in the August [1947] issue of the magazine Jinmin Hyoron/人民評論. Emori addresses the following questions: first, why juvenile crimes have been increasing after the end of the war and, second, why “respectable family children” are committing more and more crimes. Read about his conclusions in the CCD documents below.
Prange Call No. 47-loc-0846
Prange Call No. 47-loc-0846
Prange Call No. 47-loc-0846
Prange Call No. 47-loc-0846
On this day in 1947…(September 5)
This post is part of a continuing series on the Censored Newspaper Articles (CNAs).
The censored newspaper articles in the Prange Collection are organized into news published by Japanese news agencies and newspapers and those published by foreign news agencies. This is an example of a summary of several foreign news agency broadcasts for September 5, 1947 (or possibly 1948, the year does not appear on the document). The one item targeted for possible censorship was, “British Films to be Shown.” It passed the CCD examination. (Prange Call No. 47-frn-0763).
This article has been digitized. In addition to being available in digital form at the University of Maryland, it is also available onsite at the National Diet Library of Japan (NDL) through NDL’s Digital Collection.
On this day in 1947… (August 9)
This post is part of a continuing series on the Censored Newspaper Articles (CNAs).
On August 9, 1947, Sekai Nippo [世界日報] submitted an article to the Civil Censorship Detachment (CCD) with the headline, “急ぐ圖書の整備 中國代表團の閲覧室” [Library to be founded in a hurry for the use of China’s Representatives in Japan] (Prange Call No. 47-loc-0519). A portion of the article was marked for deletion by the CCD examiner, but the reason for the censorship action is unclear.
According to the article, a special library for the Chinese representatives in Japan was established in Yosei Hall [養正館], where they were staying. The library would hold Chinese newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, and books, and it was expected that these holdings would facilitate cultural exchange between Japan and China.
At the end of the article, it states that the library “will be opened for the Japanese of culture with the completion of the reading room. ” The phrase “for the Japanese of culture” [日本の文化人] was marked for deletion.
This article has been digitized. In addition to being available in digital form at the University of Maryland, it is also available onsite at the National Diet Library of Japan (NDL) through NDL’s Digital Collection.
Featured Posters and Wall newspapers: Akarui mado
The posters and wall newspapers have been digitized and are available here. In the Featured Posters and Wall Newspapers series, we will share interesting posters/wall newspapers with you.
Today we are featuring “Akarui mado/明かるい窓” No. 1, published by Hoppo Minsei Kyokai/北方民生協會 in 1948. The Prange Collection holds issues 1 – 9 ([April] 1948 – November 1948). They are all 55 x 76 cm and color-printed. Issues 4, 6, 7, and 8 are maps of Hokkaido entitled, “Watashitachi no Hokkaido/私達の北海道.”
The first issue dedicates considerable space to spring-related events, such as cherry blossoms and herring fishing, as well as other agricultural topics. It also includes educational information for school-age children, a comic strip, poem and a short essay written in Romanji, and, interestingly, an advertisement for a school-use PA system. Though there is no exact publishing date printed on this issue, we can deduce that it was published in April 1948, as the second issue was published on May 1, 1948.
The poster is available full-text here.
Featured Posters and Wall newspapers: Gakko Shinbun
The posters and wall newspapers have been digitized and are available here. In this new series, Featured Posters and Wall Newspapers, we will share interesting posters/wall newspapers with you. Stay tuned!
Today we are featuring “Gakko Shinbun/學校新聞” [School Newspaper], published by Fukawa Elementary School in Fukawa-cho, Otsu-gun, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Published in May 1948, this is the inaugural issue. The editor is “Social Studies group, 6th grade.” It is 55 x 39 cm, handwritten, and double-sided.
Two letters written by Fukawa Elementary School personnel were submitted with the newspaper to the Civil Censorship Detachment (CCD). According to the letters, this newspaper was to be published monthly, with only one copy produced that would be handwritten by students or teachers. Therefore, the letters ask, do they still need to submit the original newspaper?
On the front page, there is a report on the entrance ceremony (April), news from the nurse’s office, and a reminder for the beginning of the Summer Time. It also covers local news, such as maintenance work being done on a local train station and new construction on a courthouse in town. The second page is devoted to student essays, haiku, other poems, and illustrations.
The newspaper and the letters are available full-text here.
On this day in 1947… (July 2)
This post is part of a continuing series on the Censored Newspaper Articles (CNAs).
On July 2, 1947, Yomiuri Shimbun submitted an article to the Civil Censorship Detachment (CCD) with the headline, “縣會を顧みて [Looking back on the Prefectural Assembly] (Prange Call No. 47-loc-0341). Within this article, was a short anecdote entitled, (“縣会こぼれ話” [Prefectural Assembly Gossip]). This section was suppressed.
The account was as follows: A reporter and Vice Governor Fukunaga were chatting about dances in front of the Prefectural Assembly Building. An assembly member exited the building, and the reporter asked him why Prefectural Assembly members don’t dance. The member, referred to as “a stubborn Socialist,” was furious and said, “I hate dancing. I am even tempted to cut them down into two by a sword if I see a young man and woman dancing together in a hall.”
The reporter suggested that this assembly member was backward — “He doesn’t know the modern world, unlike a member of a great political party.” The reporter also surmised that he may have been angry because a building that he wanted to use as his office, had instead become a dance hall.
The Japanese galley proof (an entire newspaper page) and a small CCD memo slip are available onsite in the Prange Collection and onsite at the National Diet Library of Japan (NDL) through NDL’s Digital Collection.
Guidebook to Yokohama
Prange Call No. DS-0983
“How to see Yokohama” [編輯望月隆治/henshu Mochizuki Ryuji (Prange Call No. DS-0983)
“How to see Yokohama,” published by Yokohama Kanko Kyokai/横濱觀光協會 in 1947, is a bi-lingual (English & Japanese) visitor guide to the city.
In a addition to short descriptions of tourist attractions such as Gumyoji/弘明寺 and Isogo beach/磯子海岸, it also includes general geographic and statistical information about Yokohama. Two pages are devoted to cabarets — Cabaret NewYorker and Cabalet Sakura Port among them. The sheet music for Minato no uta/港の歌 and Yokohama Brues/ヨコハマブルース appear on the last two pages.
This book has been digitized. In addition to being available in digital form at the University of Maryland, it is also available onsite at the National Diet Library of Japan (NDL) through NDL’s Digital Collection.
