Original U.S. Psychological Operations Leaflet 210 Pacific War Propaganda Campaign, Japan, 1944-1945

Original double-sided Japanese propaganda leaflet produced during World War II in the Pacific theater. Printed in Japanese, the leaflet uses exaggerated caricature and grotesque imagery to depict Western military forces as monstrous and destructive.

Leaflet Number: No. 210
Operation: Pacific War Propaganda Campaign
Conflict / War: World War II
Year: 1937–1945
Country / Theater: Imperial Japan / Pacific Theater
Language(s): Japanese
Format: Original printed leaflet, double-sided
Provenance: Surplus copy retained outside field distribution. Acquired from the personal materials of an unnamed U.S. military servicemember. Never airdropped or field-distributed.

Translation:
Front: "Disease inevitably accompanies war."
Back: "War is inevitably accompanied by illness. Due to the bombing, water and power lines have been destroyed, and food supplies are scarce. Therefore, by 1919, you will all be weakened and ill. However, food is not easily available, and recovery will be difficult. When bombed, the group becomes unclean. It will become difficult to prevent disease. Stop this pointless suffering. Demand a ceasefire from the warlords who started this war."

Imagery:
The front shows a grotesque caricature of a Western soldier wielding a sword, standing over or emerging from a mass of distorted human and animal forms, suggesting chaos and violence. The composition uses sharp contrast and stylized exaggeration. The reverse presents a dense block of Japanese text framed by a decorative border of serpentine creatures.

Objective:
To demonize Western military forces and reinforce fear, hostility, and resistance among Japanese audiences through exaggerated visual propaganda.

Featured in American War Propaganda Leaflets, 1990–2022, Khajistan Press.

Exhibited in Khajistan: Office of War Information (O.W.I.) at Pioneer Works, New York, May 08 – Aug 09, 2026.