lessened.6In Western eyes Japan simply did not measure up. It had not produced the cultural or technological achievements that distinguished a civilised people by Western standards. Cultural inferiority implied a moral inferiority. This suggested that Japan was, at best, a people whose development had been stunted by their own shortcomings — a country of children. At the worst, they were a race of sub-humans for whom there was no hope of reprieve or betterment. The idea of a stunted or non-existent civility was most often expressed through the use of one of two metaphors. One portrayed Japan as a child and the other as a monkey or ape.The Japanese, particularly during the period leading up to the Pacific War, were portrayed as a small people of small achievement and small moral standing. At times it could be expressed in quite literal terms. A 1944 propaganda report stated that, “Some observers claim there would have been no Pearl Harbor had the Japanese been three inches taller.” This report would go on to claim that “The [Japanese] people, tiny in stature, seem to play at living.”7 The crime here is not being physically smaller than others, but being culturally immature.Showing Japan as a child was most common before war was declared with the US as in Image 6. The metaphor need ‘j not be so obvious. In Image 7 ~ Japan may not be presented as a child but the effect is the same. In both cartoons Japan is portrayed as being small and ineffectual. In neither case does Japan present a serious threat to Suess’s American eagle. Combined with the physical shortcomings listed above this approach does much to attempt to emasculate the Japanese en masse.This sentiment is expressed with more sinister connotations in Image 8. Japan is drawn as a small child-like thug holding the head of a Westerner. This picture suggests an uncivilised nature behind the unintelligent smile. The larger figure, hand resting ...
