Gas Mask Nation

Name: Gas Mask Nation
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SKU: 9780226816449
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Visualizing Civil Air Defense in Wartime Japan

By Gennifer Weisenfeld

Summary

iGas Mask Nation by Gennifer Weisenfeld explores the cultural and historical significance of the gas mask in Japan during the Second World War. The book delves into how these masks symbolised the nation's efforts in civilian protection and preparedness, revealing broader themes of fear, trust, and the psychological impacts of wartime technology on society. Through examining visual culture and social narratives, it provides a nuanced understanding of a nation's adaptation to the threats of modern warfare.
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Format: Hardback

$114⁹⁹

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Gas Mask Nation

$114⁹⁹

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you are fascinated by the intersection of art, propaganda, and public health, particularly during times of conflict. It explores the cultural and historical significance of gas masks in Japanese society during the Second World War, offering an insightful look into how visual culture can shape and reflect national identity and preparedness.

Gas Mask Nation

Description

A fascinating look at the anxious pleasures of Japanese visual culture during World War II.

Airplanes, gas masks, and bombs were common images in wartime Japan. Yet amid these emblems of anxiety, tasty caramels were offered to children with paper gas masks as promotional giveaways, and magazines featured everything from attractive models in the latest civil defence fashion to futuristic weapons.

Gas Mask Nation explores the multilayered construction of an anxious yet perversely pleasurable visual culture of Japanese civil air defence—or bōkū—through a diverse range of artworks, photographs, films and newsreels, magazine illustrations, postcards, cartoons, advertising, fashion, everyday goods, government posters, and state propaganda. Gennifer Weisenfeld reveals the immersive aspects of this culture, in which Japan’s imperial subjects were mobilised to regularly perform highly orchestrated civil air defence drills throughout the country.

The war years in Japan are often portrayed as a landscape of privation and suppression under the censorship of the war machine. But alongside the horrors, pleasure, desire, wonder, creativity, and humour were all still abundantly present in a period before air raids went from being a fearful spectre to a deadly reality.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Gas Mask Nation by Gennifer Weisenfeld is praised as a significant visual and scholarly exploration of Japan's wartime air defence culture, combining high-quality images with clear analysis. Reviews highlight its astute examination of Japan's complex cultural responses to air threats during the 1930s and 1940s, revealing the unexpected dimensions of creativity, humour, and aesthetics involved. The book is celebrated for its engaging narrative and original insights, making it a valuable resource for both scholars and general readers interested in World War II and Japanese history.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780226816449

Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 28 March 2023

Country: United States

Imprint: University of Chicago Press

Illustration: 83 color plates, 102 halftones

Audience: Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 25.0mm

Width: 178.0mm

Height: 254.0mm

Weight: 1474g

Pages: 408

Collections

Asian History Gennifer Weisenfeld History & Military Military History Non-Fiction

About the Author

Gennifer Weisenfeld is the Walter H. Annenberg Distinguished Professor of Art, Art History, and Visual Studies at Duke University. She is the author of Mavo: Japanese Artists and the Avant-Garde, 1905-1931 and Imaging Disaster: Tokyo and the Visual Culture of Japan’s Great Earthquake of 1923 as well as a core contributing author on MIT’s award-winning website Visualizing Cultures.