160309-0037 - Farmer and Daughter

Militarist advertising postcard for the Yasuda Savings Bank (安田貯蓄銀行, now Mizuho Bank) featuring an illustration of a female farmer and her daughter carrying straw. They are wearing monpe (もんぺ), women’s work pants which were especially popular during WWII.

The slogan reads, “Savings push the advancing Japanese Imperial Army.”

In the 1930s and 1940s, “voluntary” savings were so greatly encouraged to finance the Japanese war effort that by 1944 (Showa 19) Japanese households were saving an incredible 39.5% of disposable income.

The Yasuda Savings Bank, established in 1896 (Meiji 29), was part of the financial conglomerate Yasuda Zaibatsu (安田財閥). It was one of the largest banks in Japan. At the middle of 1941 (Showa 16), the bank had 915 million yen on its balance sheet, which made it the second largest institution in the Yasuda group.

Japanese artist Yoko Ono is a great-granddaughter of founder Zenjiro Yasuda (安田 善次郎, 1838–1921).

Japanese text: 進む皇軍後押す貯蓄 (Susumu kogun ato’osu chochiku)