160906-0033 - Wartime Propaganda Postcard

Japanese wartime propaganda postcard from the late 1930s intended to promote home front civilian support for the war.

Members of the Women’s Society for National Defense (国防婦人会, Kokubo Fujinkai) are taking care of children (bottom image) so that mothers with husbands who died on the battlefield may work (top image).

The Kokubo Fujinkai was a patriotic women’s association active between 1932 (Showa 7) and 1942 (Showa 17). The role of such organizations was to encourage patriotism and to define the ideal relation between women and the nation, generally by emphasizing home and motherhood.

Japanese text: 一人一人が遺族の心 軍人遺族母子保護のため愛国婦人会が経営する授産場。子供さんは会員に護られお母さんは安心して仕事に精進していられます。