Imperial Japan (2nd Showa Era) "Great East Asia War" Propaganada Postcards & Postal Cancellations

IMPERIAL JAPAN (2ND SHOWA ERA) on 8 December 1943 issued a set of propaganda postcards with folder and information sheet on three of their early WWII conquests. These postcards carry a special cancellation postmark on the reverse side

(Postcard No. 1)

Title: PEARL HARBOR ATTACK
Artist: Yoshioka Kenji
Special cancellation:  GREAT EAST ASIA WAR, 1943 DEC. 8, OSAKA

The caption on the information card reads: "The picture depicts the moment when Japanese naval aviation unit carried out the second bombing raid on Ford Island Airfield in Hawaii, the largest U.S. naval base in the Pacific, in the early morning hours of 8 December 1941, which is remembered by the people of Japan." For Americans, the date was 7 December 1941 -- "A day which will live in infamy," to quote President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

(Postcard No. 2)
Title: HONG KONG Wong Nai Chung Gap Anti-aircraft gun position capture
Artist: Koiso Ryohei
Special postmark cancellation: GREAT EAST ASIA WAR, 1943 DEC.8, OSAKA

The Battle of Wong Nai Chung Gap (Hong Kong) propaganda postcard in 1942 depicts the Infantry of the Imperial Japanese Army seizing an anti-aircraft artillery position. The Gap was situated between Mount Nicholson and Jardine’s Lookout behind Wong Nai Chung (Happy Valley). It was a strategic passage between the north and south of the island, where five roads met. The capture of Wong Nai Chung Gap effectively split the British colony’s defense in two, hastening its surrender on Christmas Day 1941.

(Postcard No. 3)
Title: SINGAPORE BRITISH FORCE SURRENDER
Artist: Miyamoto Saburo
Special postmark cancellation: GREAT EAST ASIA WAR, 1943 DEC. 8, OSAKA

Caption on this post card reads: "The fall of Singapore - The East Asian fortress under the intrusion of the British for more than a century - fell on Showa 15th year, the 2nd month, on the 17th day at 6:40 p.m. In a single file, bearing white flags, the British officers of the Malayan Command approached our mighty army to surrender. From the right: Commanding Officer Malaya, Lieutenant General Percival; Chief of the General Staff, Brigadier General Torrance; Staff officer, Colonel Sugita; Interpreter, Ling-zhuan; Chief Administrator of the British High Command, Malaya, Major General Newbiggen, who is holding the Union Jack; and Captain Wylde who serves as interpreter."

 

Reverse side of postcards

Envelope for postcards

Close-up of cancellation seal and stationery postage