Skip to main content

Primary sourceNewspaper article2 December 1942

Shashin Shuho No 249

Cabinet Information Bureau · 2 December 1942

A Japanese government propaganda magazine cover from December 1942 celebrating the first anniversary of the 'Great East Asia War' and featuring Prime Minister Tojo.

Depicts Tojo as Prime Minister on the cover of state propaganda celebrating the war he led.

Ask Hideki Tojo about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Cover of a Japanese weekly photo magazine. Red-bordered Japanese title at upper left, vertical Japanese text at left. A man in a military cap with a red band and star, round glasses, and a mustache, wears a green uniform covered with medals and orders and holds a sword.
Shashin Shuho No 249, Cabinet Information Bureau, 2 December 1942.

About this source

What it is

This is the cover of issue No. 249 of Shashin Shuho, a weekly photo magazine published by Japan's Cabinet Information Bureau, dated 2 December 1942. It marks the first anniversary of the 'Great East Asia War' and shows Prime Minister Hideki Tojo in military uniform, described in the caption as 'the noble figure' of the Prime Minister.

Why it matters

This magazine cover shows how Tojo's government used state-controlled media to shape public opinion and build support for the war. The language calling Tojo a 'noble figure' reveals how propaganda tried to present wartime leaders as heroic.

Look closer

  • Why would the government choose to put Tojo's image on the cover of a popular magazine?
  • What does the phrase 'noble figure' tell you about the purpose of this publication?
  • What might real wartime conditions look like compared to how this cover presents the war?

This newspaper article is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Hideki Tojo on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Hideki Tojo sources

Meet the AI Hideki Tojo →
Speech

Primary source

Having Received the Imperial Rescript

Hideki Tojo · 8 December 1941

Document

Primary source

Imperial Edict Declaring War on the United States and the British Empire

8 December 1941

Black-and-white photo of the Tokyo war crimes tribunal courtroom. In the foreground, a man in a dark suit sits at a desk. Behind him, seated rows of uniformed officers and suited men occupy a raised gallery, with a row of spectators visible at the top.Photograph

Primary source

Tojo Takes the Stand

United States Department of Defense

Black and white photograph of a bald, bespectacled man with a mustache wearing a plain buttoned military-style jacket and a headset, standing in front of a wood-paneled wall. Behind him stands a uniformed officer in a peaked cap with a badge, looking off to the side.Photograph

Primary source

Tojo Sentenced to Death, Manila Trials Photograph

24 November 1948

Black and white portrait photograph of a man in a military-style cap with a visor and a high-collared uniform jacket, wearing round wire-rimmed glasses and a mustache. He is decorated with medal ribbons and several star-shaped medals on his chest.Photograph

Primary source

Portrait of Hideki Tojo

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Hideki Tojo now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions