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Primary sourcePhotograph20 December 1942

Wang Jingwei Welcomed at Haneda Airport by Tojo

Unknown photographer · 20 December 1942

A 1942 photograph of Hideki Tojo greeting Wang Jingwei on his arrival in Japan at Haneda Airport.

Shows Tojo personally greeting Wang Jingwei, underlining Japan's sponsorship of his government.

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Black-and-white photograph of a formal greeting on an outdoor tarmac. A man in a long military overcoat and peaked cap bows and reaches toward a bald man in a dark coat, who holds a hat. Officers in caps and civilians in dark coats stand behind, and a man in a hat watches at right.
Unknown photographer, Wang Jingwei welcomed at Haneda Airport by Tojo, 20 December 1942. Stanford University East Asia Library.

About this source

What it is

A black-and-white photograph from 20 December 1942 showing Hideki Tojo, Prime Minister of Japan, welcoming Wang Jingwei at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, with Foreign Minister Masayuki Tani also present. The photographer is unidentified; the image is part of the Wang Jingwei and Lin Baisheng photo collection at Stanford University's East Asia Library.

Why it matters

The image captures a staged diplomatic welcome during the Second World War, when Japan presented Wang Jingwei's government as an ally rather than a puppet regime. It reveals how formal gestures of respect were used to legitimize Japan's wartime arrangements in China.

Look closer

  • What does Tojo's bow suggest about the formality of the occasion?
  • Why would Japanese officials want to publicize a warm welcome for Wang Jingwei?
  • What questions does this image raise that it cannot answer about the real relationship between Japan and Wang's government?

This photograph 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.

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