Images of Japan in the Frontispieces of Ertong Shijie during Its Latter Period: A case study on the photographs of Chinese battlefields

The Chinese children’s literary magazine Ertong Shijie (1922-1941, no publication January-September 1932 or August-October 1937) was launched by ZHENG Zhenduo of Commercial Press. Volume 1, Period 1 (7 January 1922) to Volume 28, Period 25 (19 December 1931) are considered early period, while Volume 29, Period 1 (16 October 1932) to Volume 47, Period 2 (15 September 1941) are considered latter period. ZHENG Zhenduo attached great importance to the illustrations in the magazine, especially the frontispieces as the entrance to the magazine. The frontispieces mainly contain photographs from various countries. Among them, the frontispieces of Ertong Shijie during its early period speak favorably of Japan and the Japanese people as a whole. Through the frontispieces of the early period, a positive image of Japan’s modernization was conveyed to the reader. However, as the war situation between China and Japan shifted, what did the modern visual frontispieces of the latter period, the photographs, express about Japan, and what kind of image of Japan were they trying to create? This article, therefore, focuses on the frontispieces of the latter period and examines the image of Japan represented in them by analyzing the image of ‘Japan’ created on the battlefields, particularly in China.