1939 Soma Pictorial Map of East Asian, World War II

This is a 1939 pictorial map of East Asia prepared by Sōma Motoi as a supplement to the Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun. Focusing on the resources of various countries in the region and published after Japan's full-scale war in China had been underway for more than a year, it can be seen as a popular reflection of Imperial Japan's strategic thinking at the time.

A Closer Look

This visually rich map covers the entire Republic of China, Manchuria (Manchukuo), the Japanese Empire (Japan, Korea, Taiwan), Nepal, Bhutan, and portions of the Soviet Union, British India, Thailand, French Indochina, and the Philippines. Cities, provinces, rail stations, waterways, and other features are labeled throughout. Rail, air, and maritime lines (including unfinished rail lines, such as one between Mandalay and China's Yunnan Province), underwater cables, roads, mountains, and terrain are indicated according to the legend at the bottom-left. Countries and Chinese provinces are color-shaded for easy distinction.

Resources for Empire

The main focus of the map is resources, illustrated and noted in red, ranging from petroleum (石油), iron (鉄), and gold (金) to rice (米), tea (茶), and tobacco (煙草). Along the frontiers of China, exotic goods and animals are recorded, including camels (駱駝), Tibetan yaks (やく), and civets (麝香貓, presumably for their use in traditional medicine). At the bottom-right is a series of tables, graphs, and charts discussing China's economy and resources, often comparing the production of certain goods to Japan and other countries, as well as the production of certain Chinese provinces against others. The not-very-subtle implication of these statistics and the map overall is that these resources ought to be overseen and utilized by the Japanese Empire, which would make best use of them as part of an autarkic Japanese-led sphere in East Asia (referred to in the title as 'New East Asia' 新東亞, a precursor to the later Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere).

Ephemeral Regimes

The map also reflects Imperial Japan's viewpoint through its depiction of territory. Unsurprisingly, the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo is displayed as independent of the Republic of China. Flags also represent similar Japanese puppet 'reform' governments in northern and eastern Chinese cities and provinces, which would be incorporated into a general collaborationist Reorganized Nanjing Government led by Wang Jingwei (1883 - 1944) and the Mongolian puppet state of Mengjiang (蒙疆) in 1940. Notably, both Tibet and Outer Mongolia are displayed with their own flags while also appearing as part of the Republic of China, reflecting their ambiguous status at the time, especially in the case of Tibet. Outer Mongolia's status was, in fact, not very ambiguous, having been ruled by a Soviet-aligned Communist regime since 1924. This reality was the opposite of the interests of Imperial Japan, which did not recognize the new government (the flag used here is also equivocal, somewhat resembling both the flag of the Mongolian People's Republic and the preceding Bogd Khanate without exactly matching either). Most curiously is the recognition of the 'un-reformed' Republic of China, that is, the government led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887 - 1975), which was Japan's enemy at the time, recorded here for some unknown reason at Guiyang instead of its actual location at Chongqing.

Verso Content

Despite appearing under a title referring to Manchuria ('The Truth about China's 'Manchuria'' 支那「満洲」實情早わかり), most of the verso content relates to the various Chinese provinces, with a skewed discussion of Manchuria only occupying the box towards the bottom-center. As with the flags on the front, information on the Republic of China government currently fighting a war against Japan is referred to alongside Japanese-puppet regimes at the top; a photograph correctly identifies Chongqing as the capital city of 'Anti-Japanese China' (抗日支那の首都, a surprising and unusual phrasing). A photograph just below the title presents Wang Kemin (王克敏, 1879 - 1945) and Liang Hongzhi (梁鴻志, 1882 - 1946), leading Chinese collaborators with Imperial Japan. After the war, both were arrested and tried as collaborators, with Wang committing suicide during his trial and Liang being executed by firing squad in 1946. Similarly, at the bottom-left, a photograph is included of Demchugdongrub (德王 Prince De, 1902 - 1966), the leader of the Japanese-aligned Mengjiang regime in Inner Mongolia.

The Second Sino-Japanese War

The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China, led by Chiang Kai-shek and the Guomindang (GMD, or Kuomintang, KMT), and the Empire of Japan. Though generally dated to 1937, some scholars trace the beginning of the war to the Mukden Incident and the September 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria. In the following years, Japan established a puppet regime in Manchuria and extended its influence into northern China through several other 'incidents,' to the extent that it directly or indirectly controlled most of northern China and Inner Mongolia by 1937.

Although determined to resist the Japanese, Chiang was eager to eliminate the domestic threat from the Communists first while also buying time to modernize his armies and gain better control over his generals, most of whom were semi-independent warlords. These plans were disrupted when Chiang was kidnapped by one of his own generals in December 1936 and forced to enter a united front with the Communists. Now compelled to turn his attention towards Japan, it was a matter not of if but when a full-scale war would come.

The July 7, 1937, Marco Polo Bridge Incident has traditionally been considered the start of the war, when Chinese and Japanese troops began exchanging fire at the Marco Polo (Lugou) Bridge, along a main access route to Beijing. This exchange of fire escalated to an all-out battle, leading to Japanese forces capturing both Beijing and its port city of Tianjin. As the conflict expanded, Chiang aimed to deliver a knockout blow before Japanese reserves could be thrown into the fight. He launched an assault on Shanghai in the autumn of 1937, hoping to throw the Japanese garrison there into the sea, but was unable to completely drive them out. When Japanese reinforcements did arrive, they undertook a counterattack that forced Chiang to retreat from Shanghai with heavy losses. After a cursory defense of the capital, Nanjing, Chiang moved deep into the Chinese interior to prepare for a protracted war of attrition, eventually settling at Chongqing as his wartime capital.

Ostensibly, the war was going extremely well for Japan at the time this map was published, with the Imperial Japanese Army able to win one victory after another in an apparent romp through eastern China. But worrying signs were appearing, including China's effective use of scorched earth tactics, guerrilla warfare, ambushes, and occasional well-planned counterattacks to slow the advance of Japanese troops and impose high costs on their gains. Most problematic was the obstinate refusal of Chiang Kai-Shek and his generals to surrender, which frustrated the Japanese military's plan for a quick and total victory. Facing an enemy with such a vast territory, a stubborn will to resist, and increasing foreign support, Japan needed to find a way to defeat the Chongqing government, mainly by establishing an alternative collaborationist regime (or regimes) with sufficient legitimacy among the Chinese people. However, the conditions of Japanese occupation, including the tendency of Japanese troops to commit atrocities against Chinese civilians, did not endear Japan to many Chinese, making this project a near-impossibility despite the willingness of some high-profile Chinese politicians (mostly jealous former colleagues of Chiang who had lost power struggles within the Guomindang) to work with Japan.

Publication History and Census

This map was prepared by Sōma Motoi (相馬基, the kanji could also be read Sōma Hajime) and printed by the Kyōdō Printing Co. (共同印刷株式會社) as a supplement to the 1939 (Shōwa 14) New Year's edition of the Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun. The same map also appeared as a special supplement to the publication Jikyoku Jōhō, also known as Tōnichi Jikyoku Jōhō (東日時局情報), published by the Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun. It is cataloged among the holdings of some ten institutions worldwide, with the four holdings in North American institutions being at Stanford University, Princeton University, the Ohio State University, and Harvard University.