These propaganda cartoons, serialized in 1943 during the height of Imperial Japan’s war mobilization, were aimed at the Korean audience. Through cheerful imagery, they depict militarization, economic exploitation, and cultural erasure as progress and enlightenment.
Maeil Sinbo Newspaper, November 8, 1943
Translated below:
Maeil Sinbo Newspaper, November 11, 1943
Translated below:
Maeil Sinbo Newspaper, November 15, 1943
Translated below:
Maeil Sinbo Newspaper, November 8, 1943
Frame 1 (サ・SA): 酒屋が逃げ出す良い部落
A good village where even the liquor seller flees
A Korean village labeled “No Alcohol Village” (酒無部落). A flustered alcohol merchant with bottles on his back is leaving. In the 1930's and 1940's, Imperial Japanese police routinely cracked down on illicit distilleries producing illegal liquor throughout Korea, which was an ongoing theme in news articles of that time.
Frame 2 (シ・SHI): 支那の子供もアイウエオ
Even Chinese children learn A-I-U-E-O
A Chinese boy sits obediently reading Japanese syllabary. Emphasizes that language assimilation extends beyond Korea—Japan seeks linguistic domination across its empire.
Frame 3 (ス・SU): 少ない配給も仲良く分け合う
Even with little rations, they share harmoniously
Two Korean women and a man peacefully divide meager rations. Promotes wartime sacrifice and obedience, glossing over forced food requisitioning in colonized Korea.
Frame 4 (セ・SE): 先生を驚かす国語の上達
Shocking the teacher with her Japanese fluency
A Korean student impresses a Japanese teacher. Language mastery is framed as a measure of loyalty and progress.
Frame 5 (ソ・SO): 空を轟く愛国飛行機
Patriotic planes roar through the sky
Korean villagers wave hinomaru flags as Japanese warplanes fly overhead. Celebrating the Empire’s military while expecting Koreans to cheer for their colonizer.
Maeil Sinbo Newspaper, November 11, 1943
Frame 1 (タ・TA): 旅の支度は先ずモンペ、巻脚絆
Prepare for your journey with monpe pants and kyahan leg wraps
Korean civilians don Japanese-style wartime clothing. Prepares Koreans physically and symbolically for service.
Frame 2 (チ・CHI): 塵も積もれば山となる楽しい貯金（知らない間に500円）
Savings grow like a mountain from tiny grains of dust (Without noticing—500 yen!)
Koreans smiling at war bond savings. Encourages Koreans to fund their own colonizer’s war machine.
Frame 3 (ツ・TSU): 積もる話も国語で志願兵の家
Talk a lot in Japanese to a family of a future volunteer soldier
A Korean family listens to a recruiter advocating enlistment in the Imperial Army, glorified as an honor.
Frame 4 (テ・TE): 天に轟く万歳、勇ましい大戦果（敵機百機落した！）
Roaring 'BANZAI!' to the sky—what a great victory! (100 enemy planes shot down!)
A Korean shouts “Banzai!” in celebration of a Japanese military victory. Koreans are shown embracing Imperial war ideology.
Frame 5 (ト・TO): 隣のおばあさんも国語の一年生（一緒に講習会にいきましょう！）
Even grandma next door is a first-year Japanese student (Let’s attend classes together!)
Elderly Korean women attending Japanese classes. This frames Japanese language adoption as not just for the young, but a duty for all.
Maeil Sinbo Newspaper, November 15, 1943
Frame 1 (ナ・NA): 何でも話せる国語の優等生（慰問袋を贈りましたか？）
A top student in Japanese can talk about anything (Have you sent a care package yet?)
A Korean woman encourages another to send gifts to soldiers. Language fluency is tied to ideological participation.
Frame 2 (ニ・NI): 日本の兵の母です、私らも
We too are mothers of Japanese soldiers
A Korean mother proudly showcases her son in Imperial Army uniform. Erases Korean identity—her son is now “Japanese.”
Frame 3 (ヌ・NU): 盗人より悪い闇取引（驚いた！）
Black market dealings are worse than theft (Shocking!)
A robber looks on in disbelief at Korean civilians doing black market trade. The cartoon equates economic survival tactics with treason.
Frame 4 (ネ・NE): 根もない噂に喜ぶスパイ（あのね、日本が．．．ほう、そうかね、なるほど）
A spy delights in groundless rumors (So, Japan is… Oh really? I see.)
A sinister-looking Western spy with a black eye mask eavesdrops on Koreans spreading rumors. Portrays gossip as aiding the enemy, urging Koreans to police each other.
Frame 5 (ノ・NO): のぼる日の丸、世界は明ける
The rising sun climbs—the world brightens
The Japanese flag rising from Earth into space. The cartoon ends with a delusional vision of Imperial Japan as the world’s liberator and ruler. A pictorial representation of Hakkō Ichiu ideology.
These cartoons are a disturbing example of cultural erasure masked as cheerful wartime propaganda. They depict Koreans eagerly abandoning their language, identity, and autonomy to become obedient subjects of Imperial Japan.
These AIUEO March cartoon strips were part of a larger Japanese-language four-page supplement published in Maeil Sinbo (매일신보 / 每日申報), the last remaining Korean-language newspaper during the Imperial Japanese colonial period. By 1940, all other Korean-language publications had been shut down, and Maeil Sinbo, under strict Japanese control as a tool for Imperial propaganda, became the last operational Korean-language newspaper in Korea.
This supplement was written in basic Japanese, primarily using Hiragana and Katakana, to make it accessible to Koreans with limited Japanese literacy. But it was not just a language learning aid - it also doubled as a war propaganda medium.
Each AIUEO cartoon strip is organized around a five-character sequence of the Japanese kana syllabary, such as ka-ki-ku-ke-ko (カキクケコ) or sa-shi-su-se-so (サシスセソ), and is divided into five panels. Each panel begins with a different kana character from that set, illustrating an ideal picture of life in Korea that was promoted as a part of Imperial Japanese propaganda. The panels may have been meant to be cut out and used as iroha karuta playing cards for entertainment. These particular cartoon strips, published on the 8th, 11th, and 15th of November 1943, were organized around the sa-shi-su-se-so (サシスセソ), ta-chi-tsu-te-to (タチツテト), and na-ni-nu-ne-no (ナニヌネノ) kana groups, respectively.
I carefully browsed the October, November, and December 1943 collections of Maeil Sinbo in the Digital Newspaper Archives of the National Library of Korea, and I was able to find the AIUEO cartoon strips for all the kana groups except for two: a-i-u-e-o (アイウエオ) and ra-ri-ru-re-ro (ラリルレロ). I'm not sure if they were never published, got lost when the newspaper archive was established, or I simply missed them as I pored through the newspaper pages, but I hope to eventually post all of the surviving AIEUO cartoon strips online.
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