教育漫画軍隊生活全集. 入営から除隊まで. [Kyōiku manga guntai seikatsu zenshū. Nyūei kara jotai made]. [From Enlistment to Discharge].

(Circa1930).. 32 colour cartoon style postcards with original pictorial packet, 9 x 14cm. A little foxing on images, heavier on reverse, pictorial packet which is torn with a little loss. An attractive and interesting set in good condition. A fascinating collection of Japanese cartoon postcards which present a series of comic images of ordinary conscripted soldiers' experiences from enlistment to discharge. The cartoons were drawn by military artist Arai Kazuhisa (whose given name is also sometimes pronounced Ichiju). Arai served in the military in Nagano Prefecture and in Manchuria and produced a number of comic book versions of military life in the 1930s. He also continued to produce published comics after Japan's defeat in the Pacific War. Interestingly, some of his other 1930s cartoons feature encounters between Japanese and Chinese in Manchuria, and conversations in "pidgin" Japanese/Chinese between the two sides.

This collection, though, is set firmly in Japan, and consists of a series of 32 postcards following the life of a recruit from entry to the barracks to return home. The setting is clearly a peacetime one - there are scenes of training and parades, but none of actual combat. Most are light hearted depictions of mundane activities such as cleaning the barracks, eating meals (where the soldiers are firmly instructed not to gulp down their food so quickly), attending lectures, receiving medical checks, washing clothes, watching entertainments, and taking communal baths, as well as undertaking weapons and obstacle course training. The image of army life presented here is benign one - the soldiers have recreational time out in restaurants and bars and end up sharing fond farewells when they are discharged at the end of their training. .