1940 East Asia co-prosperity sphere map
DESCRIPTION
This wartime map of the East Asia and the Pacific Theatre captures Japan's vision of a self-sufficient Asian empire as it sought to reshape the political and economic order of the Pacific.
Published on January 1, 1940, as a supplement to the fifteenth anniversary edition of Ie no Hikari ("Light of the Home"), one of Japan's most widely circulated magazines, the map illustrates the proposed Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, the name given to Japan's expanding empire. Presented as a partnership of Asian nations liberated from Western colonial rule, the concept ultimately served to justify Japan's military expansion across East and Southeast Asia in the years preceding World War II.
Mapping an Imperial Economy
Rather than emphasizing political boundaries, the map highlights the natural resources that Japan believed would sustain its empire. Commodities printed in red include coal, iron, petroleum, rubber, tin, rice, timber, gold, diamonds, tobacco, whales, and opium, illustrating the economic value of territories under Japanese control or influence. Shipping routes radiate from the Japanese home islands across East and Southeast Asia, while colonial flags identify the European powers Japan intended to displace.
Statistics as Propaganda
The panels at right reinforce the map's message through statistics and graphics. An inset depicts anticipated Allied air attack routes, while charts compare the proposed empire's population, territory, and economic strength with those of other world powers. Another graphic illustrates the distribution of ethnic Japanese throughout the region, presenting the empire as both economically self-sufficient and strategically secure.
Issued nearly two years before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the map documents Japan's imperial ambitions before they reached their greatest extent. It remains an important example of wartime propaganda, demonstrating how cartography could be used to promote political ideology alongside geography.
CONDITION
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