Conquering the World on a Chessboard: Double Six and the War with Japan (Part 2)
Not all double sixs of this period are purely entertaining toys. Japanese scholar Hiroichi Tsurukawa summed up the five characteristics of all double sixes: entertainment, appreciation, education, advertising, and gambling. Although War Double Six is not teaching material in the traditional sense, the depiction of war is not completely without the purpose of teaching the public.
Shotaro Wada, Haiguo Bilingual VI, 1896; Princeton University Library Special Collection
Take the Haiguo Double Six published by the Naval Veterans Association as an example, the editor of the double six clearly pointed out the purpose of making the double six in the introduction on the chessboard: by introducing the heroes and major events related to the maritime in Japanese history, the "maritime thought" took root in the hearts of young people. The chessboard takes the shape of the earth, while the finish grid is designed in the shape of the sun, symbolizing that Japan will shine its "national light" through the sea to the world. The whole double six is divided into sixteen squares, each depicting an event that occurred in a certain place (see table below), but the order between each grid is not very clear. Players must read each character or event in the booklet that accompanies the game in detail, otherwise they will not be able to play this double six.
The other part of the War Double Six focuses on the connoisseurship and artistry of the chessboard design. As mentioned above, the creation and production of Double Six was greatly influenced by the ukiyo-e of the same period.
Sugaya and Yoshi, Nisshin War Susan VI, 1894; Princeton University Library Special Collection
In this Painting of the Japanese-Qing War Double Six, for example, the artistic style of each grid is very similar to that of ukiyo-e. For example, the grid depicting naval officers discussing tactics in the lower and lower parts of the picture is almost identical in composition to a war painting by Mizuno Nobuchi.
Mizuno Nobuta, Admiral Navy, etc
Although the layout of the layout of the box depicting Major General Tachibana wading across the Yalu River is not exactly the same as the war painting of Yanichi Akira, the figures depicted are very similar in shape and posture.
Yang Sai Yan'ichi,我兵鴨緑江ヲ越ル,1894;波士顿美术馆藏
Similarly, the Russo-Japanese War Double Six, made by the Kami-An Inn in Fukushima, had only 10 grids, but it was beautifully made.
Takeji Furuji, Shōryū DaishoKuroku, 1904; Princeton University Library Special Collection
The Double Six does not specifically highlight the well-known battles of the war, but shows a panoramic picture of the Russo-Japanese War: land battles, famous generals, naval battles, etc. Of particular note is the "fraternity" style: the humane treatment of the wounded and sick in wartime is the desirable role of a "civilized" country in modern warfare. Although the nurses in the picture are dressed in Western-style nurse's uniforms, the facial depiction seems to be the iconic beauty painting of Kitagawa Katsuma. This is in stark contrast to the Japanese generals whose facial features in the other grids seem to be Europeans: in other words, the three sets of contrasts between the front and the rear, the East and the West, and the male and the female are cleverly intertwined in this picture.
As publishing culture flourished in the Taisho era and the early Showa period, monthly magazines that sprung up like mushrooms attracted readers' subscriptions by sending exquisitely crafted Double Six in the New Year's special issue. Even after the 9/18 incident, the double six gifts of these juvenile magazines, girls' magazines, and housewives magazines are still mainly topics of interest to children, such as adventure and popular science. With the full-scale outbreak of the war of aggression against China, the war once again became the main theme of Double Six.
Because the readership of each magazine is very different, the war depicted in the war double six issued by each magazine also presents a completely different picture.
Ikuzo Ito, Owari Sukoroku, 1940;Pulin University 图书馆 特别馆藏
The Double Six attached to the 1940 New Year's issue of the Infant Club depicts the daily tasks of the Japanese Air Force, including support, delivery of supplies, reconnaissance, and so on. The game does not clearly state who the enemy is or which country, nor does it directly depict the battle; Considering that its readers are mostly preschoolers or elementary school students, kanji is rarely used on the board, and the text description is mainly based on the most basic hiragana. In the other Double Six, punishments, which are mostly associated with misfortune and disaster, have also become more "mild": players accept punishments such as a one-round suspension not because of "defeat", but to receive condolences from within Japan. Although the war depicted in this double six is almost non-violent, the game ends with the ideal hero "Young Aviation", which was widely publicized during the war. In other words, by presenting an idealized, almost neutral war, the double six encourages young readers to contribute to a war that doesn't seem so complex.
For the adventurous teenagers, Double Six is more willing to add battle scenes to the picture. The Hankou Raiders Double Six attached to the 1939 New Year's Issue of Elementary School Students comprehensively demonstrated the Japanese army's attack on China.
Keiji Yamagami, Hankou Raiders, 1939; Princeton University Library Special Collection
After leaving the Japanese mainland, the player passes through the major battles of the early stage of the war against China, and finally arrives at the end of the capture of Hankou. There are a lot of tanks, planes, battleships, and fierce battles that can make the boy excited; Neither the Chinese military nor civilians nor the Nationalist government appeared. Players only need to concentrate on enjoying the fun of "war" and do not need to think about the more complex politics required for a war.
Double Six, for girls and adult women, emphasizes the contribution that women can make to the war at the rear of the front. There is little depiction of fighting in the Singles' Club, a sister publication of Kodansha's famous juvenile magazine Shonen Club.
Ichisaburo Sakai, Imperial Army, 1940; Princeton University Library Special Collection
Each of the boxes depicts how a young girl could contribute to the war, such as participating in the "needle of a thousand people" (a piece of cloth woven by a thousand women, mostly used to make amulets for soldiers on the front line), hard work and savings. Vices such as extravagance and laziness appear in the punishing box. Even in the part showing the Chinese battlefield, the painting mainly depicts the prosperous and peaceful life of the people in the occupied areas under the "goodwill" leadership of the Japanese army.
Although the double six for adult women is similar in content theme to the double six of girls' magazines, there are obvious differences in detail.
Hiroshi Shimada, Imperial Victory double six, 1939; Princeton University Library Special Collection
Take, for example, the double six published by the famous twentieth-century magazine "Friends of Housewives", which contains many important news of the times that adults are familiar with, such as Japan's accession to the Axis powers and the establishment of the Provisional Government of North China. The game ends with young girls waving the flags of the Provisional Governments of Japan, Manchukuo and North China; In other words, the responsibility of the housewife, in contrast to the girl who only needs to support the cause of the war, includes the responsibility of educating the children as the head of the family.
American scholar Charlotte Eubanks argues that the twentieth-century double six testifies to the "imperial jingoism" that is gradually emerging in the modern Japanese mass media. Although this is undoubtedly one of the main features of wartime double six, it is not its only feature. Until the end of the 1930s, The Double Six in the Road and the Adventure Double Six were still popular themes. A commentary published by the Asahi Shimbun in 1938 also argued that while Double Six should serve wartime needs, it should also take into account sufficient entertainment and "childlikeness." In addition, as I show in this section, Double Six was not only wartime propaganda, but also an integral part of the printing culture dating back to the Edo period.
The role-playing interactive experience provided by Double Six is unmatched by other visual media. Wars of aggression and fantasy adventures may seem very different, but they are similar in the sense of the game. From this point of view, the content provided by War Double Six can be regarded as a continuation and inheritance of this board game feature. The next section will focus on another visual medium that developed new content during the wartime period, paper zhiju. (To be continued)