|
In the summer of 1945, Japan was showered almost daily by aerial leaflets in such quantity that the Japanese people developed a
kind of apathy against them. A novel approach had therefore to be sought to attract renewed attention. The ingenious idea was to
reproduce the face side of the then current 10-yen banknote and replace the back by a propaganda message. For who could resist
money falling from the sky?
There are four different propaganda leaflets. All have the same exquisitely lithographed front to resemble closely the genuine
Japan 10 Yen 1930 banknote but with different messages on the back.
One striking difference between the genuine bills and the counterfeit is that the former has red seal on the front whereas the
latter has brown seal. The other difference is that all counterfeit bills bear the serial number 450941 and the block number 1124 on
the front.
The purpose of the leaflets was to stir Japanese resentment against their government and to create fear of inflation.
Translation of the text:
In 1930, when the Gumbatsu (militarists) had not yet started the war in China, you could by the following items for 10 yen:
* 25 sho (about 20 Kg) of good rice.
* Or material for 8 summer kimonos.
* Or 4 bags (50 Kg packages) of charcoal.
In 1937, after the start of the China Incident, you could buy the following for 10 yen:
* 25 sho of low grade rice.
* Or material for 5 summer kimonos.
* Or 2 bags of charcoal.
Today, after waging three years of hopeless warfare with the world's greatest powers, you can buy the following with 10 yen:
* 1/2 sho of good rice in the black market.
* Or a small amount of charcoal, if you can get it.
* Cotton material, nothing.
This is what your leaders call co-prosperity.
|
