Vera Mackie, a leading scholar of Japanese history, takes the original approach of using examples of the extraordinary visual culture of the last century to bring new insights into the political and cultural history of twentieth century Japan. Each chapter focuses on one example of a particular genre of visual culture (a poster, a cartoon, a postage stamp, a photograph, a painting or digital collage) and places them in the context of its artistic, cultural and political milieu. Providing a methodological introduction to the use of visual materials as a resource in the study of Japanese history, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Japanese culture, history, politics and visual culture.