1942 Japanese Pictorial Magazine with Army Minister and Prime Minister Hideki Tojo

The magazine is approximately 8-1/4 inches by 11-5/8 inches, with 44 pages, inclusive of the covers. The magazine was published by the Japanese Cabinet Intelligence Bureau, which was a government organization that was founded in 1940 at the request of Prime Minister Konoe Fumimaro. The organization’s main objective was to improve pro-Japan public opinion around what was happening in World War II. Its main responsibilities included gathering information, reporting advertisements, and the regulation or prohibition of publications. They distributed government propaganda both within and outside of Japan. In all, around 160 officers were employed by the organization. The binding edge contains four small holes, presumably from the placement of the magazine in a bound volume at some point in time. The magazine is titled “Photograph Weekly Report” and it is dated in December of 1942, with the statement on the cover that it is “One Year After the Greater East Asia War”. The rear cover has an advertisement for “Bullet Stamps”, or Japanese Postal Savings Stamps which were to be purchased by children as a fund for buying bullets. They were sold for 2 yen each from June 1942, and a lottery was held on the fifth day after the sale ended, and winners received a premium. Children at the time donated their own pocket money.