History of the Greater East Asia War

Original Japanese campaign maps from History of the Greater East Asia War (Daitōa senshi) record the conqu...

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Original Japanese campaign maps from History of the Greater East Asia War (Daitōa senshi) record the conquest of Malaya and Singapore from the victors’ wartime perspective. The maps offered here were published in the Malaya volume, Marē sakusen, issued by Asahi Shimbunsha in November 1942 under the auspices of Japan’s Army Ministry. One follows the Japanese advance down the Malay Peninsula with arrows, dated stages and Allied defence lines; the other maps “Fortress Singapore” through its batteries, airfields, naval facilities and defensive obstacles. Together they show how military geography was used to explain and celebrate the campaign. This was a book publication, distinct from the publisher’s illustrated weekly Shūkan Asahi, whose maps reported the war as events unfolded.

Original Japanese campaign maps from History of the Greater East Asia War (Daitōa senshi) record the conquest of Malaya and Singapore from the victors’ wartime perspective. The maps offered here were published in the Malaya volume, Marē sakusen, issued by Asahi Shimbunsha in November 1942 under the auspices of Japan’s Army Ministry. One follows the Japanese advance down the Malay Peninsula with arrows, dated stages and Allied defence lines; the other maps “Fortress Singapore” through its batteries, airfields, naval facilities and defensive obstacles. Together they show how military geography was used to explain and celebrate the campaign. This was a book publication, distinct from the publisher’s illustrated weekly Shūkan Asahi, whose maps reported the war as events unfolded.

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