in the middle from 1932 The world was going through a turbulent time. The United States was digesting the severe consequences of the great recession; Spain was dealing with the internal contradictions of the Second Republic; After its last free elections, Germany opened its doors to Adolf Hitler; and Japan expanded its territory on the continent by establishing Manchukuo. The planet was unknowingly heading towards disaster.

Meanwhile, Japanese cartographers had time to stereotype the rest of the world. Japan was at the height of its reign. HirohitoIt completes the economic transformation implemented by Emperor Meiji more than half a century ago and projects imperial power into various corners of Asia. He could look at the world from a position of theoretical superiority.

And he did it on a map published by the magazine Say hello no, which traveled around the world, displaying all manner of racist clichés, offensive remarks, and an uncanny sensitivity to capture the political tone of its time, can be explored in its entirety here. Cartography is a 1930s “Finding Wally.” All the actors who would determine the dark future of humanity in the following years were there.

For example in Europe Hitler He fought the Hindenburg tooth and nail. The Weimar Republic was heading towards its final act, and it did so in elections (actually two: some in July, others in November) in which the elected head of state, Hindenburg, would bow to Hitler’s pressure. a few months later he was appointed chancellor. This would be the beginning of the end.

Meanwhile, Albert Lebrun, president FranceHe lived, unaware of any events on the continent, absorbed in his own problems (that is, the grape harvest, according to the cartoonists); and British Prime Minister Ramsey MacDonald was torn between the two spirits of the strange electoral coalition that supported his government – labor and conservative aristocracy.

Spain is a set of walking stereotypes, ruled by a definitive authority. Niceto Alcalá-ZamoraHead of state for most of the Republican period. In addition to everything else, Japan put on bullfights for everyone in Spain, Holy Week, hard-to-find Andalusian folklore on the Cantabrian coast, and women with combs hanging out from balconies.

Italy? Mussolini is eating pasta. Soviet Union? A very powerful Stalin, supported by the factories that emerged as a result of five-year plans and collectivization. Nordic countries? Happy boys and girls playing sports while messing with reindeer and bears and building saunas (except for Denmark, which is apparently too pointless for the Japanese cartoonists to qualify in any way).

The rest of the planet isn’t far behind. Mexican and Central America is dominated by vast mountains, exotic birds and a figure reminiscent of Emiliano Zapata. South America is an endless host of strange animals, tropical plants, wilderness, and the occasional humans scattered across the continent (the lovingly depicted Japanese immigrant community in Sao Paulo deserves special mention).

Africa? It’s three-quarters of the same, only adding crass racist descriptions of yet-to-be-civilized tribes and a continental hub full of elephants, gorillas, and giraffes (and the occasional British colonist making a documentary). The figure of Ataturk and the Saudi tribes that will unite the peninsula in the Middle East is being drawn. Also Persian carpets and mosques.

Asia is not far behind: there is an evil South Korean conspirator jealous of Japanese imperial projection; A. Chinese torn in an internal conflict that would forever overthrow not only the imperial figure but also the republican aspirations still represented in the south; and a Ghandi who reigned over India, which the British authorities tried (without apparent success) to limit.

The map even functions as a geopolitical reading: the growing conflict between the United States and Japan is the dominant narrative of the situation in the region. Pacific OceanIt is full of impregnable fortresses (Philippines or Hawaii, America; Singapore and Hong Kong, English), which the Japanese cartoonist interpreted as obstacles in Japan’s natural space.

Military ships, artillery and warplanes are scattered everywhere. The map is signed by an artist. Say hello no He called Sagyo Shishido. It is fascinating because it perfectly illustrates the vision of the world that Japan had at the height of its imperial ambitions and the role reserved for the rest of the world’s nations.

Given the proximity of World War II, he had a wonderful intuition about the events that would soon change the face of the Earth forever.

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*An earlier version of this article was published in February 2019.