Publicity and Propaganda in 1930s Japan: Modernism as Method.

The article presents an analysis of the ways in which Japanese corporations of the 1930s used the modernist style in commercial design, graphic arts and photography in order to promote their products. It also discusses modernism's concurrent use in Japanese culture for purposes of government propaganda. Examples drawn from trade journals and photography competitions are presented. The pioneering work of Kanamaru Shigene, who established a commercial photography studio and wrote for many photography magazines, is cited as emblematic of these trends.