“Era of Radiant Peace”
Four years before Pearl Harbor and one week before the beginning of the Rape Of Nanking in which approximately 200,000 Chinese civilians were slaughtered by Japanese soldiers, the Dec. 6, 1937, LIFE features Japan’s conquest of China. It begins with an overview of the Emperor, Hirohito. The article lavishes praise on the quality of the Japanese soldiers and depicts them marching, picking up Chinese women and relaxing while one of the soldiers acts as a clown. The men leading the conquest of Asia are pictured and described as “capable, cultivated, sane gentlemen.” Hirohiro, who came to power in 1926, calls his reign the “Era of Radiant Peace.” It is surprising that this LIFE article treated the Japanese conquests in such a benign, uncritical fashion. It would soon change it’s tune as Japan’s true ambitions revealed themselves. Curiously, the swastika flags in the rear of the third picture denote a Buddhist first-aid organization.