Original Item. Only One Lot Available. This is an interesting collection of five original U.S. WWII-era home front anti-Japanese propaganda pinback buttons, featuring patriotic slogans, political caricatures, and imagery reflecting American public sentiment during the war against Imperial Japan.

The five circular buttons feature printed designs in red, white, blue, and gray, with bold lettering and illustrations characteristic of wartime political novelties. Each carries a different message:

"REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR / KEEP 'EM DYING" – The largest button in the group, featuring a caricature of a Japanese soldier wearing a military helmet, with the crosshairs of a gunsight centered on his forehead. The illustration is surrounded by bold red lettering.
"LET'S MURDER THE SON OF THE SUN" – White block lettering against a blue-gray background, employing a deliberately provocative reference to Japanese imperial symbolism.
"NIP THE NIPPONESE" – Blue lettering on a white background with a dark blue border, featuring a wartime play on Nippon, the Japanese name for Japan.
"DOWN WITH THE RISING SUN" – Bold blue-gray lettering against a white background, referencing the rising sun emblem associated with Imperial Japan.
"WANTED FOR MURDER / DEAD OR ALIVE" – A Western-style wanted-poster design featuring a caricature of a Japanese man, portraying the enemy through the familiar imagery of a criminal wanted notice.

The collection remains in fair to good overall condition, with age-related toning, surface wear, and scattered staining. The "NIP THE NIPPONESE" button exhibits particularly noticeable brown spotting and oxidation-related discoloration, while the others retain generally strong colors and well-defined printing. All five slogans remain clearly legible.

Historical Context

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, profoundly changed American public opinion and brought the United States into WWII. The following day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed Congress, describing the attack as an act of deliberate aggression, and the United States formally declared war on Japan. Public anger soon found expression in patriotic slogans, political cartoons, posters, and various commercial novelties.

"Remember Pearl Harbor" became one of the most widely circulated American wartime rallying cries, appearing on everything from newspaper advertisements and recruitment posters to jewelry and inexpensive pinback buttons. These accessories allowed civilians to display their patriotism and support for the American war effort in everyday settings. Their small size and relatively inexpensive production made them suitable for widespread distribution, while their short, forceful slogans communicated messages that required little explanation.

Anti-Japanese propaganda became especially prominent during the early years of the Pacific War, when Japanese military forces advanced rapidly across Southeast Asia and the western Pacific. Following the attacks on American positions in Hawaii, the Philippines, Guam, and Wake Island, Japanese forces captured a succession of Allied territories, including Hong Kong, Malaya, and Singapore. American wartime messaging frequently emphasized retaliation for Pearl Harbor and the eventual defeat of the Japanese Empire, using hostile caricatures and increasingly aggressive language to sustain public determination.

The rising sun was a particularly recognizable target of this propaganda. Long associated with Japan, the symbol appeared prominently on Japanese military flags, including those carried by the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy. References to the sun could also invoke Japan's imperial tradition, which traced the ancestry of the imperial family to Amaterasu, the Shinto sun goddess. During the reign of Emperor Hirohito, this mythological heritage formed part of the ideology surrounding the emperor's position. American propaganda frequently exploited these associations, turning familiar Japanese national and imperial symbols into targets for ridicule and threats of destruction.

Another characteristic of American wartime propaganda was its use of criminal imagery to depict enemy leadership. Wanted-poster motifs, accusations of murder, and threats of punishment appealed to public anger over Japanese military actions. Such messages frequently presented the war as a struggle to bring those responsible for aggression and atrocities to justice. These themes became especially powerful following reports of Japanese mistreatment of prisoners of war and civilians, including accounts emerging from occupied territories in Asia and the Pacific.

The exaggerated caricatures and violent language found in anti-Japanese wartime material also reflected the racial prejudice that accompanied much American propaganda during WWII. Japanese soldiers and political leaders were frequently portrayed through offensive ethnic stereotypes, while hostile depictions often made little distinction between Japan's military government and people of Japanese ancestry. This atmosphere contributed to broader anti-Japanese discrimination within the United States, including the forced removal and incarceration of approximately 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry under policies implemented following Executive Order 9066 in February 1942.

These five buttons preserve the openly confrontational language and imagery of the American WWII home front, illustrating how wartime patriotism, anger over Pearl Harbor, and hostility toward Imperial Japan entered everyday American popular culture.