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This is an archival reprint based on the 1989 reprint of “FRONT I,” part of a three-part collection of the war propaganda magazine FRONT, published between 1942 and 1945 by Tohosha in close cooperation with the Japanese government and military.

As part of its propaganda operations, FRONT was published in multiple languages to represent the ideology, beliefs, self-image, and goals of an Imperial Japan actively engaged in World War II.
“FRONT I” consists of FRONT issues on Manchukuo (a Japanese puppet state set up in China between 1932 and 1945), the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service, and the Imperial Japanese Navy.
In addition to its value as a historical artefact, this reprint may also be of interest to enthusiasts and researchers of Japanese graphic design and photography. The original magazine was produced by some of Japan’s most innovative designers, editors and photographers, such as Ihei Kimura, who continued to influence the visual culture of post-war Japan.

The book includes several contextualizing essays by Hiroshi Kashiwagi, Kotaro Iizawa, Masao Yamaguchi, and Seiichi Tagawa.
Almost all of the reproduced FRONT magazines are in English, except for the opening pages, which are in Mongolian. The accompanying essays are in Japanese only.