---
title: Five Years of Dragon-Swallowing -- and no end in sight!
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/berryman-five-years-of-dragon-swallowing-1942/
description: A Japanese army officer labelled "Japan", drawn with round glasses and sabre, is choking as he tries to swallow a dragon whose body is lettered "The China
section: Collection
---

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3. Five Years of Dragon-Swallowing -- and no end in sight!

**Content note:** A 1942 American newspaper cartoon showing Japan as a bespectacled, sabre-carrying army officer in the exaggerated caricature style of the period, choking on a dragon labelled The China Incident. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was)

[![Five Years of Dragon-Swallowing -- and no end in sight!, 1942 US cartoon: A Japanese army officer labelled "Japan", drawn](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/berryman-five-years-of-dragon-swallowing-1942.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/berryman-five-years-of-dragon-swallowing-1942.jpg)

# Five Years of Dragon-Swallowing -- and no end in sight!

A Japanese army officer labelled "Japan", drawn with round glasses and sabre, is choking as he tries to swallow a dragon whose body is lettered "The China Incident". The cartoon quotes the euphemistic Japanese term for the war in China and shows it as indigestible. It argues the war has become a trap for Japan; Berryman's stance is his own.

## Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon

[Euphemism / doublespeak](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/euphemism/)

## Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
"THE CHINA INCIDENT"
JAPAN
JIM BERRYMAN
```

[← Komsomolskaya Pravda, 4 July 1942: 'Master of the Ram' (Master tarana), front-page profile of pilot Aleksey Khlobystov](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/komsomolskaya-pravda-master-of-the-ram-1942/) [Nähstube des BDM: Plakat »Wir folgen Dir« (Berlin) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/bdm-naehstube-wir-folgen-dir-1942/)

## More propaganda examples that use the same techniques

- [詔書 (Imperial Rescript on the Annexation of Korea), Korean translation, Official Gazette of the Government-General of Korea no. 1, p. 17](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/annexation-rescript-korea-gazette-1910/) (Empire of Japan · Aug 29, 1910 · Glittering generalities, Euphemism / doublespeak). Content note: Official Japanese imperial text on the 1910 annexation of Korea, printed in Korean translation; shown as issued.
- [Suomen Kansalle! (To the Finnish People!): German commander von der Goltz says German troops come as friends](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/german-goltz-suomen-kansalle-1918/) (German Empire · Mar 1918 · Glittering generalities, Euphemism / doublespeak)
- [Deutsche Zeitung, Nr. 120, morning edition, front page (Berlin, 13 March 1920): "Ein angeblicher Militärputsch" (An alleged military putsch)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/deutsche-zeitung-angeblicher-militaerputsch-1920/) (Weimar Germany · Mar 13, 1920 · Euphemism / doublespeak). Content note: Front page carrying a column headed 'Sozialdemokratie und Judentum' (Social Democracy and Jewry) beside the lead on the Kapp putsch.
- ["Sous le soleil équatorial" (Le Petit Journal illustré, 6 July 1924)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/petit-journal-congo-ocean-railway-1924/) (France · Jul 6, 1924 · Euphemism / doublespeak, Glittering generalities)
- [Signs of Spring](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/berryman-signs-of-spring-1928/) (United States · Mar 11, 1928 · Euphemism / doublespeak)
- [Human Sterilization Today](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/human-sterilization-today-1938/) (United States · 1938 · Euphemism / doublespeak, Glittering generalities, Transfer). Content note: Pro-sterilisation pamphlet using "insane and feebleminded" for patients, with a disparaging remark about Catholics.
- [This Is France Overseas, One of the United Nations](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/france-this-is-france-overseas-one-of-the-united-nations-1939/) (France · 1939 · Card stacking, Euphemism / doublespeak)
- [This Is the Netherlands East Indies, One of the United Nations](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/netherlands-this-is-the-netherlands-east-indies-one-of-the-united-nations-1939/) (Netherlands · 1939 · Card stacking, Euphemism / doublespeak)