Content note: Cartoon Japanese soldier with bared teeth beside a joke bill for a suicide kit. This object is shown as it was published. Why
Buy This Man a Hari-Kari Kit on December 7, 1944
A small cartoon soldier with round glasses, bared teeth and a peaked cap stands in front of an itemised bill for a 'Hari-Kari Kit' (dagger, kneeling pillow, basin, towel, total $75.00), under the line 'Buy EXTRA War Bonds on Pearl Harbor Day!'. The bond price is mapped onto a joke about the enemy's death by suicide, and the caricature stands for the whole nation.
- Date
- 1944
- Period
- Second World War
- Made by
- War-bond poster for Pearl Harbor Day 1944 (issuer not named on the object); held in the OWI poster file
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Poster
- Issuer type
- Mixed
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Fundraise
- Event
- World War II
- Techniques
- Name-calling
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA 513999, local id 44-PA-520), Records of the Office of Government Reports, Record Group 44, series 'World War II Posters', retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. publication without copyright notice; NARA 'Unrestricted')
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
Text on the object
BUY THIS MAN A HARI-KARI KIT ON DECEMBER 7, 1944 Pearl Handle Dagger $44.50 Velvet kneeling Pillow 9.98 Handy enamel Basin 20.00 Genuine turkish towel .52 TOTAL $75.00 Buy EXTRA War Bonds on PEARL HARBOR DAY!
No imprint, signature or issuer text found on the scan.
