---
title: Japanese leaflet in English, "We were the happiest of couples" (Pacific, c. 1942)
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/japanese-leaflet-happiest-of-couples-1942/
description: 'Three-panel colour cartoon leaflet in a soldier''s voice. 1: a smiling couple, ''We were the happiest of couples''.'
section: Collection
---

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3. Japanese leaflet in English, "We were the happiest of couples"

**Content note:** Japanese wartime leaflet with a suggestive scene and a skull-faced soldier, shown as issued. This object is shown as it was published. [Why](https://propagandaarchive.org/about/#as-it-was)

[![Japanese leaflet in English, "We were the happiest, 1942 Japan leaflet: Three-panel colour cartoon leaflet in a soldier's](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/japanese-leaflet-happiest-of-couples-1942.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/japanese-leaflet-happiest-of-couples-1942.jpg)

# Japanese leaflet in English, "We were the happiest of couples" (Pacific, c. 1942)

Three-panel colour cartoon leaflet in a soldier's voice. 1: a smiling couple, 'We were the happiest of couples'. 2: a helmeted soldier embracing a weeping woman, 'Until our tearful parting, Oh! how she wept!'. 3: the woman in bed with an older man while a skeleton in a helmet looks on, 'But, no sooner had I left, my wife was told that I'd never come back'. The tell: it plays on a soldier's fear that death makes him instantly replaceable at home; no source or issuer is given.

## Propaganda techniques used in this leaflet

[Appeal to emotion](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/appeal-to-emotion/)

## Full record

Region, Country, Medium, Issuer type, Regime, Leader, Audience, Purpose, Theme, Event, Source, Rights

## Text on the object

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

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

```
We were the happiest of couples

Until our tearful parting, Oh! how she wept!

But, no sooner had I left, my wife was told that I'd never come back
```

Read from the 960 px rendering; the hand lettering is clear. The three panels are numbered 1 to 3 in red circles on the leaflet.

[← Japanese leaflet in English, "Don't wait to die" (Philippines, 1942)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/japanese-leaflet-dont-wait-to-die-philippines-1942/) [Japanese leaflet in English, "What Are You Fighting For?" (Philippines, 1942) →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/japanese-leaflet-philippines-battle-1942-2/)

## More propaganda examples that use the same techniques

- ["General Antonio Maceo, the Hero of Peralejo" (Sahm & Co., New York, 1898)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/general-antonio-maceo-hero-of-peralejo-sahm-1898/) (United States · 1898 · Appeal to emotion)
- [Uncle Sam looks at "Cuba" holding a "Cuban Revolutionist" baby (Bartholomew cartoon, April 1898)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/startled-uncle-sam-cuban-revolutionist-baby-bartholomew-1898/) (United States · Apr 1898 · Appeal to emotion)
- ["Handicapped!" (Artists' Suffrage League poster, London, 1909)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/handicapped-artists-suffrage-league-1909/) (United Kingdom · 1909 · Appeal to emotion)
- ["Justice Demands the Vote" (Brighton & Hove Women's Franchise Society, 1909)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/justice-demands-the-vote-brighton-hove-1909/) (United Kingdom · 1909 · Appeal to emotion, Transfer)
- ["Shall Women Vote?" (Puck centerfold, 31 March 1909)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/shall-women-vote-puck-1909/) (United States · Mar 31, 1909 · Appeal to emotion, Card stacking)
- ["In Belgium and yet when she wanted the vote they told her a woman's place was in the home" (cartoon, 1914)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/in-belgium-and-yet-woman-wanted-the-vote-1914/) (United States · 1914 · Appeal to emotion, Whataboutism)
- ["Votes for Mothers!" (The Suffragist, cover, 13 June 1914)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/votes-for-mothers-suffragist-1914/) (United States · Jun 13, 1914 · Appeal to emotion)
- [Daddy, what did YOU do in the Great War?](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/daddy-what-did-you-do-1915/) (United Kingdom · 1915 · Fear appeal, Appeal to emotion)