Ryukyuan-Made License Tags: Press and Spray Photographs, 1955 US poster: A Japanese-language photo sheet on a brown ground

Ryukyuan-Made License Tags: Press and Spray Photographs (Japanese poster distributed in the Ryukyu Islands)

A Japanese-language photo sheet on a brown ground ringed with scattered digits and small drawn vehicles. Three photographs show workers at a Ryukyuan factory: one fits a '1955' tab onto a plate in a press, one operates a 35-ton hydraulic press stamping numbers on a metal plate, and one spray-paints numerals. Captions name the workers. The tell is plain-folks: named local workmen show license tags being made on the islands.

Propaganda techniques used in this poster

Plain folks

Date: March 23, 1955
Period: Cold War
Made by: USCAR Civil Information and Education emblem (CI&E USCAR, as printed); U.S. Information Agency, Propaganda Posters Distributed in Asia series
Region: North America
Country: United States
Medium: Poster
Issuer type: State
Regime: Eisenhower Administration
Leader: Dwight D. Eisenhower
Audience: Foreign public
Purpose: Persuade or win support
Themes: Economy and finance, Labor
Event: Cold War
Source: Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
Source: U.S. National Archives (NARA), Record Group 306, Propaganda Posters Distributed in Asia, retrieved October 3, 2026
Rights: Public domain (U.S. government work; NARA RG 306)
U.S. Information Agency / Department of State, March 23, 1955. National Archives, Record Group 306 (NAID 5730068, 306-PPA-169).

Text on the object

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

[で]
られた
番号札

1955年を示す小さな付け札が喜瀬普元氏によってはめこまれている。

強力な機械が金属板の上に数字を押している。

最後の段階において仲間武義氏がスプレイガンをつかって番号札の白に数字を黒にぬっている。

[photo signs:] HYDRAULIC PRESS 35TON / ハイドロリック プレス / PAINTING
[emblem:] CI&E USCAR

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

[...]made license tags (title cut off at the left edge)

A small tab showing the year 1955 is being fitted in by Mr. Kise Fugen [name read approximately].

A powerful machine is stamping numbers onto a metal plate.

At the final stage Mr. Nakama Takeyoshi [name read approximately], using a spray gun, paints the numbers black on the white of the plate.

[photo signs:] Hydraulic Press 35 ton / Painting

Hand-lettered captions; some kana are drawn in a stylised hand and the worker names are read approximately. Scattered numerals in the border are decoration and are not transcribed.