# What does this Japanese picture mean? (NSFW, I think) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 12, 2008, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-japanese-picture-mean-nsfw-i-think/437229 "2008-02-12T00:46:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-japanese-picture-mean-nsfw-i-think/437229/1 "2008-02-12T00:46:42Z")
[Possibly NSFW picture at the end of this link.](http://image.blog.livedoor.jp/parumo_zaeega/imgs/7/2/72aca004.jpg) I say “possibly NSFW” because the nudity is largely implied and the picture doesn’t make any sense anyway. It appears to show a firearm disguised as a female being carried and used by a Japanese soldier. A magazine is seen protruding from between her legs and her ass is seen protruding from a hatch on a submarine. The image is possibly a fake, but the text says _something_ and I’m curious to know what. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-japanese-picture-mean-nsfw-i-think/437229/2 "2008-02-12T00:56:41Z")
The text is a bit small to read. I can make out some of the characters, but not enough to translate. It appears to be spoofing that the woman is a weapon, able to shoot bullets or “toxic gas” from her rear end. Out of context, I couldn’t tell you exactly what all motive there might be behind the picture, though I’d presume it’s anti-war. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-japanese-picture-mean-nsfw-i-think/437229/3 "2008-02-12T01:01:19Z")
My reading ability sucks, but if nobody else comes along soon, I’ll forward it to some Japanese friends of mine. Somebody should be able to help here though, maybe **TokyoPlayer** or **Sleel**. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-japanese-picture-mean-nsfw-i-think/437229/4 "2008-02-12T01:08:06Z")
Yeah, I was afraid there wouldn’t be enough text to meaningfully read. It looks damn strange out of context. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-japanese-picture-mean-nsfw-i-think/437229/5 "2008-02-12T02:00:25Z")
The title says: War The captions, from left-to-right, top-to-bottom: _Rissha_ (An archery term for shooting from a standing position.) _Shissha_ (Crouching shooting position.) Illegible. Anti-aerial attack shooting _Fukusha_ (Lying shooting position – again archery term.) Submarine Main battery (From context, the characters also look a lot like “blank shot”.) The smaller text is a lot harder to make out. Under the illigible caption, I read: Set the magazine inside the rectum and shoot out from the anus. I can’t make the first few characters of the second paragraph. It goes: “\*\*\*\* and \*\*\*\* are directly tied to each other.” Under “submarine” there is: “Navigating beneath the surface, against \*\*\*\*'s \*\*\*\*\* military force, attacks with \*\*\*\* missiles. Uses the gases emanating from the corpses to dive and surface.” The text in the drawing says: “surface!” ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-japanese-picture-mean-nsfw-i-think/437229/6 "2008-02-12T06:24:50Z")
For some reason, I felt compelled to look at this picture again and squint a bit harder… [QUOTE=jovan] The smaller text is a lot harder to make out. Under the illigible caption, I read: Set the magazine inside the rectum and shoot out from the anus. I can’t make the first few characters of the second paragraph. It goes: “\*\*\*\* and \*\*\*\* are directly tied to each other.” [/quote] The whole text actually goes: “Set the magazine inside the vagina and shoot out from the anus. The vagina and rectum are directly tied to each other.” > [@](#): > > Under “submarine” there is: > “Navigating beneath the surface, against \*\*\*\*'s \*\*\*\*\* military force, attacks with \*\*\*\* missiles. Uses the gases emanating from the corpses to dive and surface.” Is actually: “Navigating beneath the surface, uses torpedoes and missiles against the enemy’s \*\*\* military force.” ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-japanese-picture-mean-nsfw-i-think/437229/7 "2008-02-12T10:37:06Z")
**jovan** : Thank you very much. It makes perfect sense now: The people who made the image are nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-japanese-picture-mean-nsfw-i-think/437229/8 "2008-02-12T14:03:10Z")
**Derleth** , you can’t just put that out there without explaining where the hell you found it. Japanese submariners using female corpses (with severely messed up anatomy) as weapons? :eek: This is not something you’d find on the rack at the local 7-11. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-japanese-picture-mean-nsfw-i-think/437229/9 "2008-02-12T14:34:20Z")
[QUOTE=Slypork] **Derleth** , you can’t just put that out there without explaining where the hell you found it. Japanese submariners using female corpses (with severely messed up anatomy) as weapons? :eek: This is not something you’d find on the rack at the local 7-11. [/QUOTE] It sounds like what we have here is a cultural difference. Anti-war posters aren’t the same in every country. ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-japanese-picture-mean-nsfw-i-think/437229/10 "2008-02-12T14:41:49Z")
[QUOTE=Musicat] It sounds like what we have here is a cultural difference. Anti-war posters aren’t the same in every country. [/QUOTE] I guess so. Their idea, though, catches my attention a lot better than [this.](http://thepeacecompany.com/store/prod_cards_warnothealthy.php) ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-japanese-picture-mean-nsfw-i-think/437229/11 "2008-02-12T16:41:01Z")
[QUOTE=Slypork] **Derleth** , you can’t just put that out there without explaining where the hell you found it. Japanese submariners using female corpses (with severely messed up anatomy) as weapons? :eek: This is not something you’d find on the rack at the local 7-11. [/QUOTE] I found it via [Reddit](http://reddit.com/info/68c1i/comments/), and I have no knowledge of where it comes from beyond that. [From Digg](http://www.digg.com/odd_stuff/Sense_This_picture_makes_none_PIC): [SENSE: This picture makes none](http://stopgeek.com/sense-this-picture-makes-none.html) (As I recall, this image was part of an anti-pollution campaign. Because environmentalism is inextricably linked with Darth Vader.) ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-japanese-picture-mean-nsfw-i-think/437229/12 "2008-02-12T16:54:34Z")
[QUOTE=Slypork] I guess so. Their idea, though, catches my attention a lot better than [this.](http://thepeacecompany.com/store/prod_cards_warnothealthy.php) [/QUOTE] Gah! I’d forgotten that poster! It always made me want to go out and kill as many living things as I could. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-japanese-picture-mean-nsfw-i-think/437229/13 "2008-02-12T17:33:52Z")
It’s discussed in [this Japanese blog](http://www.zaeega.com/archives/50452987.html); the comments say it’s by cartoonist [Shintaro Kago](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shintaro_Kago). Just my feeling as a Japanese native, but I don’t think it’s anti-war art. Just something for shock value. I don’t really understand it but this type of nonsensical grotesque cartoons is not uncommon, and most of the time without any political themes. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-japanese-picture-mean-nsfw-i-think/437229/14 "2008-02-12T18:06:45Z")
[QUOTE=Slypork] > [@Musicat](#): > > It sounds like what we have here is a cultural difference. Anti-war posters aren’t the same in every country. I guess so. Their idea, though, catches my attention a lot better than [this.](http://thepeacecompany.com/store/prod_cards_warnothealthy.php) [/QUOTE] Or some posters I recall, but can’t find anywhere now, were put out by _Horseshit_ Magazine in the 60’s. One was a US soldier fiercely holding a bayonet. On the end of the bayonet was a skewered baby. The caption read, “Buy War Bonds. Burn a Baby.” Or another from the same source, was a Marine in uniform but with his pants near his ankles. His, uh, equipment was very tiny. The caption said, “Join the Marines and be a man.” ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-japanese-picture-mean-nsfw-i-think/437229/15 "2008-02-12T19:35:40Z")
So its not the packaging from some food item? ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-japanese-picture-mean-nsfw-i-think/437229/16 "2008-02-13T01:02:01Z")
[QUOTE=scr4] Just my feeling as a Japanese native, but I don’t think it’s anti-war art. Just something for shock value. I don’t really understand it but this type of nonsensical grotesque cartoons is not uncommon, and most of the time without any political themes. [/QUOTE] I don’t know. I was a bit curious so I read a bit about Kago and it does seem that there is a strong element of social criticism to his often scatological work. (If not social criticism at the very least a strong misanthropic strain.) The book this illustration appears to be taken from is called _Kagayake! Dai-To-A Kyoeiken_ (“Shine On! Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.”) The title is a very obvious reference to WWII and the “story” involves the Japanese imperial army performing research into body modifications and mass producing giant weapon-women. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2008, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-japanese-picture-mean-nsfw-i-think/437229/17 "2008-02-13T02:34:33Z")
I was going to say that it looks likes even the Japanese have trouble with poorly translated instructions accompanying imported household appliances. d&r