Gas Mask Nation

Feelings of loss, horror, and anxiety are among the emotions most often associated with war, but in her latest book Weisenfeld challenges readers to consider a more nuanced reality. Gas Mask Nation (The University of Chicago Press) explores the pleasurable visual culture of Japanese civil air defense (called bōkū). Through a variety of artworks, photographs, cartoons, posters, and more, Weisenfeld highlights the pleasure, desire, wonder, creativity, and humor that were present throughout Japanese culture during World War II.