Superman makes an appearance in what looks (at first sight) like a Japanese print.
Roger Shimomura, Diary: December 12, 1941, 1980, acrylic on canvas, 127.6 x 152.4 cm (Smithsonian American Art Museum, gift of the artist, © Roger Shimomura). A conversation with Dr. Sarah Newman, James Dicke Curator of Contemporary Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and Dr. Beth Harris.
This Seeing America video was made possible by a generous grant from the Terra Foundation and the Alice L. Walton Foundation.
Go deeper:
This work at The Smithsonian American Art Museum
Learn more about the role of Superman and other comic book heroes during World War II
Explore primary sources on the Japanese internment camps of the 1940s
Explore more primary sources on the Japanese internment camps of the 1940s
Learn more about Japanese culture and ukiyo-e prints in this online exhibition
Shimomura’s Diary – American Experience in the Classroom (The Smithsonian American Art Museum)
An American Diary: Artist talk with Roger Shimomura (The Smithsonian American Art Museum)
Smithsonian Learning Lab collection on Japanese American Internment, Propaganda, and Superheroes