Life, 1922-08-10 · page 5 of 36
Life — August 10, 1922 — page 5: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page satirizes post-conference diplomatic relations with Japan, likely following a major early 20th-century peace negotiation. The poem, signed "G.S.C.," addresses Japan as "Friendly Nippon" and "Brother of the Rising Sun," congratulating them on winning negotiations through Oriental finesse and diplomacy. The satire cuts deeper in later stanzas, mocking Western negotiators for being gullible—their promises were "but a bit of tongue." The poem suggests Japan successfully played diplomatic games while Westerners remain oblivious to the humor. The elaborate Japanese-inspired artwork (geishas, pagodas, rising sun) frames this commentary on perceived Japanese cunning versus Western naïveté in international dealings. The overall tone is one of bemused respect mixed with self-deprecating American humor about being outmaneuvered.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
To Japan (After the Conference) RF" Nippon, I salute you, Brother of the Rising Sun, Neighbor, clever and astute, you Played a splendid game, and won. You surmounted barriers mental With a finesse Oriental And a smile so brightly dental That you made the business fun. Some, I know, professed to doubt your Promises anent Shantung, Saying that, till you got out, your Words were but a bit of tongue. Surely they are dull who see no Humor in the things that we know, While the fretful Filipino Still complains of being stung. Come! Let's can the tedious jingo With this talk of future muss ; Though we speak a different lingo Why should that stir up a fuss? By your chivalrous emotion You have bridged the western ocean. My un-diplomatic notion Is that now it’s up to us. comicbooks.com