In an old magazine photo, a baby enjoys "children's heaven" — perched in a tank-shaped stroller and, the caption jokes, going to Manchuria. In a manga released by U.S. Forces Japan, two cute doe-eyed characters — the bunny-boy Mr. USA and the Japanese schoolgirl Ms. Alliance — discuss playfully why it's his job to kill cockroaches in her kitchen.

Playing War: Children and the Paradoxes of Modern Militarism in Japan, by Sabine Fruhstuck.
276 pages