[TURKISH / JAPANESE RELATIONS] Bugünkü Japonya [i.e., Today’s Japan]

N.A.

Muallim A. Halit Kitaphanesi / Gazetecilik ve Matbaacilik T.A.S., [ıstanbul], 1933.

Original wrappers. Roy. 8vo. (24 x 17 cm). In Turkish (modern). 63, [1] p., 39 unnumbered b/w plates. A small label on the upper right corner of front cover, occasional foxing with slight wear to spine. Overall, a good copy.

The first and only edition of an illustrated propaganda brochure printed in Early Republican Turkey. It introduces the reader to every aspect of modern Japan during the Showa period, just before World War II. The photographic illustrations depict the social and political life, agriculture, industry, architecture, geography, and aviation, along with other elements of the modern Japanese military. The last four pages include a brief account of the “tragedy” of the Ottoman frigate Ertugrul. Launched in 1863, it was a sailing frigate of the Ottoman Navy. While returning from a goodwill voyage to Japan in 1890, the ship encountered a typhoon off the Kushimoto coast of Wakayama Prefecture, drifted into a reef, and sank. The shipwreck resulted in the loss of more than 500 sailors and officers, including Rear Admiral Ali Osman Pasha. Only 69 sailors and officers survived and returned home later aboard two Japanese corvettes. This event is still commemorated as a cornerstone of Japanese-Turkish friendship.

As of April 2024, we can’t trace any institutional copies in OCLC.