…Casting a Shadow Before

The potential Soviet threat to Japan in mid-April 1945.

While the rest of the Allied powers encouraged Russia to join their war against Japan in 1942, it wasn’t until the Tehran Conference in November 1943 that Stalin agreed to attack (after Germany’s defeat). As victory in Europe drew near, Russia renounced the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1945, encouraging hopes of prompt action. This dramatic image reflects that optimism, with the shadow of the USSR’s Red Star engulfing Tokyo, less than 700 miles from the port at Vladivostok. Other Allied bases in the Pacific are much further and less well-connected. Unfortunately for the Americans and Chinese, the Red Army would fail to invade Japanese-held Manchuria until just two days before the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.

The map was designed by Robert M. Chapin, Jr. and published as a supplement for the April 16, 1945 issue of TIME Magazine. Chapin was a professionally trained architect who found jobs to be in low demand during the Great Depression. He took a job in the photo department at Newsweek in 1933, where he apparently picked up a knack for cartographic design. By 1937, he was hired by Time (a rival of Newsweek) as the head of the cartography department, a position he would hold until his retirement in 1970.

During his long tenure at Time, Chapin’s prolific output helped establish a pattern for 20th-century newsroom cartography. The use of bold colors, uncluttered design, and legible typography was immensely popular, and the maps were reprinted for distribution in classrooms and public spaces throughout the country. Despite their widespread appeal, the maps are uncommon on the market and often overlooked in institutional collections. This version is listed in only two examples in WorldCat as of May 2024 – Franklin & Marshall College and the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Sources: OCLC# 320453232;TIME Magazine archives