Shashin Shuho also carried articles that were not directly related to promoting national policies or raising o awareness of current issues. This particular section focuses on scientific articles, which were one of the other types of articles appearing in Shashin Shuho.

The above image is of an article from issue No. 71 of Shashin Shuho, which was published on June 28, 1939. Shojiro Asahina of the Department of Zoology, Tokyo Imperial University was in charge of collecting photos and comments about epiophlebia superstes (Japanese dragonfly) for this article.

The above image is of an article from issue No. 76 of Shashin Shuho from August 2, 1939. Professor Hidemi Seno of Japan Women’s University provided an explanation in this article about a fish called topminnow (now known as kadayashi), which came from an area stretching from the southern part of the United States to Mexico. Professor Seno describes how this fish likes to eat the eggs and larvae of malaria vector anopheles, and then concludes the article with the following statement: “Reports claim that the killifish, which was once seen in rivers in the past, has almost completely disappeared from the rivers near Taipei in recent years. The only fish present today is the topminnow. It is believed that the tapminnow emerged as the victor in the competition for survival because it is stronger and more productice. I used to think this phenomenon only applied to Taiwan, but I was recently told that a similar thing is also occurring in the rivers around Tokyo, such as the Edogawa River and the Nakagawa River.” Today people often discuss the possibility of a non-native species like the kadayashi driving out the fillifish, a native species, but this article suggests that the problem had already been pointed out as early as 1939.

The images above are of articles from a corner titled “Kids science room.” The top is an article from issue No. 94 of Shashin Shuho, which was published on December 6, 1939, the second is from issue No. 96 put out on December 20, 1939, the third is from issue No. 99 of Shashin Shuho published on January 17, 1940, and the bottom is from issue No. 100 released on January 24, 1940. Of special note is the article from issue No. 99(third image from the top), which shows the Kachidoki Bridge in use shortly before the completion of construction.

The images above are of articles from a corner titled “The science of spring.” The top is an article from issue No. 108 of Shashin Shuho, which was published on March 20, 1940, the second appeared in issue No. 110 from April 3, 1940, the third is from issue No. 112 released on April 17, 1940, and the bottom is from issue No. 116 put out on May 15, 1940. Over the course of the war, Shashin Shuho would continue to frequently provide articles related to science.