A Fascinating Glimpse Into the Life of a Popular Chimpanzee in Pre-War Japan · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

“Rita and Lloyd”, two chimpanzees from pre-war Tennoji Zoo in Osaka. Photo from image posted on Twitter user Mulboyne.
Prolific Twitter user Mulboyne has posted a series of images that provide a fascinating glimpse of pre-war Osaka as Japan embraced militarism and total war.
Mulboyne, a long-time resident of the country, makes frequent posts about Japan on Twitter, covering everything from what is likely the least popular rolled sushi to be sold in Japanese supermarkets to the top image search result for “gaijin” (“foreigner”, in Japanese) and trends in corporate rebranding.
In this case, Mulboyne has posted a series of photographs of pre-war Osaka, when the city briefly became the largest city in Japan after the Great Kanto Earthquake devastated Tokyo in 1923.
Osaka was already benefitting from a booming textile industry, which earned it the label “Manchester of the East”. This Expo took place in 1925. pic.twitter.com/1l8Dr5giLM
— Mulboyne (@Mulboyne) February 9, 2018
Here's one of the displays at that 1925 exhibition, showing the foodstuffs making up the daily diet of Osaka people. They certainly weren't trying to flatter themselves with that face. pic.twitter.com/qYRjTuAQtz
— Mulboyne (@Mulboyne) February 9, 2018
The Twitter thread, which starts by exploring pre-war Osaka, shifts towards exploring the life of one of the most famous residents of Tennoji Zoo in Osaka at the time, Rita the chimpanzee, as documented in the 2010 book by Mayumi Itoh, “Japanese Wartime Zoo Policy: the Silent Victims of World War II.”
In the 1930s, one of the most popular animals at Tennoji Zoo in Osaka was Rita the chimpanzee. pic.twitter.com/zDoJXm72zj
— Mulboyne (@Mulboyne) February 9, 2018
Here's Rita with shogi master Yoshio Kimura. pic.twitter.com/Xs4G0kEubq
— Mulboyne (@Mulboyne) February 9, 2018
Inevitably, the images depict Japan's increasing militarism as war looms.
In 1940, the zoo dressed Rita up in an army uniform. pic.twitter.com/HyqEl9a04x
— Mulboyne (@Mulboyne) February 9, 2018
However, before Japan's war with the United States and other Western countries began, Rita gained a consort, only to die in childbirth.
By this time, she had a partner called Lloyd, and he got in on the act too. pic.twitter.com/OtN5u0Dtej
— Mulboyne (@Mulboyne) February 9, 2018
Rita had a stillbirth in 1940, and died shortly afterwards. Her predecessor at the zoo, a chimp named Taro, had died of overexertion. Rita also had a demanding schedule. pic.twitter.com/xWswnkeR0t
— Mulboyne (@Mulboyne) February 9, 2018
While Japan's military government forced Lloyd the chimpanzee to adopt a Japanese name until Japan's defeat. Rita died as Rita, but Lloyd was eventually made to adopt a Japanese name by Japan’s wartime military government. A statue of the two remains today at Tennoji Zoo in Osaka.
Lloyd survived, but not as Lloyd. When the Ministry of Education banned the use of English, he was renamed Katsuta. There's a statue of both chimpanzees at the zoo. pic.twitter.com/mJcVzxlww9
— Mulboyne (@Mulboyne) February 9, 2018
Mulboyne can be followed on Twitter here.