SHOWA: 1926-1939
GN M6996k1:E
Shigeru Mizuki
A fascinating period in Japanese
history explored by a master of manga
"Showa 1926"-"1939: A History of Japan" is the first volume
of Shigeru Mizuki's meticulously researched historical portrait of
twentieth-century Japan. This volume deals with the period leading up to World
War II, a time of high unemployment and other economic hardships caused by the
Great Depression.
Mizuki's photo-realist style effortlessly brings to life the
Japan of the 1920s and 1930s, depicting bustling city streets and abandoned graveyards
with equal ease.
When the Showa era began, Mizuki himself was just a few years
old, so his earliest memories coincide with the earliest events of the time.
With his trusty narrator Rat Man, Mizuki brings history into the realm of the
personal, making it palatable, and indeed compelling, for young audiences as
well as more mature readers. As he describes the militarization that leads up
to World War II, Mizuki's stance toward war is thoughtful and often downright
critical--his portrayal of the Nanjing Massacre clearly paints the incident (a
disputed topic within Japan) as an atrocity. Mizuki's "Showa
1926"-"1939" is a beautifully told history that tracks how
technological developments and the country's shifting economic stability had a
role in shaping Japan's foreign policy in the early twentieth century.
SHOWA: 1944-1953
GN M6996k3:E
Shigeru Mizuki
A
sweeping yet intimate portrait of the legacy of World War II in Japan
Showa 1944–1953: A History of Japan
continues the award-winning author Shigeru Mizuki’s autobiographical and
historical account of the Showa period in Japan. This volume recounts the
events of the final years of the Pacific War, and the consequences of the war's
devastation for Mizuki and the Japanese populace at large.
After the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, Japan and
the United States are officially at war. The two rival navies engage in a
deadly game of feint and thrust, waging a series of microwars across the tiny
Pacific islands. From Guadalcanal to Okinawa, Japan slowly loses ground.
Finally, the United States unleashes the deathblow with a new and terrible
weapon—the atomic bomb. The fallout from the bombs is beyond imagining.
On another front, Showa 1944–1953
traces Mizuki’s own life story across history’s sweeping changes during this
period, charting the impact of the war’s end on his life choices. After losing
his arm during the brutal fighting, Mizuki struggles to decide where to go:
whether to remain on the island as an honored friend of the local Tolai people or
return to the rubble of Japan and take up his dream of becoming a cartoonist. Showa 1944–1953 is a searing
condemnation of the personal toll of war from one of Japan’s most famous
cartoonists.
SHOWA: 1953-1989
GN M6996k4:E
Shigeru Mizuki
Showa 1953–1989: A History of
Japan concludes Shigeru Mizuki's dazzling autobiographical and
historical account of Showa-period Japan, a portrait both intimate and ranging
of a defining epoch. The final volume picks up in the wake of Japan's utter
defeat in World War II, as a country reduced to rubble struggles to rise again.
The Korean War brings new opportunities to a nation searching for an identity.
A former enemy becomes their greatest ally as the United States funnels money,
jobs, and opportunity into Japan, hoping to establish the country as a bulwark
against Soviet Communist expansion. Japan reinvents itself, emerging as an
economic powerhouse. Events like the Tokyo Olympiad and the World's Fair
introduce a friendlier Japan to the world, but this period of peace and plenty
conceals a populace still struggling to come to terms with the devastation of
World War II.
During this period of recovery and reconciliation, Mizuki's struggles mirror
those of the nation. He fights his way back from poverty, becoming a celebrity
who is beloved by millions of manga-reading children. However, prosperity
cannot bring the happiness Mizuki craves, as he struggles to find meaning in
the sacrifices made during the war.
The original Japanese edition of the Showa: A History of Japan
series won Mizuki the prestigious Kodansha Manga Award; the English translation
has been nominated for an Eisner Award.
(from publisher)
