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昭和史 / Shōwa-shi: 4 volumes #1
Showa 1926-1939: A History of Japan
A fascinating period in Japanese history recounted by manga’s most distinguished author
Showa 1926–1939: A History of Japan lays the groundwork for Eisner award-winning author Shigeru Mizuki’s historical and autobiographical series about Japanese life in the twentieth century. Depicted against his trademark photorealistic backdrops, Mizuki effortlessly portrays a nation forced into a period of upheaval and brings history into the realm of the personal. Indeed, as a child coming of age in the Showa era, the author’s earliest memories coincide with key events of the time.
It all begins with the Great Kanto Earthquake, a natural disaster that forces the country into a financial crisis. The period leading up to World War II is thus a time of economic hardship and record unemployment. Forthright descriptions of ensuing militarization reveal Mizuki’s lifelong stance as a thoughtful pacifist, critical of domestically disputed events like the Nanjing Massacre clearly painted here as an atrocity. This first volume in a four-part series is a captivating historical portrait tracking the industrial and societal developments that would come to shape Japan's foreign policy in the interwar period.
Showa 1926–1939: A History of Japan lays the groundwork for Eisner award-winning author Shigeru Mizuki’s historical and autobiographical series about Japanese life in the twentieth century. Depicted against his trademark photorealistic backdrops, Mizuki effortlessly portrays a nation forced into a period of upheaval and brings history into the realm of the personal. Indeed, as a child coming of age in the Showa era, the author’s earliest memories coincide with key events of the time.
It all begins with the Great Kanto Earthquake, a natural disaster that forces the country into a financial crisis. The period leading up to World War II is thus a time of economic hardship and record unemployment. Forthright descriptions of ensuing militarization reveal Mizuki’s lifelong stance as a thoughtful pacifist, critical of domestically disputed events like the Nanjing Massacre clearly painted here as an atrocity. This first volume in a four-part series is a captivating historical portrait tracking the industrial and societal developments that would come to shape Japan's foreign policy in the interwar period.
560 pages, Paperback
First published January 6, 2013
173 people are currently reading
4814 people want to read
About the author
Shigeru Mizuki
743 books332 followersShigeru Mizuki (水木しげる) was a Japanese manga cartoonist, most known for his horror manga GeGeGe no Kitaro. He was a specialist in stories of yōkai and was considered a master of the genre. Mizuki was a member of The Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology, and had travelled to over 60 countries in the world to engage in fieldwork of the yōkai and spirits of different cultures. He has been published in Japan, South Korea, France, Spain, Taiwan, the United States and Italy. He is also known for his World War II memoirs and his work as a biographer.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 342 reviews
January 20, 2016
I first read Mizuki's Onwards to Our Noble Deaths, a bitterly anti-war story based on his own experience as a soldier. In the US we know little of the Japanese experience of WWII, so this is a fascinating and often ugly castigation of bureaucratic stupidity and mindless patriotic war-mongering. If this had been the only thing I had read I would not have experienced his humor in Kitaro, which he is perhaps best known for in Japan. He's a purveyor of monsters and mysticism and mythical beasts. And he and his work are now featured in no less than two popular tv shows, one about Kitaro and the other about he and his wife. He died in October 2015, at the age of 93, and was and remains a manga-ka on the level of a national treasure.
The godfather of Manga, Osamu Tezuka (Buddha, Adolph) is better known in the west, but thanks to relatively recent efforts, we can see a lot of Mizuki's work translated into English.
Including this, a manga history/memoir featuring a mythical creature, Ratman, who helps to narrate events. In it, we tack back and forth between wonderfully rendered realistic drawings of actual historical events in the Showa period (1926-1989) of Japanese history, focusing on the ramping up to war-mongering that he sees as tragic for Japanese history, and his own personal story, since he was born in in 1923, these events rendered in cartoony manga style. This use of contrasting styles recalls Tezuka himself in something like Buddha, with brilliant landscapes and contrasting goofy drooling comical characters. Muzuki's view of the world includes the fantastical, which happens alongside typically factual historical accounts of events.
This is just the first of four volumes, but this is one Mizuki wants younger readers to know about, since he finds the events of this time swept under the rug in Japanese education (as similarly happens in many countries, including the US, see Howard Zinn's The People History of the United States for similar lies and omissions.). 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. He's critical of the war effort in general, and he also, for instance, tells of the Nanjing Massacre and shows it as an atrocity.
Mizuki's "Showa 1926"-"1939" is a pretty amazing account of history as a series of important events that affect everyone, including his own personal experience, and mythical/mystical dimensions most people don't count as history. The drawing is terrific throughout. Mizuki has to now rival Tezuka; he's even done a biography of Hitler to help you reflect on Tezuka's (more thrillerish) Adolph.
The godfather of Manga, Osamu Tezuka (Buddha, Adolph) is better known in the west, but thanks to relatively recent efforts, we can see a lot of Mizuki's work translated into English.
Including this, a manga history/memoir featuring a mythical creature, Ratman, who helps to narrate events. In it, we tack back and forth between wonderfully rendered realistic drawings of actual historical events in the Showa period (1926-1989) of Japanese history, focusing on the ramping up to war-mongering that he sees as tragic for Japanese history, and his own personal story, since he was born in in 1923, these events rendered in cartoony manga style. This use of contrasting styles recalls Tezuka himself in something like Buddha, with brilliant landscapes and contrasting goofy drooling comical characters. Muzuki's view of the world includes the fantastical, which happens alongside typically factual historical accounts of events.
This is just the first of four volumes, but this is one Mizuki wants younger readers to know about, since he finds the events of this time swept under the rug in Japanese education (as similarly happens in many countries, including the US, see Howard Zinn's The People History of the United States for similar lies and omissions.). 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. He's critical of the war effort in general, and he also, for instance, tells of the Nanjing Massacre and shows it as an atrocity.
Mizuki's "Showa 1926"-"1939" is a pretty amazing account of history as a series of important events that affect everyone, including his own personal experience, and mythical/mystical dimensions most people don't count as history. The drawing is terrific throughout. Mizuki has to now rival Tezuka; he's even done a biography of Hitler to help you reflect on Tezuka's (more thrillerish) Adolph.
February 23, 2022
In general, I am not a fan of comic adaptations concerning history. But, in this superb manga, I have now found a comic version of the history of Japan that is quite well done.
Shigeru Mizuki grew up in Japan right before the outbreak of war. His "Showa 1926-1939: A History of Japan" is excellent. Part biography and part history, it is not only well written and full of interesting historical information, but it also serves as a look into the life of ordinary Japanese civilians.
Starting with the Kanto Earthquake of 1923, it details the start of the "Showa" period of Japanese history. In Japanese history, dates are often associated with era names, not just the year of the Western calendar. The Showa (the characters represent "Clear", "harmony" or "peace") and covers the reign of Emperor Hirohito (1926-1989) and also is the period covering Japan's slide into militarism and the conflicts that formed into WW II.
Mizuki's story is interesting. As a child and young man, he is something of a lazy, pathetic, loser going from job to job without any chance to improve himself. He wants to go to art school and likes to draw. As he grows up, we have a detailed description of the famous political, economic and, eventually, military events that coalesced into the Japanese invasions that will start the Asian theatre of WWII.
The style is also interesting. The vast majority of the historical events are beautifully drawn in a B&W style that is very good. But, any plot covering the families of normal people or Mizuki's life is done in a Shonen style (more comedic, designed for teenage boys' manga).
Filled with detailed notes, this is actually an excellent book for anyone who would like a non-technical introduction to the events that lead to WWII, you can't go wrong with this gem. Entertaining and enlightening at the same time, this is highly recommended.
Shigeru Mizuki grew up in Japan right before the outbreak of war. His "Showa 1926-1939: A History of Japan" is excellent. Part biography and part history, it is not only well written and full of interesting historical information, but it also serves as a look into the life of ordinary Japanese civilians.
Starting with the Kanto Earthquake of 1923, it details the start of the "Showa" period of Japanese history. In Japanese history, dates are often associated with era names, not just the year of the Western calendar. The Showa (the characters represent "Clear", "harmony" or "peace") and covers the reign of Emperor Hirohito (1926-1989) and also is the period covering Japan's slide into militarism and the conflicts that formed into WW II.
Mizuki's story is interesting. As a child and young man, he is something of a lazy, pathetic, loser going from job to job without any chance to improve himself. He wants to go to art school and likes to draw. As he grows up, we have a detailed description of the famous political, economic and, eventually, military events that coalesced into the Japanese invasions that will start the Asian theatre of WWII.
The style is also interesting. The vast majority of the historical events are beautifully drawn in a B&W style that is very good. But, any plot covering the families of normal people or Mizuki's life is done in a Shonen style (more comedic, designed for teenage boys' manga).
Filled with detailed notes, this is actually an excellent book for anyone who would like a non-technical introduction to the events that lead to WWII, you can't go wrong with this gem. Entertaining and enlightening at the same time, this is highly recommended.
August 20, 2016
One of the best histories of Japan...period. This book will allow you to see the events that lead to WW II form the perspective of the Japanese people, a perspective that is often neglected.
January 14, 2021
I started reading 'Showa 1926 – 1939 : A History of Japan' by Shigeru Mizuki as soon as I got it a few days back. This first part of the 4-part book covers the history of Japan from the beginning of the Showa era in 1926 till the beginning of the Second World War.
The book has two strands of stories which are woven together. The first is the history of Japan as the title indicates. The second is the author's own memoir. So we get to see the Japan of that era through both the big and the everyday – the major political and social happenings and things which are considered news, and the everyday happenings of the author's own life. Shigeru Mizuki does an interesting thing to differentiate between these two story strands – the artwork is very different. For the historical events and happenings he uses a realistic style of art, while for the memoir part he uses a comic style of art. It is fascinating. We hear the story through the author's voice, but sometimes (or many times) a new narrator comes on the scene and takes the story forward or handles the transition between history and memoir. This new narrator is a yokai character (a supernatural being from Japanese folklore) called Nezumi Otoko (translated in English as Rat-man). Nezumi is a fascinating narrator and I loved this aspect of the book – a supernatural being narrating history.
I know only the broad outlines of Japanese history in the 20th century and I learnt a lot from this book. One of the interesting things that I learnt was how hard it was for democracy to put down roots in Japan. The book describes how the military felt that the civilian government wasn't decisive enough and how military officers repeatedly tried orchestrating coups to overthrow the civilian government (once even assassinating the Prime Minister).
I loved Shigeru Mizuki's style of storytelling – dispassionate, sometimes critical but always sticking to the facts, and following the golden rule 'Show, don't tell'.
I loved the first part of 'Showa'. I can't wait to start the second part.
Have you read 'Showa'? What do you think about it?
#ShowaAHistoryOfJapan #ShigeruMizuki #Manga #MangaComics #JapaneseLiterature #JanuaryInJapan
The book has two strands of stories which are woven together. The first is the history of Japan as the title indicates. The second is the author's own memoir. So we get to see the Japan of that era through both the big and the everyday – the major political and social happenings and things which are considered news, and the everyday happenings of the author's own life. Shigeru Mizuki does an interesting thing to differentiate between these two story strands – the artwork is very different. For the historical events and happenings he uses a realistic style of art, while for the memoir part he uses a comic style of art. It is fascinating. We hear the story through the author's voice, but sometimes (or many times) a new narrator comes on the scene and takes the story forward or handles the transition between history and memoir. This new narrator is a yokai character (a supernatural being from Japanese folklore) called Nezumi Otoko (translated in English as Rat-man). Nezumi is a fascinating narrator and I loved this aspect of the book – a supernatural being narrating history.
I know only the broad outlines of Japanese history in the 20th century and I learnt a lot from this book. One of the interesting things that I learnt was how hard it was for democracy to put down roots in Japan. The book describes how the military felt that the civilian government wasn't decisive enough and how military officers repeatedly tried orchestrating coups to overthrow the civilian government (once even assassinating the Prime Minister).
I loved Shigeru Mizuki's style of storytelling – dispassionate, sometimes critical but always sticking to the facts, and following the golden rule 'Show, don't tell'.
I loved the first part of 'Showa'. I can't wait to start the second part.
Have you read 'Showa'? What do you think about it?
#ShowaAHistoryOfJapan #ShigeruMizuki #Manga #MangaComics #JapaneseLiterature #JanuaryInJapan
November 9, 2014
I'm completely the wrong person to review a manga.
My sum knowledge of the art form is from stolen glances on the Tozai Line at salarymen's copies that looked to me slightly less enticing than lugging around multi-coloured phonebooks through Tokyo's underground. But that was 15 years ago. The comics were impenetrable to me, being in Japanese. And upside down (I was invariably standing and the manga were on the laps of folk who had got on before me and so got seats.)
Well, that was until tonight.
Tonight, I finished reading Shigeru_Mizuki's Showa, A History of Japan 1926-1939, an English translation of his history of the country, his life and his art. You probably know more about him than I do, so I'll just simply add that the guy is well placed to comment on the history of the Showa period, having lived through it all, much of it at the shitty end of the stick.
I thought at first it was just one damned thing after another (pre-war Japanese history as a series of Incidents and Puppet Governments, at least it was if all the history you know is to pass an 'O' Level. To a student, everything looks like a bullet point). But as time goes on and the pages fly by, you see, really see -- this is a manga remember -- how the Great Events of History impacted an imaginative but lazy kid having the good fortune to grow up in the wilds of Tottori, but the bad to have come of age at the time of dictatorship.
Read it. It's excellent. Unlike me, you haven't spent half your life deluded that comics are just for kids, have you? Because that would be a terrible mistake.
My sum knowledge of the art form is from stolen glances on the Tozai Line at salarymen's copies that looked to me slightly less enticing than lugging around multi-coloured phonebooks through Tokyo's underground. But that was 15 years ago. The comics were impenetrable to me, being in Japanese. And upside down (I was invariably standing and the manga were on the laps of folk who had got on before me and so got seats.)
Well, that was until tonight.
Tonight, I finished reading Shigeru_Mizuki's Showa, A History of Japan 1926-1939, an English translation of his history of the country, his life and his art. You probably know more about him than I do, so I'll just simply add that the guy is well placed to comment on the history of the Showa period, having lived through it all, much of it at the shitty end of the stick.
I thought at first it was just one damned thing after another (pre-war Japanese history as a series of Incidents and Puppet Governments, at least it was if all the history you know is to pass an 'O' Level. To a student, everything looks like a bullet point). But as time goes on and the pages fly by, you see, really see -- this is a manga remember -- how the Great Events of History impacted an imaginative but lazy kid having the good fortune to grow up in the wilds of Tottori, but the bad to have come of age at the time of dictatorship.
Read it. It's excellent. Unlike me, you haven't spent half your life deluded that comics are just for kids, have you? Because that would be a terrible mistake.
December 28, 2013
Anyone interested in this period of Japanese or world history, should read this book, and, I suspect, the volumes to follow.
NOTE BENE: Showa: 1926 - 1939 is published in the traditional Japanese style. The book is opened with the spine to your right, and you read the panels right to left, from the top of the right hand page. Basically "backwards" from a Western point of view.
Generally speaking, I am not a regular reader, or fan of, manga. Further, my tastes in anime are pretty common: Akira, Cowboy Bebop, Graveyard of the Fireflies, and anything by Hayao Miyazaki. So I do not have the knowledge base to allow me to critique Shigeru Mizuki's artwork and storytelling from anything but a Western/American viewpoint. That being said, however, my historical knowledge of the events which took place in Japan and the wider world during the time-frame covered in Showa: 1926 - 1939 is solid, so read this review with those facts in mind.
I came to Mizuki through an ongoing reader's journey into war comics which has, in part, led me to various non-American works in the genre, like Mizuki's memoir of his time as an infantry private stationed around Rabaul during WWII, Onwards Towards Our Noble Deaths. The Showa series (to be comrpised of 4 books) is Mizuki's account of the history of Japan during the life of the late Emperor Hirohito (1926-1989), who's reign-name, Showa, provides the name for Mizuki's book, and the time period. Mizuki was born in 1922, and thus lived through the entirety of the period, and beyond, and Showa is a parallel history of both Japan, and Mizuki himself.
The art is a bit jarring to me, consisting of traditionally cartoonish individual figures against painstakingly photo-realistic backgrounds. However, after a period of adjustment, the juxtaposition works, providing not only some inherent comic-relief to what is often a very serious, and disturbing historical narrative, but it also serves to underline the reality of average people who are swept up by events which they, largely, have no control over. This works particularly well as the reader sees Mizuki grow up, and most of this first volume is comprised of his childhood years, when he truly had no control, or real interest in, socio-political or economic issues.
Mizuki's history is solid, and he does not shy away from identifying the actions of the Japanese government and military as aggressive, authoritarian, and fascist. Nor does he neglect to identify the atrocities committed by his nations, particularly during the Second Sino-Japanese War. He does fall short in some respects however, in detailing the atrocities committed against the Chinese civilian populations by Japanese forces. For example, while he describes the slaughter of tens of thousands of surrendering Chinese troops after the fall of Nanjing (13 December 1937), and underlines them as an horrific massacre, he neglects to mention the concurrent and subsequent rape, torture, and slaughter of the city's population. This is more of a nit-pick however. Mizuki does note that hundreds of thousands died in the Nanjing Massacre/Rape of Nanjing, and his undeniably fierce condemnation of the Japanese Army's actions, and Japanese people's celebratory reactions to the fall of the city, are a refreshing antidote from a revered figure in contemporary Japan, where revisionists continue to deny and/or minimize the scale of Japanese atrocities during the war.
Mizuki's greatest triumph here is his brilliantly evocative portrait of Japanese society and culture during these years from the evolution of theater, to cultural movements, to a growing oppression by a progressively right-wing, ultranationalist government. This is not just a political or military history, but the story of how a nation became war-mad, how the arts, technology, education system and popular culture all were transformed or suppressed to serve the violent nationalism and exclusionary ideals of kokutai (roughly, "Japaneseness," usually translated as "national identity." Interestingly similar to the ideas behind the Nazi version of Volksgemeinschaft, or "people's community").
This is a brilliant work, heartbreaking, horrifying, and humorous by turns, and both histories are engrossing. Further, I think this work is an incredibly important primary source document for historians. If Mizuki can keep up this level of quality throughout the series (and there is no reason to think he can't) then this series will be a magnificent contribution to the field of history, and a key to unlocking the realities of an era.
NOTE BENE: Showa: 1926 - 1939 is published in the traditional Japanese style. The book is opened with the spine to your right, and you read the panels right to left, from the top of the right hand page. Basically "backwards" from a Western point of view.
Generally speaking, I am not a regular reader, or fan of, manga. Further, my tastes in anime are pretty common: Akira, Cowboy Bebop, Graveyard of the Fireflies, and anything by Hayao Miyazaki. So I do not have the knowledge base to allow me to critique Shigeru Mizuki's artwork and storytelling from anything but a Western/American viewpoint. That being said, however, my historical knowledge of the events which took place in Japan and the wider world during the time-frame covered in Showa: 1926 - 1939 is solid, so read this review with those facts in mind.
I came to Mizuki through an ongoing reader's journey into war comics which has, in part, led me to various non-American works in the genre, like Mizuki's memoir of his time as an infantry private stationed around Rabaul during WWII, Onwards Towards Our Noble Deaths. The Showa series (to be comrpised of 4 books) is Mizuki's account of the history of Japan during the life of the late Emperor Hirohito (1926-1989), who's reign-name, Showa, provides the name for Mizuki's book, and the time period. Mizuki was born in 1922, and thus lived through the entirety of the period, and beyond, and Showa is a parallel history of both Japan, and Mizuki himself.
The art is a bit jarring to me, consisting of traditionally cartoonish individual figures against painstakingly photo-realistic backgrounds. However, after a period of adjustment, the juxtaposition works, providing not only some inherent comic-relief to what is often a very serious, and disturbing historical narrative, but it also serves to underline the reality of average people who are swept up by events which they, largely, have no control over. This works particularly well as the reader sees Mizuki grow up, and most of this first volume is comprised of his childhood years, when he truly had no control, or real interest in, socio-political or economic issues.
Mizuki's history is solid, and he does not shy away from identifying the actions of the Japanese government and military as aggressive, authoritarian, and fascist. Nor does he neglect to identify the atrocities committed by his nations, particularly during the Second Sino-Japanese War. He does fall short in some respects however, in detailing the atrocities committed against the Chinese civilian populations by Japanese forces. For example, while he describes the slaughter of tens of thousands of surrendering Chinese troops after the fall of Nanjing (13 December 1937), and underlines them as an horrific massacre, he neglects to mention the concurrent and subsequent rape, torture, and slaughter of the city's population. This is more of a nit-pick however. Mizuki does note that hundreds of thousands died in the Nanjing Massacre/Rape of Nanjing, and his undeniably fierce condemnation of the Japanese Army's actions, and Japanese people's celebratory reactions to the fall of the city, are a refreshing antidote from a revered figure in contemporary Japan, where revisionists continue to deny and/or minimize the scale of Japanese atrocities during the war.
Mizuki's greatest triumph here is his brilliantly evocative portrait of Japanese society and culture during these years from the evolution of theater, to cultural movements, to a growing oppression by a progressively right-wing, ultranationalist government. This is not just a political or military history, but the story of how a nation became war-mad, how the arts, technology, education system and popular culture all were transformed or suppressed to serve the violent nationalism and exclusionary ideals of kokutai (roughly, "Japaneseness," usually translated as "national identity." Interestingly similar to the ideas behind the Nazi version of Volksgemeinschaft, or "people's community").
This is a brilliant work, heartbreaking, horrifying, and humorous by turns, and both histories are engrossing. Further, I think this work is an incredibly important primary source document for historians. If Mizuki can keep up this level of quality throughout the series (and there is no reason to think he can't) then this series will be a magnificent contribution to the field of history, and a key to unlocking the realities of an era.
January 1, 2023
SHOWA 1926-1939: A History of Japan by Shigeru Mizuki, translated from the Japanese by Zack Davisson, 2013 by @drawnandquarterly
Just finished Part 1 (of 4) of Mizuki's epic manga history of Japan and memoir of his own life. Started this one in the last days of #JanuaryinJapan and wanted to take my time with this monumental work. There are great end notes referenced throughout, providing context on cultural and economic touchstones and events. This volume covers rising Japanese imperialism, incursions into Manchuria, Korea, and the Nanking Massacre, the impoverished homefront, brief war with USSR, and the foreign policy and alliances/growing animosity in Europe and North America.
Alternating chapters split between these chronological historical events, and events in Mizuki's own childhood. Macro/micro approach similar to Riad Sattouf's Arab of the Future series in child's voice of world events, mixed with personal history. I liked this, and the way the art style changes from the "photographic" drawing of history, and more cartoon style for his own life.
Graphic memoirs and nonfiction are a particular favorite of mine, and I loved seeing this manga approach.
Will definitely be reading the other 3 SHOWA series this year. Volume 2 covers WWII, V3 the post-war years, and V4 through 1989. Very appreciative for the opportunity to learn more about this time period through Japanese perspective.
Just finished Part 1 (of 4) of Mizuki's epic manga history of Japan and memoir of his own life. Started this one in the last days of #JanuaryinJapan and wanted to take my time with this monumental work. There are great end notes referenced throughout, providing context on cultural and economic touchstones and events. This volume covers rising Japanese imperialism, incursions into Manchuria, Korea, and the Nanking Massacre, the impoverished homefront, brief war with USSR, and the foreign policy and alliances/growing animosity in Europe and North America.
Alternating chapters split between these chronological historical events, and events in Mizuki's own childhood. Macro/micro approach similar to Riad Sattouf's Arab of the Future series in child's voice of world events, mixed with personal history. I liked this, and the way the art style changes from the "photographic" drawing of history, and more cartoon style for his own life.
Graphic memoirs and nonfiction are a particular favorite of mine, and I loved seeing this manga approach.
Will definitely be reading the other 3 SHOWA series this year. Volume 2 covers WWII, V3 the post-war years, and V4 through 1989. Very appreciative for the opportunity to learn more about this time period through Japanese perspective.
December 28, 2018
The drawback is a little bit too much detail that you'd soon forget (names, characters, events in a yearbook review format instead of storybuilding of a certain key characters). Feeling a moral obligation to retain info, youre soon exhausted at the very factual and narrative description of events-unfolding (Jason Lutes' Berlin comes to mind as a stark counterexample). The narraters own story as a child/adolscent matches with the parallel developments in the political/world stage merely chronologically. Nonetheless its an ambitious work and the subject matter/presentation is intriguing enough that i ordered the other 3 parts after borrowing the 1st from a friend (and realizing he only has/has read the one part!)
April 5, 2023
A graphic format historical chronicle of major events, disasters and political climate in Japan from years 1926 to 1939. This includes Japanese Invasion of China using annexed Korean soldiers . These events are not well known with granularity outside of Japan.
What makes this book special is, these events and background stories are laid out from Japanese POV in an unbiased manner. Surprisingly, author is critical of several nationalistic policies of Japanese politicians and Military leaders of that time.
Author not only show the major events that happened during that time graphically , he also gives us a rare glimpse of rural and urban Japanese people's life full of struggles and despairs .
This book is a primer to understand the eventual alliance of Japan with the Axis Powers in WWII.
Now on to the next volume.
What makes this book special is, these events and background stories are laid out from Japanese POV in an unbiased manner. Surprisingly, author is critical of several nationalistic policies of Japanese politicians and Military leaders of that time.
Author not only show the major events that happened during that time graphically , he also gives us a rare glimpse of rural and urban Japanese people's life full of struggles and despairs .
This book is a primer to understand the eventual alliance of Japan with the Axis Powers in WWII.
Now on to the next volume.
August 30, 2021
This is brilliant throughout all its roughly 550 pages. Shigeru Mizuki is a master storyteller. Very much looking forward to picking up the other three installments in this manga series.
August 5, 2018
An amazing and interesting history of Japan told in graphic novel format. It took me awhile to get used to the different styles interspersed throughout the book. There are gorgeous realistic depictions of things right along with very simple, cartoony drawings. I'm excited to read the whole series, and I know that I will refer back to this often.
December 12, 2023
I read this a couple years ago but at the time I wasn't patient enough to enjoy the political aspects of the story - and even now much of the information goes right through me. I don't have much groundwork for appreciating Japanese politics. I wish Canada had a creator of Mizuki's talents write a similar book for my country's 20th century history. This kind of resource must make it so much easier for Japanese students to get good grades in school!
I had just read Mizuki's Nonnonba which focuses mostly on his childhood. This book covers a very similar period and there's a lot of repeated stories. Unfortunately for this book these stories were told better in Nonnonba (where they were given more room for development). I think future volumes will be more interesting because the memoirs will be new to me.
Once again Mizuki proves himself to be one of the greatest comic writers I know of. I'm so upset... after this series I'll have read all the work available in English for Mizuki!
D+Q have so far published:
Showa (1-4)
NonNonBa
Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths
Kitaro (D+Q is publishing this ongoing, so I guess I'll have some new stuff to read soon!)
Shigeru Mizuki’s Hitler
I always get frustrated reading classic Manga because there's no good English resources for looking up bibliographies. Were there more books that Mizuki wrote that could see potential publication in English? If so, where is the Kickstarter for hiring a translator!? I'd donate to that. I almost want to take up Japanese just so I don't have to wait. I need more of these books D+Q! On that note: Why haven't we seen a new Tatsumi book in 5 years!? It kills me to know that these masters have so much work not available.
I had just read Mizuki's Nonnonba which focuses mostly on his childhood. This book covers a very similar period and there's a lot of repeated stories. Unfortunately for this book these stories were told better in Nonnonba (where they were given more room for development). I think future volumes will be more interesting because the memoirs will be new to me.
Once again Mizuki proves himself to be one of the greatest comic writers I know of. I'm so upset... after this series I'll have read all the work available in English for Mizuki!
D+Q have so far published:
Showa (1-4)
NonNonBa
Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths
Kitaro (D+Q is publishing this ongoing, so I guess I'll have some new stuff to read soon!)
Shigeru Mizuki’s Hitler
I always get frustrated reading classic Manga because there's no good English resources for looking up bibliographies. Were there more books that Mizuki wrote that could see potential publication in English? If so, where is the Kickstarter for hiring a translator!? I'd donate to that. I almost want to take up Japanese just so I don't have to wait. I need more of these books D+Q! On that note: Why haven't we seen a new Tatsumi book in 5 years!? It kills me to know that these masters have so much work not available.
April 9, 2018
I actually took a course in college about Japanese history and I remember how dull my teacher turned something so intriguing. It was nothing short of a crime in my opinion. I wish she had just recommended this series to the class or even mentioned the word manga.
This book has a lot of details packed in and the footnotes are great starting off points for further research. Sometimes the names can get a bit confusing because they are a bit unusual and there’s so many. But for the first time, a decade after that doomed college course I know of what really went down in Japan before the Second World War.
It covers the economics, the politics, the executions samurai style, the suicides, the slogans, the journalism and news media and the household gossip in Japan in this period.
My English translation sadly had a misspelling of Subhash Chandra Bose
Mizuki loves his country, but he doesn’t shy away from sharing where his country went wrong. The narrator is incredibly charming . Mizuki draws himself too with all his vulnerability and imperfections, it’s so endearing. Of course this a great book. Everyone knows that. There’s streets and museums in japan by the name of the author. So please go read it if Japan is of any interest to you.
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This book has a lot of details packed in and the footnotes are great starting off points for further research. Sometimes the names can get a bit confusing because they are a bit unusual and there’s so many. But for the first time, a decade after that doomed college course I know of what really went down in Japan before the Second World War.
It covers the economics, the politics, the executions samurai style, the suicides, the slogans, the journalism and news media and the household gossip in Japan in this period.
My English translation sadly had a misspelling of Subhash Chandra Bose
Mizuki loves his country, but he doesn’t shy away from sharing where his country went wrong. The narrator is incredibly charming . Mizuki draws himself too with all his vulnerability and imperfections, it’s so endearing. Of course this a great book. Everyone knows that. There’s streets and museums in japan by the name of the author. So please go read it if Japan is of any interest to you.
.
April 17, 2021
An amazing insight into one man's growing up and how the war in China and the beginning of WW2 affected him. The art is excellent as is the writing.
September 10, 2018
Incredibly compelling history that strikes a great balance between the author's personal experience and the cultural and political context. Looking forward to the rest of the series.
June 26, 2017
Bottom Line First
Showa 1926-1939: A History of Japan (Showa: A History of Japan) Paperback – November 12, 2013
by Shigeru Mizuki (Author), Zack Davisson (Translator) achieves most of it purpose. Shigeru tells and illustrates his autobiography as a child of the period of Japanese history he is also telling. He reason for this history as picture book if that Japanese students tend to receive a very sanitized version of Japan’s role as aggressor in more than the 15 year period that the Imperial Japanese Army engaged in a number of incidents in neighboring Korea and China. As a graphic history, rather than a graphic novel it is a superior effort. Writer, artist Shgeru Mizuki is one of the top names in Japanese Manga. That is he is both an artist and a writer and became one years after losing his writing arm as a soldier in World War II. This is an easy recommendation for fans but a slightly less enthusiastic recommendation for a more serious minded reader.
It is a fairly old story that Japan has not done a good job of teaching its 20th Century history to its students. They are aware that their country lost World War II but may have a little or no appreciation for the aggressive way their country helped to initiate the war and the often vicious method employed as warriors and conquerors.
Showa is the name for the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of the Shōwa Emperor, Hirohito, from December 25, 1926, through January 7, 1989. Mizuki also lived through this period and his intention was to tell his life’s story as context for also telling something closer to the truth about how Japan acted during this era. He begins with a great earthquake in 1923 and follows with a series of episodes as the Japanese economy follows the world’s economy into what he calls the “American Depression”.
Much of the narrative is carried by a famous Mizuki character called Ratman. Vaguely akin to America’s Donald Duck but a more serious guide rather than a trickster. The narrative begins as mostly disjointed recollections and simple facts about certain events. The absence of analysis can make it hard to understand why we are being told things, but this is also the time of a very young Mizuki who may have only had a vague awareness of the larger events of his country.
Towards the end there may be some analysis but never much and never at any depth. We are shown that the Japanese Army empowered itself to launch invasions and conduct military incidents seemingly despite or without any direction from the civil government. Ministers and opposing voices are assassinated with a regularity that has an almost casual feel to it. In a few years there are reported several attempted military takeovers, backed by killings and no one seems to have been held accountable in such a way as to thwart or deter the next plotters.
If the historic content is lacking the artwork is not. Important people, events and iconic images are reproduced exactly using a technique developed to achieve photo realism. Other images are more impressionistic and typical of Japanese graphic novels, but this is a style all the author helped to develop.
As a study, Showa is uneven and lacking in depth. As a Graphic History, autobiography and demonstration of the serious capabilities of manga it is more than worth reading. I will be seeking out a copy of the next collection of this 4 volume series.
Showa 1926-1939: A History of Japan (Showa: A History of Japan) Paperback – November 12, 2013
by Shigeru Mizuki (Author), Zack Davisson (Translator) achieves most of it purpose. Shigeru tells and illustrates his autobiography as a child of the period of Japanese history he is also telling. He reason for this history as picture book if that Japanese students tend to receive a very sanitized version of Japan’s role as aggressor in more than the 15 year period that the Imperial Japanese Army engaged in a number of incidents in neighboring Korea and China. As a graphic history, rather than a graphic novel it is a superior effort. Writer, artist Shgeru Mizuki is one of the top names in Japanese Manga. That is he is both an artist and a writer and became one years after losing his writing arm as a soldier in World War II. This is an easy recommendation for fans but a slightly less enthusiastic recommendation for a more serious minded reader.
It is a fairly old story that Japan has not done a good job of teaching its 20th Century history to its students. They are aware that their country lost World War II but may have a little or no appreciation for the aggressive way their country helped to initiate the war and the often vicious method employed as warriors and conquerors.
Showa is the name for the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of the Shōwa Emperor, Hirohito, from December 25, 1926, through January 7, 1989. Mizuki also lived through this period and his intention was to tell his life’s story as context for also telling something closer to the truth about how Japan acted during this era. He begins with a great earthquake in 1923 and follows with a series of episodes as the Japanese economy follows the world’s economy into what he calls the “American Depression”.
Much of the narrative is carried by a famous Mizuki character called Ratman. Vaguely akin to America’s Donald Duck but a more serious guide rather than a trickster. The narrative begins as mostly disjointed recollections and simple facts about certain events. The absence of analysis can make it hard to understand why we are being told things, but this is also the time of a very young Mizuki who may have only had a vague awareness of the larger events of his country.
Towards the end there may be some analysis but never much and never at any depth. We are shown that the Japanese Army empowered itself to launch invasions and conduct military incidents seemingly despite or without any direction from the civil government. Ministers and opposing voices are assassinated with a regularity that has an almost casual feel to it. In a few years there are reported several attempted military takeovers, backed by killings and no one seems to have been held accountable in such a way as to thwart or deter the next plotters.
If the historic content is lacking the artwork is not. Important people, events and iconic images are reproduced exactly using a technique developed to achieve photo realism. Other images are more impressionistic and typical of Japanese graphic novels, but this is a style all the author helped to develop.
As a study, Showa is uneven and lacking in depth. As a Graphic History, autobiography and demonstration of the serious capabilities of manga it is more than worth reading. I will be seeking out a copy of the next collection of this 4 volume series.
January 20, 2021
SHOWA, 1926-1939 is the first of a four-volume history of modern Japan, its overall chronology corresponding to the long reign of Emperor Hirohito (also known as the Showa era). The author devotes some attention to his own autobiography, to a childhood dominated by elaborate gang battles and an adolescence marred by a listless apprenticeship. Most of the volume Shigeru Mizuki devotes to the larger story of his homeland, whose civilian government lost legitimacy in the financially straitened and hungry 1920s, and whose Army then spent the 1930s in a slow-motion mutiny. By 1939, when this volume ends, the military tail had grown to wag the parliamentary dog, and the Japanese found themselves embroiled in a long war with neighboring China. Mizuki lays partial blame for the East Asian war at the feet of Japan’s civilians, who idolized their armed forces and giddily celebrated military victories. The final pages imply, however, that Japan’s subsequent wartime “suffering” was largely the fault of Tojo’s junta, an implication that potentially lets the millions who enabled Japanese militarism off the hook.
January 20, 2019
This graphic novel is a hard one to rate - on one hand, I really enjoyed the realistic rendering of famous photos and historic moments, on the other hand I felt the entire narrative was too clinical at times and filled with hard data. Perhaps that is the disadvantage of this medium - you need words, lots of context to properly flesh out history. The author does try to do that, and the autobiographical parts highlight his insight, but this can serve only as an introduction to this period. Lots of battles and soldiers, with some interesting art and media points mixed in, but only the bare bones of the larger tale.
What is fascinating though is the correlation of Japanese history to fascist movements in Europe - the same economic depression, starvation, and anger, with rising communist and ultra-nationalist movements mixed in for the tragedy to come. Just as Nazis had Jews, the Japanese have the Communists and then Chinese to fight. The same old story - the military is portrayed as heroic and war the solution to all problems, while oppression of free speech makes thinking otherwise into a fast way to ruin.
So now you see why I have trouble to rate this book - the attention to detail in pictures deserves a 5, but the slight jumps across time and bare-boned history lesson deserve a 3. So I'm giving it a 3.5 stars, and decide whether to raise it once I see other volumes of the series. This is, after all, only an introduction.
What is fascinating though is the correlation of Japanese history to fascist movements in Europe - the same economic depression, starvation, and anger, with rising communist and ultra-nationalist movements mixed in for the tragedy to come. Just as Nazis had Jews, the Japanese have the Communists and then Chinese to fight. The same old story - the military is portrayed as heroic and war the solution to all problems, while oppression of free speech makes thinking otherwise into a fast way to ruin.
So now you see why I have trouble to rate this book - the attention to detail in pictures deserves a 5, but the slight jumps across time and bare-boned history lesson deserve a 3. So I'm giving it a 3.5 stars, and decide whether to raise it once I see other volumes of the series. This is, after all, only an introduction.
January 9, 2015
Can I just say how happy I am that we're finally seeing English translations of Shigeru Mizuki's work? He's almost as legendary as Osamu Tezuka, but less well-known here in the west. The Showa series is part autobiography, part history. Mizuki created this series in part because he worried that younger Japanese were forgetting the lessons of the early Showa era (the whole era ran 1926-1989), particularly the militarization leading up to WWII. Having lived during this time, he hoped his personal account would help bring the history to life. Some of the material in this volume is identical to parts of Mizuki's Nonnonba, a book telling of his life with the old woman who sparked his lifelong fascination with yokai (Japanese ghosts, demons, monsters, etc.) Even retread Mizuki is worth reading, though, and it's only a small part of a fascinating book. Looking forward to the rest of the series!
August 1, 2015
Shigeru Mizuki's "Showa: 1926 - 1939" is a fascinating era in Japanese history. Also a very hard life in most of those years due to worldwide depression as well as Japan launching the war and invading parts of Asia. Mizuki tells the tale, by adding his personal childhood narratives throughout the manga. So what you are getting is very much a straight ahead history book, but with some inner observations from the artist/creator. I like it that he goes back and forth from memoir to tell the history of a country. He also touches on the cinema, theater, and pop culture, but mostly the book stays very close to the politics of the time. For those, who need to get a quick reference, "Showa" is really good. This is part 1 of what I believe is four additional volumes. Impressive work.
April 28, 2015
Amazing manga. I'm upset that I don't have the second volume to start reading at once. This is such a momentous period in Japanese history which is fairly impenetrable if you are a westerner. You can read a series of events which took place, but the social changes and the effects on the Japanese psyche which the upheavals of modernization and militarization wrought cannot be conveyed with precision except by someone who lived through it. This is a treasure and I cannot wait to read the next volume.
November 14, 2021
Me lo aspettavo più romanzato e meno documentaristico. Sono tantissime informazioni da recepire – infatti ho dovuto dividere la lettura in tre grosse tranche. Però davvero interessante e dettagliato.
December 6, 2015
Incredible, simply incredible. I've already learned to appreciate the graphic novel as an excellent medium for history, but Mizuki's work is superlative. The artwork is stellar (contrast between photorealism for historical panels and simplistic for the personal); his account of Japan's road to war is not rote and actually added to my knowledge; and the bottom line is that the Japan that went to war was a modern society, and therefore there are numerous uncomfortable echoes of the road to war in other, more democratic societies. Societies at war tend to resemble each other more than partisans would like to think.
January 24, 2016
This book was the perfect mix of history, culture, memoir and Manga style. There is no doubt this 500 page book was an epic undertaking and the author handled it with brilliance and balance in the face of politically charged events. The story felt larger than life and yet was also the intimate expression of a young man growing up in Japan in the Showa Period. Mizuki's delivery allowed me to learn more about Japanese history than I think I would have had I read multiple history books. It is very entertaining as a story but I would only recommend it to someone who wants to discover more about the history of Japan.
May 16, 2017
This was one of the best history books that I've ever read! At first, of may look intimidating because of its size, but because it is written in comic form. The author does a really good job of illustrating the history, but also including details of his own life as well. Overall, I would I'm highly recommend this to anyone who lives history, but also enjoys personal accounts from the time period.
July 4, 2017
I've finally sat down to read all of the Showa volumes, one after the other. This is a very different kind of narrative, an unusual history, with Mizuki juggling multiple approaches at the same time.
December 12, 2023
Incredibly interesting book on the Showa period (this one covers 1926-1939). This is both a traditional “comic” book and a history book all wrapped up in one. It is so fascinating to read (and see) the author’s life played out in a rural Japanese town while also seeing all of the great (and honestly, terrible) world events occurring. Obviously being from the west, there is so much history that I have no idea about, but it goes so deep. Reading about what lead up to Japan’s involvement in WWII was all brand new to me. It’s easy to think that most of the world’s issues come (or have historically come) from our side of the planet but man, sin and struggle truly is a global language.
I think the only part I struggled with in this book is that the names and places are so foreign to me, I often lost track of who did what and where, and why that was significant. Regardless, I am excited to read the next one!
I think the only part I struggled with in this book is that the names and places are so foreign to me, I often lost track of who did what and where, and why that was significant. Regardless, I am excited to read the next one!
February 11, 2023
Book 1 of the history of Japans Showa Period through Manga by one of the art forms greatest artists.
It has two parts, intermingled, 1 a straight history with stunning almost photorealistic art work and an autobiography of the authors life whos life corresponded almost exactly with this period done in a cartooney format, which is jarring at first but after awhile really flows. This allows you to get both a high level overview of how the Japanese saw the lead up to WW2 and also the common perspective and slice of life view of everyday Japanese.
A phenomenal manga. highly recommended. I'm looking forward to reading the next one that covers the WW2 period.
It has two parts, intermingled, 1 a straight history with stunning almost photorealistic art work and an autobiography of the authors life whos life corresponded almost exactly with this period done in a cartooney format, which is jarring at first but after awhile really flows. This allows you to get both a high level overview of how the Japanese saw the lead up to WW2 and also the common perspective and slice of life view of everyday Japanese.
A phenomenal manga. highly recommended. I'm looking forward to reading the next one that covers the WW2 period.
April 18, 2025
An incredibly detailed timeline of Japan's descent into fascism and militarism that would ultimately boil over into the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific Theater of WWII, as well as a very funny and touching biography of a Japanese boy maturing during one of the most tumultuous times in history. I can't recommend this manga enough, great art that changes styles depending on context, and an important lesson to learn in recognizing authoritarianism and its death grip it can have on a society and its people. Can't wait to pick up and read the rest of the series!
March 16, 2024
Além de apresentar desenhos lindos em cada passagem representando os diversos acontecimentos e paisagens da história, essa obra nos mostra um belíssimo trabalho de pesquisa do quadrinista Shigeru Mizuki.
A premissa dessa série de mangá (4 volumes no total) é narrar a linha do tempo do período Showa (governo do imperador Hirohito): intrigas políticas, dilemas sociais, avanços tecnológicos, episódios lamentáveis e todos os paradigmas desse recorte temporal estão aqui.
Mas o "pulo do gato" que faz esse livro ser tão interessante é que o autor nos narra conjuntamente com a história do Japão a sua própria história, desde a infância. Ou seja, o livro acaba servindo como uma autobiografia.
Ainda não li os próximos volumes, então não posso dizer sobre a qualidade deles, porém esse primeiro faz muito bem o trabalho de nos prender a atenção e se interessar pela história do período. Se você gosta de história, do Japão (ou melhor ainda, dos dois!), não perca tempo e leia esse quadrinho.
A premissa dessa série de mangá (4 volumes no total) é narrar a linha do tempo do período Showa (governo do imperador Hirohito): intrigas políticas, dilemas sociais, avanços tecnológicos, episódios lamentáveis e todos os paradigmas desse recorte temporal estão aqui.
Mas o "pulo do gato" que faz esse livro ser tão interessante é que o autor nos narra conjuntamente com a história do Japão a sua própria história, desde a infância. Ou seja, o livro acaba servindo como uma autobiografia.
Ainda não li os próximos volumes, então não posso dizer sobre a qualidade deles, porém esse primeiro faz muito bem o trabalho de nos prender a atenção e se interessar pela história do período. Se você gosta de história, do Japão (ou melhor ainda, dos dois!), não perca tempo e leia esse quadrinho.
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