Showa 1953-1989: A History of Japan

by Shigeru Mizuki, Zack Davisson (Translator)

Overview

2016 Eisner Award Winner for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia

The final volume in the Eisner-nominated history of Japan; one of NPR's Best Books of 2014!

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781770462014
Publisher:	Drawn & Quarterly
Publication date:	09/29/2015
Series:	Showa: A History of Japan , #4
Pages:	552
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 8.80(h) x 2.30(d)

About the Author

Shigeru Mizuki (1922–2015) was one of Japan’s most respected artists. A creative prodigy, he lost an arm in World War II. After the war, Mizuki became one of the founders of Japan’s latest craze—manga. He invented the yokai genre with GeGeGe no Kitaro, his most famous character, who has been adapted for the screen several times, as anime, live action, and video games. In fact, a new anime series has been made every decade since 1968, capturing the imaginations of generations of Japanese children. A researcher of yokai and a real-life ghost hunter, Mizuki traveled to over sixty countries to engage in fieldwork based on spirit folklore. In his hometown of Sakaiminato, one can find Shigeru Mizuki Road, a street decorated with bronze statues of his Kitaro characters.

Editorial Reviews

There's just something uncannily, well ... wise about Mizuki. In one segment he'll be an icy judge, in another a cynical gadfly, then a daffy outcast. His drawing style varies wildly: He'll lavish detail on a jungle backdrop, then put two overtly cartoony soldiers in front of it. But he depicts Japan's military leaders with more realism, and his re-creations of actual photos of dead bodies — both during and after the war — are utterly somber.” —NPR

“Drawn & Quarterly's translation of Shigeru Mizuki's historical epic Showa is perhaps the great achievement in American manga publishing this year...Mizuki's canny, self-excoriating memoir draws the reader close and into the intimate heart of the 20th century's worst conflict.” —AV Club Best Comics of 2014

“Showa is literature, illustrated or not, at its finest: a story that sweeps you off your feet only to find, when you return to Earth, that nothing looks quite the same.” —Los Angeles Times

From the Publisher