The Representation of Japanese Politics in Manga: The Visual Literacy of Statecraft

Description

This edited volume explores political motives, discourses and agendas in Japanese manga and graphic art with the objective of highlighting the agency of Japanese and wider Asian story-telling traditions within the context of global political traditions.　Highly illustrated chapters presented here investigate the multifaceted relationship between Japan’s political storytelling practices, media and bureaucratic discourse, as played out between both the visual arts and modern pop-cultural authors. From pioneering cartoonist Tezuka Osamu, contemporary manga artists such as Kotobuki Shiriagari and Fumiyo Kōno, to videogames and everyday merchandise, a wealth of source material is analysed using cross-genre techniques. Furthermore, the book resists claims that manga, unlike the bandes dessinées and American superhero comic traditions, is apolitical. On the contrary, contributors demonstrate that manga and the mediality of graphic arts have begun to actively incorporate political discourses, undermining hegemonic cultural constructs that support either the status quo, or emerging brands of neonationalism in Japanese society. The Representation of Politics in Manga will be a dynamic resource for students and scholars of Japanese studies, media and popular cultural studies, as well as practitioners in the graphic arts. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of figures Notes on contributors Foreword Acknowledgements Chapter 1: Introduction: the political potential of manga Manga and politics – the visual literacy of statecraft Prolegomenon: are manga political? From the political cartoons to the politics of graphic art Educational versus political manga A brief history of politics in Japanese manga From local to global cartoon controversies: a brief dialectic Japan’s own cartoon affair: Toshiko Hasumi and the Syrian refugee affair Manga as overt political artefact Conclusion Chapter overview Notes References Chapter 2: Re-envisioning the Dark Valley and the decline of the peace state Introduction Media and memory Fan discussions on the intersection of pop culture and politics The Asia–Pacific War era in manga February 26th in fantasy manga Fantasy Februaries and the narrative allure of conspiracy and coups d’état Potential policy implications Conclusion Notes References Chapter 3: Kobayashi Yoshinori’s just war and unjust peace: Sensō ron, arrogant-ismand selective memory Introduction Purity, righteousness, and beauty in Kobayashi’s—and Japan’s—just war The just war’s unjust peace and resulting societal breakdown Kobayashi’s prescription: gōmanism (aka: arrogant-ism) Conclusion: Kobayashi’s fugue state and Shinmin no michi (the path of the subject) Notes References Chapter 4: Sexual politics in manga: Pan-Pan Girls confronting the US occupation, Vietnam War and Japan’s Article 9 revision Introduction Pan-Pan Girls contesting the “workshop of democracy” Pan-Pan Girls advocating anti-Anpo and anti-Vietnam views Pan-Pan Girls sneering at the Article 9 revision Conclusion Notes References Chapter 5: NEETs versus nuns: visualizing the moral panic of Japanese conservatives Introduction Christianity and the historical politics of alterity Overcoming Christianity in Shōnen media Redeeming Christianity in Josei Manga Outgrowing Christianity in Indie Manga Conclusion Notes References Chapter 6: The body political: women and war in Kantai Collection Introduction Gameplay and ideology in Kantai Collection Militarising the female body Roles of women in Kantai Collection Sexual objects and ‘changing fate’: anime and manga adaptations KanColle and right-wing rhetoric Conclusions Notes References Chapter 7: Towards an unrestrained military: manga narratives of the self-defenceforces Introduction Historical background The self-defence forces and popular culture Aozakura: the story of the National Defense Academy Gate: Thus the Japan Self-Defense Forces Fought There Conclusion Notes References Chapter 8: The political representation of Hiroshima in the graphic art of Kōno Fumiyo Introduction Towards a historiography of A-bomb Manga Shattering the taboo of silence Manipulating viewpoints in In This Corner of the World Feminisation of belonging: escaping the nostalgia of furusato In This Corner of the World as a site of parodic trauma Conclusion Notes References Chapter 9: What Tezuka would tell Trump: critiquing Japanese cultural nationalism in Gringo Introduction A new Japanese family circa 1987 Fake news Constructing Japaneseness Will the real Japanese please stand up? Conclusion: make Japan great again Notes References Chapter 10: Questioning the politics of popular culture: Tatsuta Kazuto’s manga 1F and the national discourse on 3/11 Introduction The ‘reality’ of Fukushima A worker’s view from inside Fukushima Behind the mask, behind the curtain The red line of depiction Politics of manga in the wake of 3/11 Notes References Chapter 11: Database nationalism: the disaggregation of nation, nationalism and symbol in pop culture Introduction Japanese nationalism(s) Database nationalism The Otaku self-defenseforces: database nationalism in Gēto Magical girls at war: database national symbols in Sutoraiku witchīzu Conclusion Notes References Chapter 12: Envisioning nuclear futures: Shiriagari Kotobuki’s 3/11 manga from hope to despair Images of the nuclear in Manga Since That Day Making radiation visible Recourse to history: from Hiroshima to Chernobyl The invisible and the unspeakable The invisibility of forgetting Notes References Chapter 13: Kokoro: civic epistemology of self-knowledge in Japanese war-themed manga Precedents of Kokoro in literature and social science research Illustrating distortion through the traitor discourse Kokoro as a civic epistemology of self-knowledge Barefoot Gen: the vita activa of kokoro Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths: the vita contemplativa of kokoro Message to Adolf: problematising kokoro Conclusion Notes References Chapter 14: In conclusion: Abenomics, Trumpism and manga Notes References Index