Showa 1926-1939: A History of Japan [Paperback]

A fascinating period in Japanese history recounted by mangas most distinguished author

Showa 19261939: A History of Japan lays the groundwork for Eisner award-winning author Shigeru Mizukis 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 authors 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 Mizukis 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.A powerful, maddening and at times bitterly funny war story--a revealing look at World War II from the opposite side. Dan Kois, NPR

Shigeru Mizuki is one of Japan's greatest illustrators, a master of both realism and manga. The Globe and MailShigeru Mizuki (19222015) was one of Japans most respected artists. A creative prodigy, he lost an arm in World War II. After the war, Mizuki became one of the founders of Japans latest crazemanga. 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,lƒq