Showa 1926-1939: A History of Japan (Showa: A History of Japan (#1)) Paperback – 6 Jan. 2013

Really nice story combining interesting history lesson with the author's personal life from his childhood. Mizuki-San is famous in Japan for his Ge-Ge-Ge no Kitaro cartoon so his childhood also includes tales of ghosts and features his neighbour/nanny Nononba who introduced him to tales of Yokai monsters. The pre-WW2 history seems very well researched and includes little stories that i'm sure would be interesting even to history buffs. Slightly unusual to combine both comedy and serious history but it works and is easy to read. I am a fan of this author so I may be slightly biased.

I couldn't put it down. I really enjoyed the combination of pure historical facts mixed with autobiographical parts. Great drawings!

Great comic,Nicely drawn and nice story.It is strange that a Japanese guy wrote with criticism of Japan.

This graphic novel is the first of a 4-part series in which the author maps his biography against Japanese history, neatly covering the Showa period (1926-89). This first volume covers the growth of militaristic nationalism from the 1923 earthquake, the 1927 recession and the 1932 Great Depression. The army and navy operate independently of the elected government and they exploit their domination of Korea, extend into Manchuria and invade China. Apparently, there is no formal declaration of war as that would bring in the United Nations, so the book comes as a series of ‘incidents’ that are war by another name. It is not actually a linear series as much of the book circles around the Mukden Incident and various attempted military coups (around 1930-33).The public history is presented in a stern style and the biographical parts in a more cartoon style (reminding me a bit of the Beano’s Bash Street Kids). Mediating between the 2 is a narrator: a strange creature heavily wrapped - apparently he is a famous Japanese cartoon character, who is as recognisable as Donald Duck.Mizuki notes how the military wanted to assert Japanese power without liberal compromises and they duped the public to drive their agenda, using the new tools of mass communication. He is critical of this, though notes how he bought into it as a child. This seemed a bit too neat to me - I was interested in Pankaj Mishra’s presentation in From the Ruins of Empire where he sought to understand the military’s position in more structural terms. The use of mass communications and modern bureaucratic technology to unify and centralise a nation state in order to assert its power on the international stage seems to have been a common aim. The virulent split between nationalists and socialist seems an endemic/structural problem for the 20s and more so in the 30s. Recent experience has shown how easy it is to push that split for cynical reasons and how easy it is to polarise a nation - William Shirer's book on the Fall of France's Third Republic struck me as tracing a very similar path.

gran resumen de lo que ocurria en japon en esos tiempos

Shigeru Mizuki è uno dei più famosi mangaka giapponesi, specializzato nelle storie del folklore nipponico. In questo caso di focalizza sulla storia del Giappone dell'era Showa (1926-1989) e ci narra parte della sua vita. E' un manga molto interessante, pesante sotto alcuni aspetti, ma adatto soprattutto agli appassionati di storia o della cultura/storia del Giappone.Nel volume, Mizuki, utlizza tecniche artistiche differenti: da semplici disegni a schizzi molto realistici degli eventi di quegli anni. Nel primo volume della quadrilogia ci narra della nascita dell'espansionismo nipponico precedente alla Seconda Guerra Mondiale.

Honestamente? Achei que ia gostar mais. Achei bem chatinho e não prendeu minha leitura.

So interesting I could not stop reading it!Already finished it and ordered the next one, can’t wait.

Very good book and the graphic are amazing ,🎌🎌