Showa: A History of Japan
| Showa: A History of Japan | |
 Cover of the first publication | |
| コミック昭和史 (Komikku Shōwa-shi) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Historical |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Shigeru Mizuki |
| Published by | Kodansha |
| English publisher | |
| Demographic | Seinen |
| Original run | 1988 – 1989 |
| Volumes | 13 |
Showa: A History of Japan, known in Japan as Comic Showa-shi (Japanese: コミック昭和史 Hepburn: Komikku Shōwa-shi, literally "A Comics History of the Showa Era"), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Shigeru Mizuki. A semi autobiographical work, this manga describes the author's experiences growing up during the Shōwa period. The author is a veteran of the Japanese army, but his series is filled with critical views of Japanese and American militarism.[1]
Release
The manga was originally released by Kodansha as Shōwa-shi: Comic (昭和史: コミック Shōwa-shi: Komikku) between November 1988 and December 1989.[2][3] The manga was republished was Comic Showa-shi by Kodansha from August 1, to November 4, 1994,[4][5] and a box with all the eight volumes was released on December 14, 1994.[6] An adaptation titled Kamishibai Shōwa-shi (紙芝居昭和史, lit. "A Kamishibai Story of the Showa Era") was written by Kōji Kata and published on August 19, 2004 by Iwanami Shoten.[7]
In February 2013, Drawn and Quarterly announced it would publish the manga under the title Showa: A History of Japan.[8] The company released Showa 1926-1939 in October 2013, Showa 1939-1944 in May 2014, Showa 1944-1953 in November 2014, and Showa 1953-1989 in September 2015.[9]
Reception
It received the 1989 Kodansha Manga Award for the general category.[10] In 2014, the first edition of Showa published by Drawn and Quarterly was nominated by the Harvey Awards in the category "Best American Edition of Foreign Material".[11] It was also nominated at the Eisner Award in the category "Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia" in 2014 and 2015 for Showa 1926-1939 and Showa 1939-1944 respectively.[12][13]
Comics critic Paul Gravett elected Showa: A History of Japan the third best manga published in North American in 2014, asking "What a better way to tell an epic modern history lesson than in these multi-layered, accessible manga?"[14]
References
- ↑ Mizuki, Shigeru (November 2013). Showa 1926-1939: A History of Japan. Mizuki Publishers. ISBN 9781770461352. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
- ↑ 昭和史 : コミック 第1巻 (関東大震災～満州事変) (in Japanese). National Diet Library. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
- ↑ 昭和史 : コミック 第8巻 (高度成長以降) (in Japanese). National Diet Library. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
- ↑ コミック昭和史（1）関東大震災～満州事変 (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
- ↑ コミック昭和史（8）高度成長以降 (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
- ↑ コミック昭和史 全8巻セット (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
- ↑ 過去の出版物 平成16（2004）年 (in Japanese). Mizuki Production. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
- ↑ "Drawn & Quarterly Adds Shigeru Mizuki's Showa Manga". Anime News Network. February 4, 2013. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
- ↑ "Products by Shigeru Mizuki". Drawn and Quarterly. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
- ↑ Joel Hahn. "Kodansha Manga Awards". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved 2009-04-05.
- ↑ "The 2014 Harvey Award Nominations Are Revealed". IGN. Ziff Davis Media. July 16, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
- ↑ "Suehiro Maruo's The Strange Tale of Panorama Island Manga Nominated for Eisner Award". Anime News Network. April 15, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
- ↑ "All You Need Is Kill, In Clothes Called Fat, Master Keaton, One-Punch Man, Mizuki's Showa, Wolf Children Nominated for Eisner Awards". Anime News Network. April 22, 2015. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
- ↑ Gravett, Paul (December 28, 2014). "PG Tips No.41: My Best Comics & Manga of 2014: Year in Review". paulgravett.com. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
External links
- Showa: A History of Japan (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia