Showa: A History of Japan

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. An 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]

Showa: A History of Japan
Cover of the first publication
コミック昭和史
(Komikku Shōwa-shi)
GenreHistorical
Manga
Written byShigeru Mizuki
Published byKodansha
English publisher
DemographicSeinen
Original run1988 – 1989
Volumes8

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 as 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 & 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 and 2016, respectively, the first edition and the fourth edition of Showa published by Drawn & Quarterly were nominated by the Harvey Awards in the category "Best American Edition of Foreign Material".[11][12] It was also nominated at the Eisner Award in the category "Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia" in 2014 for Showa 1926-1939,[13] and it won it in 2015 and 2016 for Showa 1939-1944 and Showa 1953-1989 respectively.[14][15]

Comics critic Paul Gravett elected Showa: A History of Japan the third best manga published in North America in 2014, asking "What a better way to tell an epic modern history lesson than in these multi-layered, accessible manga?"[16]

Ian Scheffler of the Los Angeles Times praised the "knack for narrative" and "ability to convey the mood of a nation" expressed by the author.[17]

References
  1. Mizuki, Shigeru (November 2013). Showa 1926-1939: A History of Japan. Mizuki Publishers. ISBN 9781770461352. Archived from the original on 30 May 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2015.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. 昭和史 : コミック 第1巻 (関東大震災～満州事変) (in Japanese). National Diet Library. 1988. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  3. 昭和史 : コミック 第8巻 (高度成長以降) (in Japanese). National Diet Library. 1989. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  4. コミック昭和史（1）関東大震災～満州事変 (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  5. コミック昭和史（8）高度成長以降 (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  6. コミック昭和史 全8巻セット (in Japanese). Kodansha. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  7. 過去の出版物 平成16（2004）年 (in Japanese). Mizuki Production. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  8. "Drawn & Quarterly Adds Shigeru Mizuki's Showa Manga". Anime News Network. February 4, 2013. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  9. "Products by Shigeru Mizuki". Drawn & Quarterly. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  10. Joel Hahn. "Kodansha Manga Awards". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved 2009-04-05.
  11. "The 2014 Harvey Award Nominations Are Revealed". IGN. Ziff Davis Media. July 16, 2014. Retrieved August 3, 2014.
  12. "One-Punch Man, Showa: A History of Japan Nominated for Harvey Awards". Anime News Network. July 6, 2016. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
  13. "Suehiro Maruo's The Strange Tale of Panorama Island Manga Nominated for Eisner Award". Anime News Network. April 15, 2014. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
  14. "Shigeru Mizuki's Showa Manga Wins Eisner Award". Anime News Network. July 11, 2015. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
  15. "Shigeru Mizuki's Showa 1953-1989: A History of Japan Wins Eisner Award". Anime News Network. July 23, 2016. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
  16. Gravett, Paul (December 28, 2014). "PG Tips No.41: My Best Comics & Manga of 2014: Year in Review". paulgravett.com. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  17. Scheffler, Ian (2014-11-07). "Review: Shigeru Mizuki's 'Showa' draws a graphic portrait of Japan". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2023-04-02.
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