To say comics were a part of life of many in Japan in the 60s and 70s may be an understatement. The 50s saw the rise of Osamu Tezuka’s career and the comic industry as a whole, and the 60s was full of comic authors who inspired by and, taking example from, Tezuka himself and others.
The Growing Industry
As it has before the war, satirical magazines and humorous comics flourished (No Good Daddy; 1970). However, thanks to the success of Osamu Tezuka, comics would never be as it was. “Cinematic” framing became popular and provided more dynamic images and storytelling. These included elements, as well as so many others, pushed Japanese comics ahead of all other nation’s comics [2].
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| Cover of Weekly Shonen Magazine debut issue. |
1959 is seen as Japan’s start to a comic explosion. This is the
year when the comic industry was “jolted” by Shonen Magazine, which would
eventually grow to 300-page publication [3].
Recognizing that a month was a long time for a child, both Shonen Sunday and Shonen Magazine present their weekly boy magazines. Previous
serials continue to expand their reach when Astro Boy debuted this same year on
TV [1].
Fueled by a greater audience and available supply of paper and story lines, the 60s saw the introduction of the weekly magazine race, with more magazines using English titles [1]. After a few years, seven weekly comic magazines filled the market, five for boys and two for girls. Each publication followed the same format as the last, in essence self-standardizing the market. At the same time, rental libraries fell out of style as families were more able to buy the magazines for themselves. The falling of the rental libraries (discussed in Part 5 of this series) pulled its authors into work in the mainstream [3].
Artists called the switch “traumatic” as the workload quadrupled between issues [3]. The change greatly raised the work expected of comic artists and authors, or mangaka, and created a greater demand for assistants. The greater creative career option, as well as the great demand in illustrators, opened the industry to all backgrounds and social levels while helping to reach “the top-selling sector of the market” [1].
In the early 1960s, revering war comics and soldiers became popular, creating its own anti-/opposing conversation in the comic world. Authors, such as Tetsuya Chiba wrote his Taka of the Violet Lightning in 1963 in response to the rise of war comics. Chiba portrayed how he saw war, as “a disaster” and included true incidents which he recorded in interviews and letters from pilots and others who had lost family members in the war. Keiji Nakazawa’s Barefoot Gen, which also came out around this time, followed similar grounds with Chiba and his comics’ story [1]. Barefoot Gen may also be pivotal in its blame and accountability of Japan’s own government in its role in the dropping of the Atom bomb. Nakazawa seems to convey a people feeling betrayed by a government that has failed to protect them and the hardships they now must face as consequence.
Also, the 1960’s had re-opened the comic industry towards the writer's creativity, allowing authors to pull inspiration from “past, present, or future of Japan or elsewhere”. Japan’s fall in the war brought a great influx of American and western character inspiration. Stories about robots, cowboys, and samurai (which were banned during war years) began to flourish among boy’s comics. Girl’s comics also took focus of tales sometimes inspired by Western novels [2]. Although in pre-War years these stories were meant to reinforce the restrictive notion of proper feminine roles in Japanese society in an all-female setting [4], this was about to change.
Girl’s Comics/The Magnificent 24
Comics for girls separated themselves from boy’s comics by drawing style and story lines. Girl’s comics were often much more colorful than those for boys. Developing after the war, many took their lead and inspiration from Tezuka’s Princess Knight [4], which we discussed last time. These comics were often romance stories set in early Japan or outside of Japan entirely like Leiji Matsumoto’s Silver Petals [2]. In contrast, fairy tale adventures and stories of princesses were also abounding. These stories often focused on more internal issues, and developed based on emotion and beauty rather than action [4].
Fueled by a greater audience and available supply of paper and story lines, the 60s saw the introduction of the weekly magazine race, with more magazines using English titles [1]. After a few years, seven weekly comic magazines filled the market, five for boys and two for girls. Each publication followed the same format as the last, in essence self-standardizing the market. At the same time, rental libraries fell out of style as families were more able to buy the magazines for themselves. The falling of the rental libraries (discussed in Part 5 of this series) pulled its authors into work in the mainstream [3].
Artists called the switch “traumatic” as the workload quadrupled between issues [3]. The change greatly raised the work expected of comic artists and authors, or mangaka, and created a greater demand for assistants. The greater creative career option, as well as the great demand in illustrators, opened the industry to all backgrounds and social levels while helping to reach “the top-selling sector of the market” [1].
In the early 1960s, revering war comics and soldiers became popular, creating its own anti-/opposing conversation in the comic world. Authors, such as Tetsuya Chiba wrote his Taka of the Violet Lightning in 1963 in response to the rise of war comics. Chiba portrayed how he saw war, as “a disaster” and included true incidents which he recorded in interviews and letters from pilots and others who had lost family members in the war. Keiji Nakazawa’s Barefoot Gen, which also came out around this time, followed similar grounds with Chiba and his comics’ story [1]. Barefoot Gen may also be pivotal in its blame and accountability of Japan’s own government in its role in the dropping of the Atom bomb. Nakazawa seems to convey a people feeling betrayed by a government that has failed to protect them and the hardships they now must face as consequence.
Also, the 1960’s had re-opened the comic industry towards the writer's creativity, allowing authors to pull inspiration from “past, present, or future of Japan or elsewhere”. Japan’s fall in the war brought a great influx of American and western character inspiration. Stories about robots, cowboys, and samurai (which were banned during war years) began to flourish among boy’s comics. Girl’s comics also took focus of tales sometimes inspired by Western novels [2]. Although in pre-War years these stories were meant to reinforce the restrictive notion of proper feminine roles in Japanese society in an all-female setting [4], this was about to change.
Girl’s Comics/The Magnificent 24
Comics for girls separated themselves from boy’s comics by drawing style and story lines. Girl’s comics were often much more colorful than those for boys. Developing after the war, many took their lead and inspiration from Tezuka’s Princess Knight [4], which we discussed last time. These comics were often romance stories set in early Japan or outside of Japan entirely like Leiji Matsumoto’s Silver Petals [2]. In contrast, fairy tale adventures and stories of princesses were also abounding. These stories often focused on more internal issues, and developed based on emotion and beauty rather than action [4].
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| Rose of Versailles (1972-1973) by Riyoko Ikeda, example of story-telling development vs traditional paneled images |
While the early years of girl’s comics were mostly written by men,
a new generation of young female authors began to come into the spotlight.
Establishing themselves in writing comics during the 60’s as teenagers, these
women collectively developed themes, story attributes, and stylistic qualities through
the 1970’s that would become typical to the genre, forever changing the
appearance and path of girl’s comics [4].
Comic authors Hideko Mizuno, Yumiko Oshima, Ryoko Yamagishi, and Riyoko Ikeda are only a few names in the collective of authors that came to be collectively known as The Magnificent 24 gang. The Magnificent 24 gang, otherwise known as the Year 24 group, is so named for its members being born on or around the 24th year of the Showa era, 1949. Not only their gender but also their age helped in their greater popularity. By being only slightly older than their readers, much success of the Magnificent 24 is due to their natural ability to develop stories their readers could better relate to [4].
Comics for an older generation
As the comic industry got older, so did its readers. Despite today’s great affinity towards Osamu Tezuka, gekiga (as mentioned in the previous issue) became very popular during the 1960’s. Readers who grew up during the war years and became accustomed to the style in their rental libraries grew to expect and demand more of its grittier, mature material. The consumer demand made these authors also in high demand to comic employers. Takao Saito, an original member of the gekiga group, who published comics for rental manga, became a large supplier to Shonen Magazine, helping it gain success [4].
With the growing audience, the comic industry needed to grow, too. The 60’s saw a diversifying of comic genres. From boy’s (shonen) and girl’s (shojo) comics, young men’s (seinen) and young women’s (josei) comics were also added to the fray, although these two weren’t yet always as established or separated from their younger counterparts. Shonen Magazine, for example, presented gekiga-styled comics, which may have been identified as seinen [4].
Comic terminology became interchangeable as well. Some magazines began incorporating the term komikku based on the English term ‘comic’. Still, the well-known term, manga remained and the two became nearly replaceable with one another [4].
Out of the demand for it during these years, action and drama stories became darker and more violent. These genres also presented more dynamic layouts, which helped bring more of the action/drama to life within the books (Galaxy Express 999; 1978) [4].
By 1970’s, the comic industry exploded into what we may recognize in today’s market [2]. 1966 saw Shonen Magazine top at 1 million subscriptions. 1978 saw the 2 million mark surpassed by both Shonen Jump and Shonen Champions [3]. By March 1970, more than 700 readers were so moved by what they had read in Tomorrow’s Joe they attended a funeral for its character Toru Rikiishi [1].
The 1960’s and 70’s were transformative years for Japanese comics, which led to many years of exploration and growth. Many different changes were incorporated into girl’s comics and gekiga during this time to make their popularity grow, and the comic magazine market overflowed at a rate previously unheard of in Japan. The influx allowed for greater experimentation within the industry, and helped developed what would create numerous genres, artistic designs and storylines as we know them today.
Join me in my next issue, where I begin on the American side of the comic timeline..
Comic authors Hideko Mizuno, Yumiko Oshima, Ryoko Yamagishi, and Riyoko Ikeda are only a few names in the collective of authors that came to be collectively known as The Magnificent 24 gang. The Magnificent 24 gang, otherwise known as the Year 24 group, is so named for its members being born on or around the 24th year of the Showa era, 1949. Not only their gender but also their age helped in their greater popularity. By being only slightly older than their readers, much success of the Magnificent 24 is due to their natural ability to develop stories their readers could better relate to [4].
Comics for an older generation
As the comic industry got older, so did its readers. Despite today’s great affinity towards Osamu Tezuka, gekiga (as mentioned in the previous issue) became very popular during the 1960’s. Readers who grew up during the war years and became accustomed to the style in their rental libraries grew to expect and demand more of its grittier, mature material. The consumer demand made these authors also in high demand to comic employers. Takao Saito, an original member of the gekiga group, who published comics for rental manga, became a large supplier to Shonen Magazine, helping it gain success [4].
With the growing audience, the comic industry needed to grow, too. The 60’s saw a diversifying of comic genres. From boy’s (shonen) and girl’s (shojo) comics, young men’s (seinen) and young women’s (josei) comics were also added to the fray, although these two weren’t yet always as established or separated from their younger counterparts. Shonen Magazine, for example, presented gekiga-styled comics, which may have been identified as seinen [4].
Comic terminology became interchangeable as well. Some magazines began incorporating the term komikku based on the English term ‘comic’. Still, the well-known term, manga remained and the two became nearly replaceable with one another [4].
Out of the demand for it during these years, action and drama stories became darker and more violent. These genres also presented more dynamic layouts, which helped bring more of the action/drama to life within the books (Galaxy Express 999; 1978) [4].
By 1970’s, the comic industry exploded into what we may recognize in today’s market [2]. 1966 saw Shonen Magazine top at 1 million subscriptions. 1978 saw the 2 million mark surpassed by both Shonen Jump and Shonen Champions [3]. By March 1970, more than 700 readers were so moved by what they had read in Tomorrow’s Joe they attended a funeral for its character Toru Rikiishi [1].
The 1960’s and 70’s were transformative years for Japanese comics, which led to many years of exploration and growth. Many different changes were incorporated into girl’s comics and gekiga during this time to make their popularity grow, and the comic magazine market overflowed at a rate previously unheard of in Japan. The influx allowed for greater experimentation within the industry, and helped developed what would create numerous genres, artistic designs and storylines as we know them today.
Join me in my next issue, where I begin on the American side of the comic timeline..
References/Sources:
[1]Gravett, Paul. Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics. New York, NY: Collins Design, 2003. Print.
[2]Koyama-Richard, Brigitte. One Thousand Years of Manga. Paris: Flammarion, 2007. Print.
[3]Schodt, Frederik L. Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1983. Print.
[1]Gravett, Paul. Manga: Sixty Years of Japanese Comics. New York, NY: Collins Design, 2003. Print.
[2]Koyama-Richard, Brigitte. One Thousand Years of Manga. Paris: Flammarion, 2007. Print.
[3]Schodt, Frederik L. Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics. Tokyo: Kodansha International, 1983. Print.
[5] Mazur, Dan, and Alexander Danner. Comics: A Global History,
1968 to the Present. London: Thames & Hudson, 2014. Print.
