A History of Japan in Manga: Samurai, Shoguns and World War II

“Comics are a fantastic way to learn about history” promises the introduction to this hybrid comics/prose textbook, which packs a vast sweep of time into a single volume. Through text sections and breezy manga dramatizations (famed samurai Toyotomi Hideyoshi: “Hey! I see a hot chick in the castle!”) interspersed with maps, charts, and family trees, the work covers roughly 2,000 years of Japanese history, starting with the first written reference to Japan as a country ruled by a queen. The manga segments depict civil wars, conflicts between Shinto and Buddhism, key historical figures such as the semi-legendary Prince Shotoku and Tale of Genji author Murasaki Shikibu, and plenty of feudal court intrigue. The 20th century gets the shortest shrift, glossing over the grim realities of WWII and covering the entire postwar era in a couple of text pages. The workmanlike art features well-researched costumes and cultural details, but is less generous with the detail of historical settings in backgrounds. It’s a friendly introduction to the subject matter, however, covering material that’s familiar to schoolchildren in Japan but not well-known to Westerners. This solid primer offers a launching pad to read further. Agent: Michiko Urata, Japan UNI. (Mar.)