Are you interested in the history of cartoons and comic art in Japan? If so, you will definitely want to check out the anthology Manga Zasshi Hakubutsukan (漫画雑誌博物館/Manga Magazine Museum), held at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum (BICLM), as well as in our Kinokuniya Digital Library (KinoDen) online. The chief editor of this twelve-volume set is Isao SHIMIZU (清水勲), a well-known manga historian and scholar who published over 100 books and articles during his lifetime.
Figure `1. Cover image of one of Japan’s earliest manga magazines, Tokyo pakku. Courtesy of Wikipedia.org.
Covering the history of manga at the turn of the 20th century, Manga Zasshi Hakubutsukan (漫画雑誌博物館/Manga Magazine Museum) offers select issues of some of the earliest and most innovative satirical magazines printed in Japan. To get a taste of the various titles covered in this anthology, let’s look at some of the highlights!
Volume 1 and 2 of this series is a reprint of Marumaru Chinbun (團團珍聞), a satirical journal published weekly between 1877-1907. Founded by Nomura Fumio 野村文夫 (1836-91), a former official of the Meiji government, this early periodical followed the style of British satire and humor magazines. Satirizing the government in articles, comics, haiku, and caricatures, this serial also covered pivotal events such as the Movement for Civil Rights and Freedom (自由民権運動, Jiyū Minken Undō) of the late 1800s.
Another satirical magazine featured in this anthology is Tōkyō pakku (東京パック) , Volumes 5, 7, and 9), launched in 1905 and inspired by Puck, the first successful humor magazine in the United States featuring colorful cartoons, caricatures and political satire (Figure 1, above). With Kitazawa Rakuten, Japan’s first professional cartoonist, assuming the role of the editor-in-chief, this immensely popular magazine also adopted a critical stance towards the government, resulting in the prohibition of several issues. Its publication endured until 1923, undergoing a shift towards conservatism following the 1910 High Treason Incident, a socialist-anarchist plot to assassinate the Japanese Emperor Meiji.
Additional magazines featured in this 12-volume anthology include Jōtō ponchi (上等ポンチ), Kokkeikai (滑稽界,) Jiji manga (時事漫画), Ōsaka pakku (大阪パック), Mangaman (マンガマン), and Yomiuri sandē manga (讀賣サンデー漫画).
Figure 2. Cover image from 1943 Ōsaka pakku. Courtesy of Wikipedia.org
For details on how to access the digital copies of the Manga Zasshi Hakubutsukan, as well as a variety of other ebooks in KinoDen, check out this “how to” blog introducing this online Japanese library. And, afterenjoying the various facsimiles in the Manga Zasshi Hakubutsukan, why not view them in person at the BICLM, where you can see original, first edition prints of many of these early magazines, including Jiji manga (時事漫画), the Yomiuri sandē manga (讀賣サンデー漫画) and Ōsaka pakku (大阪パック) (See Figure 2)!
Further Reading
Rosenbaum, R. (2011). Towards a Graphical Representation of Japanese Society in the Taishō Period: Jiji Manga in Shinseinen. Japan Review, 23, 177–197.
