We are proud to announce that we now have a near-complete run of Bungei Shunjū: Manga Tokuhon (文藝春秋 漫画讀本), a core manga magazine of the 20th century. Held at the Libraries’ Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, the series is comprised of 170 volumes published from the 1950s to 1970s. With this recent acquisition, Ohio State has the largest holdings of this title in North America.
“Special Issue” label Manga
Tokuhon in [5 Sept. 1950]
The parent magazine of Bungei Shunjū: Manga Tokuhon, Bungei Shunjū, was established by Kan Kikuchi (菊池寛) in 1923 and began as an essay magazine. Still in publication today, it contains a variety of essays and critiques written by individuals from all disciplines; artists, politicians, historians, journalists, and more. Though it has a historically conservative slant, Bungei Shunjū has featured articles by authors of all political persuasions.
In 1954, mangaka and animator Ryūichi Yokoyama (横山隆一) approached the CEO of Bungei Shunjū about creating a special edition of solely manga. They immediately phoned the special editions manager, Hiroichi Tagawa (田川博一), and not long after, Manga Tokuhon was born. Though initially its issues were categorized as “special issues” of Bungei Shunjū, it became published as its own magazine with the March 1958 issue. Throughout its run, Manga Tokuhon featured the works of many famous mangaka, including Astro Boy creator and industry legend Osamu Tezuka (手塚治虫).
April issue [1 April 1958]
of Manga Tokuhon
The magazine sold around 300,000 copies in its heyday, yet publication ceased in 1970. After that, two more issues were released as limited edition Bungei Shunjū magazines, comprised of re-prints of prior Manga Tokuhon publications. Since then, the world of Manga Tokuhon has gone dark.
July issue [1 July 1959] of Manga
Tokuhon
Shedding light on the state of manga as its popularity took off in intellectual circles as well as mainstream media, this fascinating series holds a critical place in the history of manga magazines and modern manga as a whole. As a repository with particular strengths in original comic strips and manga serials throughout the twentieth century, we are thrilled to make this series available to researchers through the University Libraries. Interested parties can head to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum desk to inquire about using these materials.
