Guest post by Anqi Chen
Full image of The Bustle of the Beginning of Spring (Click Image to Enlarge)
If you enjoy Japanese manga, history, and politics, OSU Libraries has something especially compelling for you. In January 1902—more than a century ago—a cartoon series titled Jiji Manga (時事漫画, literally Current Manga) was launched as a supplement to the newspaper Jiji Shinpō (時事新報, Current Events). The series was edited by the renowned manga and nihonga artist Yasuji Kitazawa—better known by his pen name Rakuten Kitazawa (北澤楽天, 1876–1955)—a pioneering figure in the development of modern manga.
Founded by Fukuzawa Yukichi (福澤諭吉, 1835–1901), one of the most influential intellectuals of modern Japan, Jiji Shinpō had a wide national readership. Jiji Manga, issued as a separate illustrated supplement, adopted a distinctly visual and experimental approach, presenting political news and social criticism through humor and caricature. According to the Bujalance Collection, Jiji Manga was the first periodical to use the term “manga” in its title in a modern sense. Each issue featured a single full-page editorial cartoon, often accompanied by ironic dialogue that reflected Rakuten’s sharp, satirical take on contemporary politics. As the creator of thousands of early editorial cartoons and comic strips that influenced generations of artists, Rakuten is now widely regarded as the founding father of modern manga.
Fig. 1: Close-up on the upper left
