Manga

By Nick Castle

As Halloween draws nearer, so does our fanatical obsession with all things spooky and scary, peeking their heads around the corner like ghosts behind a gravestone. Why not indulge in some vintage scares at the OSU Libraries?

Japanese Studies invites you to learn about the mythology and artistic culture of Meiji Japan (1868-1912) through the newly acquired Kyōsai Hyakki Gadan (暁斎百鬼画談), a color woodblock print by eccentric painter and manga forerunner, Kawanabe Kyōsai (河鍋 暁斎, 1831-1889). The long, accordion book (orihon) depicts a parade of all manner of weird and wicked yōkai (妖怪), spirits and demons from Japanese mythology. This particular scene is evocative of the hyakki yagyō (百鬼夜行) idiom, a historic theme in Japanese visual representation wherein a procession of legendary creatures sets foot upon the communities of mortal men and women.

A view of the book’s cover with title
Kyōsai hyakki gadan

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We recently acquired a rare war-time manga game board or sugoroku (すごろく / 双六) print designed by Otake Kokkan (尾竹国観, 1880-1945).  Published in 1905, the theme of this print, war, was often featured in playful games to foster children’s national pride.  This historical piece offers a valuable window on to the way Japanese children were encouraged to celebrate their nation’s victory in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05).

新案征露戦局雙六. 絵師: 尾竹国観 (Otake Kokkan). 54.5×78cm. 明治37年.

The artist Kokkan was the youngest of the so-called Otake brothers who came from Niigata prefecture.  The two elder siblings, Otake Etsudô (尾竹越堂, 1868-1931)  and Otake Chikuha (尾竹竹坡, 1878-1936), were also artists known for their Nihonga and kuchi-e designs.

During his career, Kokkan studied Yamato-e, literally meaning “Japanese paintings,” which  featured Japanese subject matter including courtly and military scenes, historical events, and battles.  Among Kokkan’s designs were thus war scenes like the ones featured in this print.

For further reading on sugoroku, check out the following resources at OSU Libraries:

Chikamatsu, Hanji. Iga-goe Dōchū Sugoroku. Hadesugata Onna Maiginu. Katakiuchi Tsuzure No Nishiki. Sanjūsangendō Munagi No Yurai. Kokaji. Tōkyō: Kokuritsu Gekijō Jigyōbu, 1977.

Chikamatsu, Kasaku, Ganjirō Nakamura, Tōjūrō Sakata, Nizaemon Kataoka, and Hanji Chikamatsu. Iga-goe Dōchū Sugoroku. Tokyo: Shōchiku Kabushiki Kaisha, 2007.

Namiki, Seishi. Edo No Yūgi: Kaiawase, Karuta, Sugoroku. Kyōto: Seigensha, 2007.

Yamamoto, Masakatsu. Sugoroku Asobi. Tōkyō: Unsōdō, 1988.

For further studies on Otake Kokkan, please, see:

Otake, Kokkan. Kamogawa No Yūsuzumi , 1900.

Higuchi, Ranrin, and Odake, Kokkan. Tsuyoi Nippon.  Tōkyō : Kōdōkan, Meiji 39 [1906].

Nakamura, Kōya, Tomoto Kobori, Chikuha Otake, and Kokkan Otake. Jinjō Shōgaku Kokushi Ezu: Jinjō 6-Gakunenyō. Tōkyō: Gakushūsha, 1939.

Uehara, Konen, Chikuha Otake, and Kokkan Otake. Meiji Shoki No Hagaki Saizu Mokuhanga. Tokyo: Tsutaya Jūzaburō, 1895.

By Justine Kang (kang.231@osu.edu)

Recently, the Japanese Studies section at OSU Libraries acquired an advertisement manga illustrated by the early manga artist Okamoto Ippei (岡本 一平, 1886-1948), one of the most influential writers and illustrators of the Taisho era (1912-1926).  Okamoto combined cartoon books and comic strips and produced cartoons and serial comics in prominent newspapers including the Asahi Shinbun (朝日新聞).

Entitled On Brightening the Home! (Katei wo akarumi he, or 家庭を明るみへ！), the new acquisition is unusual as a pre-war advertisement for life insurance that featured colorful comics.  Okamoto was commissioned to develop a manga story as the central focal point of this pamphlet advertising the products of the Nisshin Life Insurance Company (Nisshin Seimei, or 日淸生命保險株式會社).

With no date on the document itself, there is no evidence as to when the advertisement was published.  However, we can find some clues about it through the well-known Nisshin Life Insurance Building, featured on the back of the pamphlet.  Constructed in 1932, this building was located in Chiyoda ward, near the Imperial Palace, in central Tokyo. Because the company was eventually absorbed by the Nomura Life Insurance Company in 1941 (and the building was later known as the Marunouchi Nomura Building), we know that the booklet must have been made in the 1930s.

During the tumultuous Taishō and early Show (1926-1989) eras, many Japanese people must have felt a need for life and health insurances.  Above are some pictures from the pages of the pamphlet with illustrations by Okamoto Ippei.  In the bottom right corner is an image of the iconic Nisshin Seimei building, featured on the last page of the pamphlet.

To learn more about Okamoto Ippei and discover some of his original work, please check out these OSU Library resources:

Okamoto, Ippei. Ippei Manga. Tōkyō: Monkkōsha, 1924.

Okamoto, Ippei. Ippei Manga Kōza. Tōkyō: Sōshisha, 1981.

Okamoto, Ippei, and Yukio Sugiura. Ippei Zenshū. Tōkyō: Ōzorasha, 1990.

Okamoto, Ippei, and Isao Shimizu. Okamoto Ippei Manga Manbunshū. Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, 1995.

Okamoto, Ippei, Kanoko Okamoto, and Tarō Okamoto. Okamoto Ippei Ten: Botsugo 50-Nen : Gendai Manga No Paio’nia. Tokyo: Asahi Shinbunsha Bunka Kikakukyoku, 1997.

Okamoto, Ippei. Tesei No Ningen. Tōkyō: Gendai Yūmoa Zenshū Kankōkai, 1928.

Shimizu, Isao, and Kōichi Yumoto. Manga to Shōsetsu No Hazama De: Gendai Manga No Chichi Okamoto Ippei. Tōkyō: Bungei Shunjū, 1994.

For even more resources on these and related topics on the world wide web, please check out the following:

Honjo, Eijiro. “The Development of the Study of the Economic History of Japan Subsequent to the Meiji Restoration.” The Kyoto University economic review 16.1 (1941): 18-31.

McCarthy, Helen. 2010. “The Attraction of Ippei Okamoto.”

ja.wikipedia.org. “丸ノ内野村ビルディング” (Marunouchi Nomura Building).

Ohio State University Libraries’ manga collection continues to grow each year.  Currently we have over 20,000 volumes, and we boast the largest collection of manga in the world outside of Japan. We have subscriptions to current popular manga serials and academic manga journals (which are not included in our counts below), and we also continue to collect rare and historical manga.

Records for these works are all available in the Ohio State University Libraries catalog. A browsable search is currently available by searching on keyword=manga and location =Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, for example, or keyword=manga and location =Thompson.  Each year, we conduct an analysis on the number of volumes in our collections.  The latest results are as follow:

2018 – 23,033

2017 – 22,811

2016 – 22,449

2015 – 22,304

2014 – 19,843

2012 -17,938

2011 – 17,399

2010 – 16,265

2009 – 15,462

2008 – 13,021

Note: Before 2012, the manga collection was held almost exclusively in the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum. Since then, we have offered increased access to our more current manga by moving publications after 1989 into general circulation available through Thompson Library, the Fine Arts Library, and the OSU Library Depository.

OSU Library’s formidable Japanese Studies Librarian, Maureen Donovan (now retired), started collecting Japanese manga in the mid-80s, but we don’t have figures until 1999.  For data that dates even further back into the past, please see Maureen’s blog  from 2012.

This blog is the third in a 3-part series outlining a bilingual guide in English and Japanese to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum (BICLM). To read this blog from the beginning, please click here. The purpose of this guide is to serve as an introduction and resource for Japanese-speaking visitors and researchers from all parts of the world.

While the first part of this blog dealt with the front atrium and the reading room, and the second part discussed the work space, archives, and holdings, this part of the blog will describe the museum portion of BICLM. The museum is where BICLM is able to share materials specially curated for general public viewing.

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In the previous blog, we introduced the entrance atrium and reading room of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum (BICLM). This blog is a continuation of that piece and covers the work space and archives, which are usually not open to the public and require a reservation or guided tour to access. It will also talk about some of the special materials held in the archives, as well as the precautions that are taken to preserve and maintain them.

To request a tour, please contact cartoons@osu.edu.

The BICLM Main Office

Cartoon Library Office

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