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Yomiuri Shimbun
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yomiuri Shimbun
‘Study Manga' Make Easy Reading out of Educational Content, and Their Range of Themes Is Growing
The Yomiuri Shimbun Foreign tourists read manga at the study manga corner in the Kyoto International Manga Museum in Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto. 'Study manga,' which help students understand what they are learning at school, are growing increasingly diverse. While the popular genres of history and biography are expanding their range of themes, some study manga are tackling medical and social issues, and attracting readers of all ages. ©2025 International Research Center for Japanese Studies, illustrated by Sakino Hamada From a manga on the Iwakura Mission produced by the International Research Center for Japanese Studies. In the center is Tomomi Iwakura. In the back from left are Umeko Tsuda, Hirobumi Ito, Takayoshi Kido and Toshimichi Okubo. This March saw the release of 'The Iwakura Mission: The story of the beginning — Toward the modernization of Japan — ', a 120-page study manga produced by the Kyoto-based International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken), Kyoto Seika University and others. The manga is the second in a series, with the first released in 2023 and covering Hosokawa Gracia. The manga is not for sale and will be distributed to educational institutions and other organizations. It is available on the Nichibunken Open Access library. From 1871 to 1873, a delegation led by Tomomi Iwakura, a statesman of the Meiji government, embarked on a tour to see the West. The manga illustrates the group's journey based on historical facts. Kazuhiro Takii, a professor at Nichibunken and a leading researcher on Iwakura, supervised the production of the manga. 'There are many interesting episodes and the characters have distinctive personalities,' said Takii, explaining why the manga was created. In the manga, the characters represent the feelings of 'joy,' 'anger,' 'sorrow' and 'pleasure' in the face of the problems facing Japan. Cheerful and optimistic Hirobumi Ito represents 'joy,' passionate idealist Takayoshi Kido represents 'anger,' Iwakura represents 'sorrow' and the upbeat Toshimichi Okubo represents 'pleasure.' The manga explains legal details to readers while also closely examining the historical facts, such as their interactions with German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. 'I worked hard to gather materials to understand their hair styles, clothing and even the way of thinking at that time,' said Sakino Hamada, who oversaw the illustrations. 'The visuals of the manga will provide more information than words alone would.' Major market The Yomiuri Shimbun Manga that were commissioned by local governments, companies, hospitals and other organizations For publishers, study manga is a major market, one that began developing in the 1950s. History and biography manga have done particularly well, and many major publishers, including Shogakukan Inc. and Shueisha Inc., entered the market starting in the 1970s. Study manga continue to be revised, reprinted and updated. In a corner of the Kyoto International Manga Museum, two walls are lined with study manga. Here, many foreign tourists sit and read the biographies of great figures from their countries. According to Nana Sato-Rossberg, a professor at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies who researches manga translation, educational comics are rarely seen in other countries. This is why she is certain that if study manga become popular overseas, they will be read with great enthusiasm. The manga museum has been commissioned to produce about 1,000 promotional and educational manga. Among its clients are local governments, companies and boards of education across the country, with stories ranging from the history of the Kamiokande particle detector to the life of the creator of egg packs. In recent years, the museum has received an increasing number of requests from medical institutions, which distribute manga to promote health checkups and provide information on support for treatments. Its manga about stroke prevention, which depicts the process from hospitalization to recovery, has been well received. The museum says that it is much easier to understand certain concepts when they are illustrated in manga. But study manga are not without problems. In the past, they presented their themes in a detached manner, like textbooks. However, as manga adaptions have become more popular, 'It has become essential to exaggerate the stories and to make characters look nicer, such as by depicting historical figures as modern, good-looking men,' according to Yu Ito, a researcher at Kyoto Seika University's International Manga Research Center. With more companies being commissioned to produce manga, the content of their manga has become more diverse, with some works meant to introduce a company or organization. 'Supervisors are going to be increasingly important for [study manga],' Ito said.
Observer
19-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Observer
Historic fantasy 'Assassin's Creed' sparks bitter battles
The "Assassin's Creed" series of video games is adored for painstaking historic accuracy, but also sparks controversy with heavy use of artistic license -- most recently with a black samurai in the latest instalment, "Shadows". Released on Thursday, "Shadows" takes place in 16th-century feudal Japan, replete with imposing fortified cities and tranquil temples crafted by developers. "They've done a really fantastic job with very accurate recreations," said Pierre-Francois Souyri, a historian among a dozen French and Japanese experts consulted for the game in a bid to weed out cliches and anachronisms. Since being tapped in late 2021, Souyri says he has answered "a hundred or more questions" from the development team, ranging from how salt was produced to how puppet shows were staged. Souyri adds that within the carefully crafted setting, "it's not too hard to come up with characters who find themselves having adventures" in "a very eventful period" marked by intense conflicts. - Black samurai - But one foundational choice by the creative team has provoked fierce debate online and beyond: casting a black samurai, Yasuke, as one of the two playable protagonists. The other is a young female ninja, Fujibayashi Naoe. Irritation that an African character was depicted with the rank of samurai prompted a Japanese petition against the move, receiving more than 100,000 signatures. (FILES) Visitors stand at the 'Assassin's Creed Shadows' video game booth by Ubisoft during the media day at the Gamescom video games trade fair in Cologne, western Germany on August 21, 2024. Packing familiar formulas into an all-new Japanese setting, "Assassin's Creed Shadows", the latest big-budget game from developer Ubisoft, is released worldwide on March 20, 2025. (Photo by Ina FASSBENDER / AFP) The text blasted "lack of historical accuracy and cultural respect" by game developers. Souyri was unimpressed by the criticism. "It's the game's conceit to call him a samurai, it's not a doctoral thesis," he said. Like other historians who have weighed in, he pointed out that Yasuke "is a person who really existed" -- although the historic evidence on his status "can be difficult to interpret". Yuichi Goza, assistant professor at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto, disagreed. "Nothing proves that Yasuke had such qualifications" making him a samurai, medieval history specialist Goza said. In surviving documents, "Yasuke stood out above all for the colour of his skin and his physical strength". His patron, warlord Oda Nobunaga, likely "kept Yasuke by his side to show him off", Goza believes. Erupting even before "Shadows" had been released, the controversy over the black character's inclusion has been the fiercest surrounding any "Assassin's Creed" game. The series has been attacked in the past, including by hard-left French politician Jean-Luc Melenchon for how firebrand Robespierre was depicted in "Assassin's Creed Unity", set during the French Revolution. - Culture war battleground - In a February report, the European Video Game Observatory noted that Ubisoft's announcement of Yasuke immediately "sparked a heated controversy amplified by social media". The outfit blamed most of the uproar on "an American conservative moral crusade" waged by a hard core of "at least 728 interconnected accounts". That group made up "only 0.8 percent of speakers on the topic of 'Assassin's Creed Shadows' in the US (but) account for 22.1 percent of all related coverage", the Observatory added. The researchers said the behaviour "suggests an astroturfing campaign" that piggybacked on the broader culture-war battles going on during the US presidential election campaign. "Our use of Yasuke has been instrumentalised by certain people to get their own message across... but that's not the message of the game," said Marc-Alexis Cote, executive producer of the "Assassin's Creed" franchise. Nevertheless, within Japan depictions of the country's history remain a sensitive issue -- as shown by reactions to images showing a "Shadows" player damaging the interior of a temple. "I understand France's secularist principles, but it's important to acknowledge that ill-considered insults about religion can spark strong reactions," Goza said. "This risk should have been foreseen." Ubisoft itself had resisted for some time fans' demands to see an "Assassin's Creed" game set in Japan. But recent successful games set in the feudal period, such as 2019's "Sekiro" or 2020's "Ghost of Tsushima", may have helped overcome the publisher's reticence. "There's a combined effect of exoticism and familiarity which fascinates Westerners," historian Souyri said. Many young people, especially in Western countries such as France and the United States, devour Japanese mangas and anime series. But Goza argues that "these depictions become counterproductive if they reinforce discrimination and prejudice towards Japan". He calls "Shadows" a "clear example of these concerns being realised". —AFP
