Showa 1939-1944: A History of Japan (Showa: a History of Japan): 2 - Softcover

Shigeru Mizuki

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1770461515 ISBN 13: 9781770461512

Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly, 2014

Synopsis

Showa 1939-1944: A History of Japan continues the award-winning author Shigeru Mizuki's autobiographical and historical account of Showa-era Japan. This volume covers the period leading up to World War II and the beginning of the Pacific War; it is a chilling reminder of the harshness of life in Japan during this highly militarised epoch. Mizuki writes affectingly about the impact on the Japanese popu--lace of world-changing moments, including the devastating Second Sino-Japanese War, the attack on Pearl Harbour, and the first half of the Pacific War. On a personal level, these years mark a dramatic transformation in Mizuki's life, too. His idyllic childhood in the countryside comes to a definitive end when he's drafted into the army and shipped off to the tiny island of Rabaul in Papua New Guinea. His life becomes a constant struggle for survival, not only against the constant Allied attacks, but against the harsh discipline of the Japanese army officers. During his time in Rabaul, Mizuki comes to understand the misery and beauty of the island itself, a place that will permanently mark him and haunt him for the rest of his life.

About this title

Review:

A powerful, maddening and at times bitterly funny war story-a revealing look at World War II from the opposite side.- --Npr

About the Author:

Born in 1922 in Sakaiminato, Tottori, Shigeru Mizuki is a specialist in sto--ries of yokai and is considered a master of the genre. He is a member of the Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology, and has travelled to more than sixty countries to engage in fieldwork of the yokai and spirits of different cultures. His work has been published in Japan, South Korea, the UK, France, Spain, Taiwan, and Italy, and he was the first manga-ka to win the grand prize at the Angouleme International Comics Festival, Europe's highest prize for comics.

About this edition

• Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1770461515
• ISBN 13: 9781770461512
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 536