Abstract
The graphic retelling of history in popular manga, particularly in the work of Kobayashi Yoshinori, has garnered attention in light of the resurgent nationalism of postbubble Japan. This article analyzes the visual-verbal language of cult manga artist Maruo Suehiro's ‘Nihonjin no wakusei: Planet of the Jap’ (1985). While appearing to revel in a violent depiction of an alternative outcome to World War Two, this manga spans allusions to the Emperor Meiji, the postwar Self-Defense Forces, and the suicides of General Nogi and Mishima Yukio, and aims through its portrayal to critique the links among the Japanese wartime state, contemporary nationalism, fascism and violence. Maruo's consistent use of fascist imagery consciously invites a dangerous voyeurism of traumatic historical events. This is an intentionally political move that forces the reader to realize that complicity in such violent spectacles is a necessary step to critiquing the extreme aggression Maruo attributes to Japan.
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