Meiji Restoration, WWII, and the Evolution of Manga and Graphic Novels

The Meiji Restoration, meaning "enlightened" restoration, was inaugurated by Emperor Mutsuhito, who reigned from $1867$ to $1912$ .
This era represented a fundamental shift from the feudal Shogunate to a modern imperial state, centralizing power under the Emperor.
The Meiji Constitution and Political Hierarchy:
- The Emperor: At the pinnacle of the system, exercising direct administrative control and holding supreme command over the Army and Navy.
- Elder Statesmen (Genro): Provided advisory support to the Emperor.
- Privy Council: An advisory body with influence over the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
- Diet: The national legislature consisting of two houses:
- House of Peers: Composed of nobility and imperial appointees.
- House of Representatives: Elected by the electorate (though suffrage was initially limited).
- Executive Branch: Included the Prime Minister, the Cabinet, and several key ministries:
- Home Ministry: Oversaw prefectural governments and police.
- Justice Ministry: Managed the judicial system.
- Imperial Household Ministry and Inner Minister: Managed the affairs of the royal family.
- Military Independence: The Army and Navy General Staffs had a direct line (command) to the Emperor, separate from the administrative oversight of the Army and Navy Ministries, creating a dualistic power structure that would have significant implications for Japanese militarism.

The League of Nations: Represented as a bridge designed by the President of the U.S.A., yet fundamentally weakened by a "Gap in the Bridge" because the U.S.A. (the Keystone) refused to join.
German Sentiment Post-WWI: A Pan-German perspective cited the reparations as "monstrous," claiming they were only a quarter of what they would have made the Allies pay had Germany won.
The Czech Crisis and Appeasement:
- Cartoons portray the "Spineless Leaders of Democracy" using various crises (Danzig, Rearmament) as "stepping stones to glory" for aggressive regimes.
- British perspectives at the time questioned why they should "raise a dust about someone pushing someone else when it's all so far away," reflecting the isolationism and appeasement of the era.
WWII Landmarks: The timeline captures the critical shifts between $07\,December\,1941$ and $08\,December\,1941$ , marking the expansion of conflict into the Pacific.

The Japan Punch (Yokohama, April 1883): An early influential satirical publication modeled after the British Punch, established by Charles Wirgman.
Cross-Cultural Caricature:
- Early illustrations often depicted the clash and blending of cultures, such as "Awful Swells going to Jedo" and the "pleasing costume of Japanese Officers."
- Political Commentary via Art: A $1905$ cartoon by Kiyochika depicts Tsar Nicholas II being "rubbed" by Japan, with the caption: "Delighted to join you, gentlemen; but permit me to remark that if some of you hadn't interfered when I had him down, it would have saved all this trouble!" This refers to the Triple Intervention and the Russo-Japanese War.
Norakuro (Suiho Tagawa, 1938): A prominent early manga featuring an anthropomorphic dog in the military, reflecting the era's militaristic atmosphere.
Western Comic Influence: By $1940$ , American newspapers like The Helena Daily Independent featured daily comic pages with strips like Blondie by Chic Young, Alley Oop by V. T. Hamlin, Red Ryder by Fred Harman, and Wash Tubbs by Roy Crane. Writers like John Steinbeck were noted fans of the medium.

Osamu Tezuka argued that artists are profoundly influenced by their immediate surroundings and experiences.
Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atom):
- Highlights themes of robot rights and the ethics of combat.
- In a specific arc involving the robot Pluto (the "world's strongest robot"), Astro Boy expresses reluctance to fight: "I don't want to see robots damaged for such a meaningless cause. It's senseless to fight just for the sake of proving who's the best!"
- Pluto, however, maintains: "I do not consider the match over… until my opponent has been completely destroyed!"
Major Works:
- Kimba the White Lion (1950): A foundational work for television and manga storytelling.
- Crime and Punishment (1953): A manga adaptation of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novel.
- Dororo (1960s): A dark fantasy series involving a rōnin seeking to reclaim his body parts from demons.
- Buddha (1972-1983): A multi-volume philosophical exploration of the life of Siddhartha Gautama.
Tezuka's Philosophy: He viewed comics as an "international language that can cross boundaries and generations. Comics are a bridge between cultures."

Setting: Set in Imperial Russia on the eve of revolution, in the city of St. Petersburg.
Visual Narrative: The manga depicts Raskolnikov's psychological torment, showing him walking through the streets "with the unsteady air of someone deranged," amidst crowds of drunks, prostitutes, and barefoot children.
Key Scenes Captured:
- Raskolnikov hiding in an empty room left by painters.
- The discovery of the old moneylender woman's body.
- Raskolnikov fleeing back to his lodgings and collapsing on his bed in terror.
Cultural Reception: When exhibited at the Dostoevsky Museum in St. Petersburg in $2007$ , the work received mixed reviews. Dostoyevsky's great-grandson remarked that while it might be normal in Japan, for Russians, seeing the work in comic form looked "blasphemous," stating: "The Russian people should not study the works of Dostoevsky in the form of Japanese comics."

Clement Greenberg (Avant-Garde and Kitsch, 1939):
- Kitsch: Defined as popular, commercial art and literature, including magazine covers, ads, slick/pulp fiction, and comics.
- The Decay of Culture: Greenberg argued that as a society becomes less able, it loses its understanding of "genuine culture."
- Ersatz Culture: Kitsch is a commodity devised for new urban masses who are "insensible to the values of genuine culture" but "hungry for diversion."
- Maintenance of Culture: Greenberg proposed that true culture must be cut off from the general populace through abstraction to separate it from "common experience."
Visual Representation and Semiotics: René Magritte's The Treachery of Images ( $1928-1929$ ) featuring the text "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" (This is not a pipe) challenges the viewer's perception of representation versus reality.

Will Eisner: Popularized the term "Graphic Novel" to describe more sophisticated, book-length narrative comics.
A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories (1978):
- Protagonist: Frimme Hersh, a man who believes he has a "pact with GOD."
- Plot Point: Hersh adopts an abandoned infant girl named Rachele, naming her after his mother. He views her as a gift from God.
- Tragedy: The story describes the "deluge" of rain on the day Frimme Hersh buried Rachele, using the metaphor that "Only the tears of ten thousand weeping angels could cause such a deluge!" This marks his crisis of faith and perceived betrayal by God.