Akira Toriyama died from acute subdural hematoma. He was 68 years old. Toriyama’s started in manga by entering a Weekly Shonen Jump contest, which he lost. But his entry attracted the attention of Kazuhiko Torishima, who would later become his editor. Toriyama broke into manga when he was 23 with his first work Wonder Island,…
Category: Culture
Hagakure: the Art of the Samurai
The Hagakure appears obsessed with seppuku when you read through it. In the book, Yamamoto Tsunetomo collected myriad accounts of samurai from Saga domain along with various proverbs and lessons. Tsunetomo lived during the long peace of the Edo period as a custodian of Lord Mitsushige’s books. He worked from theory, which is why seppuku…
Kokuhaku, How to Confess Your Love the Japanese Way
Kokuhaku, or love confession, isn’t easy to research. People take contemporary cultural practices for granted; such practices aren’t studied until they fall out of practice. If you do a web search for kokuhaku, you will find many articles, but I aim for academic or newspaper sources. These are scarce. In any case, like so many…
Manga Sound Effect Word List [Over 250 Words and Meanings]
Manga has a vast amount of onomatopoeia. They go beyond simple sound effects, representing emotions like anger and actions like staring. Manga artists fold sound words into their panel designs and story. Japanese sound words divide into three families (Inose, n.d.): Giseigo mimic the sounds of people and animals. Giongo imitate other sounds, like water,…
The Learned Helplessness of Male Protagonists in Anime and Manga
How many anime have you watched or manga you’ve read where the female characters dote on the male protagonist? You often see women argue over who is going to care for the guy in harem and other romance stories. For example, in Oreimo Kyosuke is forced to live alone so he can focus on his…
Old Proverbs about Japanese Women
World War II marks a dramatic shift in Japanese history, equal in impact to the Meiji Restoration on the culture. The proverbs I will discuss trace deep into Japan’s cultural views of women and to the Confucian influence China had on Japanese culture. Women’s roles and freedom varied across the different eras of Japan, and…