BAREFOOT GEN Pulled from Japanese Primary, Middle School System

The excellent manga Barefoot Gen has been removed from shelves in primary and middle schools in Matsue, Japan. While teachers can still teach the text, it appears students will no longer be able to find the book in library stacks. Read the CBLDF press release on the subject here.

I wrote the rationale for this graphic novel's use in classrooms for the Teaching Rationales for Graphic Novels ebook/CD-rom project published  through Maupin House. I feel strongly that Barefoot Gen is an important text worthy of study and which should be accessible to all readers. I hope the school officials reconsider their decision, which was based on the book's portrayal of Japanese troops, apparently.

I was approached by a Japanese public television show to do an interview on the importance of this text and using it in classes. I couldn't commit due to my move to Washington, but now I wish I could have found the time.

Tweets from Japan's Super Heroes Reassure Citizens

What's Going on With Manga Right Now...

Tokyo has recently banned certain types of Manga that feature young girls doing sexual things. Or, another way of looking at it is that Japan is making it more difficult for minors to get their hands on this material.

The Beat has several links up with their own links, etc. See here and here and here.

I don't know enough about Manga or Japanese culture to make any informed statements, except to say that I'm not sure this legislation parallels directly the comics censorship efforts in the US from the 1940s and '50s. Yet. In terms of sex and nudity, these types of Manga texts at the center of this exigency are much more overt and graphic than any of those images in panels with supposedly subliminal vaginas that folks griped about back in the day.

"Subliminal Vaginas" -- that'd make a great name for a band, eh?

USJF Releases Another Educational Manga...

...focusing on the Japan-US alliance. Click the link embedded in this post's title to see the government-sponsored book and even download a copy!

The military has a long history of using comics to educate citizens and troops. This latest effort adds to that legacy. Of course, any time a government seeks to educate, issues of "education" vs "propaganda" are going to arise....