Before reading Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s gekiga…
Often credited as the creator of the gekiga (dramatic pictures) genre of manga, Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s works are undoubtedly milestones, not just in manga, but in the genre of graphic narratives. While his collected anthologies are acknowledged to be ‘dark’, ‘noir’, and ‘heavy’ by just about every critique, few seem to acknowledge the context in which it was written.
While the English-speaking world has recently recognized and translated his work — some 50 years after they were first published — it’s unfair to evaluate his works from only a present-day perspective when the alternate genre is far more matured. Having said that, his works are just as important today.
To appreciate and understand Tatsumi’s work better, it’s important to understand the era in which he grew up.
Born in 1935, Tatsumi’s formative years were in the era of post-war Japan. Following the surrender of Japan in 1945, US President Truman appointed General MacArthur to supervise the occupation of Japan under the terms of the ‘US Initial Post-Surrender Policy for Japan’[1] — a document which laid down the primary objectives of the occupation as:
- Eliminating Japan’s war potential
- Turning Japan into a western style nation with pro-American orientation
As part of this, the U.S State Department instructed MacArthur to “abrogate and immediately suspend all…restriction on freedom of thought…of speech” and “…restrictions on the collection and dissemination of information.” The “all restrictions,” however, referred to all Japanese restrictions on intellectual freedoms. And, over the next four years, the occupation government developed and enforced its own policies restricting Japanese intellectual liberties.[2]
These weren’t just guidelines implemented at an economic level, but were also translated mandatorily into as many aspects of Japan’s life, art and culture as possible. For instance, educational policy, procedure, and content were re-organized almost completely. Previously accepted histories were replaced with new ones, and even the subject ‘History’ was renamed to ‘Social Studies’. All feudalistic, nationalistic, militaristic, authoritarian, Shinto-religious texts were removed, and replaced with texts that decried Japan’s feudal past and exalted American customs and values.[3]
For the business of print (books, magazines, comics, newspapers etc) this meant that publishers were expressly forbidden from printing any material which referred Japan’s imperial past — especially battles, wars, and warriors. The Commando-type comics that we read while growing up, therefore, were not allowed.
Given Japan’s largely feudal past, for the mainstream story writers, this left only the contemporary to work with. Osamu Tezuka, for instance, created the classic Astro Boy, a boy robot that emulated a boy scout’s behaviour and helped those in need. Machiko Hasegawa’s Sazae-san told the story of a clever and witty housewife who solved problems intelligently. The characters represented the type of behaviour (i.e. helping one’s neighbours) that was needed in the local population in post-war Japan. For children growing up, these were important traits to imbibe.
However, for those who had lived through the war, life in post-war Japan must have been a complete shock. For one, they moved overnight from a monarchy to a democracy (albeit limited in nature). They faced the concept of ‘free speech’. The code of ‘death before dishonour’ was fast becoming obsolete and being replaced by more capitalist thoughts. And above all, there was poverty.
What did this mean for the men raised in a society that was strongly patriarchal? Working a single job wasn’t always enough to make ends meet. In addition, there was an infusion of goods in the market from the West — which most locals could not afford. For money, a lot of women (single and married) moonlighted as prostitutes catering to the Occupation forces. Psychologically, what affect would this have on the spouse/partner?
It was this that Tatsumi explored and showed. When reading Tatsumi, pay careful attention to the artwork. You’ll notice that the locals are always subdued under the tall modern buildings of Tokyo. The men are desperately trying to be in control of their lives. Their impotency is a sign of the stress levels.
In addition, you’ll also notice mushrooms in a lot of scenes — a phallic sign of potency that is also reminiscent of a cloud of destruction that changed the country, and its people, forever.
This, in my opinion, is the genius of Tatsumi — showing the world the strife that continued after the war during the Occupation. The stories are dark, but what makes them haunting is that they could very well be true.
[1] Text in Department of State Bulletin, September 23, 1945, pp. 423–427.
[2] Buono, Stephen. “Commission and Omission of History in Occupied Japan (1945–1949)”. Journal of History, Binghampton University
[3] Buono, Stephen. “Commission and Omission of History in Occupied Japan (1945–1949)”. Journal of History, Binghampton University
