Open for Submissions: Gekiga and Japanese Comics

by Brent Peters A Life Adrift It is 1949. You are thirteen years old. The country changes around you, but the world of fiction takes your interest. Manga Shounen magazine introduces a new section: reader submissions. You could get your work published. You think to yourself: I can do this. It is 1952. A cup … Continue reading →

Enter Through the Gift Shop

by Brent Peters Just Browsing You wander the entertainment districts of Tokugawa’s Japan. It’s filled with all kinds of people. Merchants fawn over sex workers. Swordsmen cheer in kabuki houses. The samurai no longer bother you. With every year, those blades lose power. In their place, the power of money increases. But you aren’t rich. … Continue reading →

No Strings Attached: The History of Bunraku

by Brent Peters Prologue It’s about puppets. Why are you writing about puppets? It seemed interesting. Bunraku is supposedly a major Japanese art. But almost nobody talks about it. Not sure you can count that as big. Is the history at least interesting? Yeah. Interesting and frustrating. Is there not enough to write about? There’s … Continue reading →

Under the Cherry Blossoms: a Brief History of Kabuki

by Brent Peters Set-Dressing The lights dim. Shamisen strings fill the air with their melancholic strums. Wood blocks clap together. In this soundscape, someone enters into view. They walk along a bridge running through the audience. Light shines down upon them. A beautiful, bright kimono glides toward the stage. Gentle, porcelain-white fingers hold a parasol. … Continue reading →

Applause Requested: The Japanese New Wave

by Brent Peters Welcome to Chrysanthemum Roots, a look at the moments and movements which shaped Japanese media. This month, we’re viewing a double feature of art and activism. Welcome to one of the most turbulent periods in modern Japan, as well as the art it inspired. This is Japan’s New Wave of Cinema. One … Continue reading →

Cels at Work: Animation Before Astro Boy

by Brent Peters Admission Fee Welcome to Chrysanthemum Roots: a look at the moments and movements that shaped Japanese media. Before we get to our first subject, here’s a rundown of my goal with these articles. First: We’re here to look at the circumstances that made the art, not at the art itself. You can … Continue reading →