The first is project details The second is to use the correlation book The others are lecture slide

What is Manga?
History of Manga: Final Project

At the beginning of this course, we read Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics: The Invisible
Art (1994), a book about comics that itself is a work of comics, using the language of comics
itself to analyze the medium. At various points in the book, McCloud makes comparisons
between Japanese comics (manga) and “Western” comics, mainly American comics. These
comparisons pertain to how time and space is constructed in manga, general tendencies in
panel-to-panel relations, and relationships between figures and backgrounds. Other texts that
you have read in class have made their own claims about what makes Japanese comics
distinctive from other national/regional comics traditions.

For your final project, I would like you to compose a response to McCloud and other
theorists/historians that you’ve read in class (but primarily McCloud), ultimately to address the
question: “What is manga?” As possible answers to this question are practically infinite, and
there is no way to talk about the entire history of manga in a single course project, you should
focus on a specific theme: a genre of manga, a historical period, a demographic, a formal
artistic issue, a socio-political issue, race, gender, sexuality, et cetera.

Your response can take a variety of forms: an essay (no less than 2000 words, plus images if
necessary), a comic (no less than 4 pages), a video, or something crossing image and text (the
format and length of which is to be discussed in advance with the instructor). In your response,
you are required to address the following: McCloud and other writer’s ideas about manga; your
own ideas about manga; and analyses of THREE examples from works of manga that support
your argument. Your three examples: must be from three different manga; may NOT be the
same as the examples provided by McCloud or other writers; must include at least TWO
examples from manga read in class; may NOT include manga/artists you spoke about during
your midterm presentations.

Deadlines:
December 15, regular class time: brief in-class presentation about your project, outlining topic,
thesis, examples, and format (5 minutes; images not required, but welcome)
December 20, Monday, 10AM: Final project due to me via email.

When reading about Japanese sports manga—
of which there are countless, and their variety
legion—the term you come across most often is
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as something like “sports spirit” or “sports grit.”
It is a name used for sports manga featuring
sadistic training regimes, iron friendships forged
in the crucible of cutthroat competition, young
champions who would rather perish than let
down their families, coaches, or teammates,
ripped and raging bodies, and bombastic
game play. It is not uncommon that athletes in
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play again. Sometimes they even die there.

As an ethos, supokon has its roots in the Meji
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physical and moral character training of boys in
preparation for their military service as adults. It
corresponds to the idea (oft-repeated in exoticizing
accounts of Japanese sports philosophy) that spirit
and dedication mean more than inborn talent
in achieving excellence. As a genre in manga,
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associated originally with writer Kajiwara Ikki, who
channeled said Imperial Age philosophies and a
personal preference for martial sports into scripts
for manga and illustrated stories about boxing,
wrestling, and judo, as well as team ball sports,
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and “samurai baseball” have been sidelined for the
Orientalist exaggerations they are when speaking
about baseball as it has actually been played in
Japan, they remain workable descriptions for the

hypermasculinity, self-abnegating masochism, and
bloodsport action of manga under the sway of
supokon. In some cases, even “kamikaze baseball”—
or “kamikaze volleyball,” or “kamikaze soccer,”
and so on—would be appropriate. The genre can
be, as you will see below, truly over-the-top.

Though a household word in its home country,
“supokon” is familiar to few manga and anime
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impossible pitch, hit, kick, smash, or spike that
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its receiver, grinds down its sender, and around
which much of the narrative and visual drama of
many ball sports manga, and especially baseball
manga, are constructed, even from before the
supokon era. As far as ball sports are concerned,
the ultimate goal of the notorious blood, sweat,
and tears of supokon is to transform the body
and soul of the athlete into a machine capable of
achieving or countering demonry in the ball. As
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designed to defeat evil rivals to a form of
magic capable of making dreams come true:
making it to the pros, besting the pros, besting
larger, stronger foreign players. It is also around
the mad, magical, unhittable, unreturnable,
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variously with hyper speed lines, freeze frames,
stroboscopic layering, extreme deformation,
and markers of splitting, cloning, and invisibility—
that some of the wildest visual experiments in
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becomes the point at which visuality itself, the
acts of seeing and representing, is challenged:
sharpening it, transcending it, or even destroying

The Naughton Gallery
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The most famous baseball manga of all time—and
arguably the most famous sports manga of all
time—is Kawasaki Noboru and writer Kajiwara
Ikki’s Star of the Giants (.RMLQ�QR�KRVKL�������
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word in Japan and an institution of Japanese
pop culture. The manga was responsible for
pushing the circulation of 6KĊQHQ�0DJD]LQH
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It represented a conscious effort to revive the
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promoted before and during the war. It and
other Kajiwara-scripted supokon titles succeeded
in updating that hoary genre for the television
age and its lucrative “media mix” of manga,
anime, and related merch. It is at this juncture,
with the supokon boom initiated by Star of the
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stereotypical feature of manga and anime.

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the design of many of its characters, Star of the
Giants owes many obvious if underappreciated
debts to Chikai and Chiba, with whom Kajiwara
would soon begin collaborating on the boxing
manga 7RPRUURZōV�-RH. What makes Star of
the Giants different is Kajiwara’s more strongly
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rightist and militarist forms of male subjectivity—as
well as Kawasaki’s more dramatic style of drawing,
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bodies, exaggerated emotional expressions, and
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visual traits are already evident in The Black Secret

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That year, faced with stagnating sales vis-à-vis
their main competitor 6KĊQHQ�6XQGD, Uchida
Masaru, 6KĊQHQ�0DJD]LQH’s new head editor,
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kashihon market to overhaul the magazine as
something stranger, bolder, and more mature.
Among his veteran recruits were Mizuki Shigeru,
Umezu Kazuo, and Star of the Giants artist Kawasaki
Noboru, who had previously drawn samurai,

gangland, and Western comics for Osaka and
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Osamu and Fukui—would never be the same.

The gekiga inheritance of Star of the Giants is
evident not only in how Kawasaki draws faces
and bodies, but also in his adaptation of the
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an assistant) and his acolytes. However, as a
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fantasy, and scripted by a writer whose true love
was martial arts and who originally despised
baseball, Star of the Giants is less about the visual
dynamism and excitement of the pitch or hit itself,
and more about the fabrication of bodies and
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KLWWLQJ�PDNĨ��DQG��D�QHZ�PRWLI�LQ�EDVHEDOO�
manga) physically withstanding direct blows
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torturous, spring-based upper body trainer that
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judo captain-turned-catcher Ban’s offering of his
oversize body to receive Hoshi’s pitched blows,
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OLYH�VDFULƓFLDO�GXPP�LQ�WKH�EDWWHUōV�ER[�DJDLQVW�
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curves sharply inward toward the batter to target
their bat before it is swung, and thus produce
fouls, dribbles, and lazy pop-ups—a departure
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bat by outrunning the eye and the swing. Hoshi’s
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UHDFKLQJ�WKH�SODWH��E�NLFNLQJ�XS�GXVW�E�ŴLQJ�
low to the ground). His third, pitched slow and
underarm, has so little momentum that when a

batter swings at it, the rush of air forces the ball to
dodge the bat. Departing from the norm of giving
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superpowers on the diamond, apparently, means
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“spirit,” are also doppelgangers of the eye.

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with baseball manga. 1 The term itself dates to
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baseball was introduced to Japan, as a catchall
name for off-speed pitches, from curveballs to
breaking balls and knuckleballs. In manga, it
usually refers to radical, fantasy variants of these
pitches. Caricatures, short strips, and side episodes
in serialized manga featuring baseball date back
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the US-led Occupation, multi-page comics and
serials focusing on baseball proliferated almost
immediately after the war, the most beloved being
Inoue Kazuo’s wholesome %DW�.LG (Batto kun,
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everyday happenings, small achievements on the
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they are usually just small circles with conservative
wakes trailing them. Swings are simple swooshing
arcs, hits believably wooden cracks, and missed
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further than they ever could in reality, but they
rarely assume a dynamic life of their own or
existentially change the players around them.

$IWHU�WKH�FUHDWLRQ�RI�WKH�1LSSRQ�3URIHVVLRQDO�
%DVHEDOO�OHDJXH�LQ�������EDVHEDOO�PDQJD�
SUROLIHUDWHG�TXLFNO��5HŴHFWLQJ�WKH�LQŴXHQFH�RI�
)XNXL�(LLFKLōV�MXGR�PDQJD�,JDJXUL�NXQ�������
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especially sports and martial arts manga, until
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in the action and morality of the martial arts.
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EDVHEDOO�PDQJD�DUH�QRW�RQO�VWDUV�RQ�WKH�ƓHOG��
but also loving sons, protective brothers, and
earnest upholders of justice, sometimes spending
as many panels parrying punks with judo tosses
and karate chops or solving crimes as they do
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are described as “hot-blooded” (nekketsu) on
their covers and title pages, a descriptor used
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It was not until the end of the decade, however,
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and fantasies of the ball itself while being thrown
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from the same “hot-blooded” crucible that
birthed supokon seven or eight years later.

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recognize two additional developments within
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and projectiles that move impossibly, invisibly fast
by virtue of years-long ascetic training, supernatural
powers, and magic-like tricks. There are humorous
baseball manga starring ninja, samurai, and folk
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most famously Terada Hiroo’s 6SRUWVPDQ�6DVXNH
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7KH�SVHXGR�VFLHQWLƓF�H[SODQDWLRQ�RI�QLQMD�WULFNV�
popularized by the manga of Shirato Sanpei in
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cinematic breakdowns of gekiga (literally “dramatic
pictures”), a visually oriented style of comics that
originated in mystery and violent gangland action
comics for late teens and young adults within the
kashihon (rental book) market in Osaka, versus the
more “cartoony” modes preferred by mainstream
magazine publishers in Tokyo. Broadly speaking,
if supokon can be characterized as judo and
EXVKLGĊ�EDOO��PDNĨ�LV�QLQMXWVX�DQG�JXQVOLQJHU�
ball—with the two sides smashing together
into a mixed sports and martial arts free-for-all
whenever realism withdraws as a balancing force.

Kaizuka Hiroshi’s 7KH�:LQG�:LQG�XS�3LWFKHU
(.XULNXUL�WĊVKX�����������IRU�6KĨHLVKDōV�2PRVKLUR�
Book and its successor 6KĊQHQ�%RRN (the precursor
to :HHNO�6KĊQHQ�-XPS) is regarded by many to

Inoue Kazuo, Bat Kid (1948-49) :HHNO�6KĊQHQ�0DJD]LQH. It stars a pitcher for
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launches balls through boards like projected
karate chops, and sends the catcher hurtling
into the backstop with his fastballs, leaving his
hand throbbing and bloody. The “black secret
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so fast that it splits to appear as multiple balls,
the rear one casting a shadow on the leading
one, turning it black, drawing the batter’s eye,
and making him swing at a phantom. While the
PDNĨ�LQ�7KH�%ODFN�6HFUHW�:HDSRQ are more
extreme than those in :LQG�:LQG�XS, they are
also given careful (if nonsensical and bogglingly
complicated) explanations, in the vein of Shirato’s
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also more naturalistic and the FX and breakdowns
more dramatic and cinematic, presaging the
synthesis of the bombastically fantastic and
hyper-visual with the palpably corporeal that
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comicalizations of 8OWUD�0DQ and other tokusatsu
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Before 7KH�%ODFN�6HFUHW�:HDSRQ, Fukumoto
scripted another baseball manga for 6KĊQHQ�
0DJD]LQH� Chiba Tetsuya’s &KLNDL�QR�0DNĨ (Wish
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credited with shifting the default star character
in baseball manga from batters to pitchers. The
eponymous “windy pitcher” of the title is Kuriyama
.XULWDUĊ��D�PLGGOH�VFKRROHU�ZKRVH�ULGLFXORXV�QDPH�
(an homage to Fukui’s Igaguri) means Chestnut
Mountain Chestnut Boy. His nickname, Kurikuri,
is the onomatopoeia for spinning. Kaizuka’s
many scenes of impossible pitches with crazy
names and animated by racing, curving, spinning,
and exploding FX are clearly indebted to the
suspense-driven breakdowns and impossible
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is skilled at judo and his teammates sometimes
wield bats like bokken (wooden practice swords),
so many of his rivals have names derived from
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them Miyamoto Musashi, Tange Zazen, and
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is simply called the “dropcurve” (GRURNNDDEX),
his rivals’ pitching and batting tricks have
names matching their swordsmen namesakes,
like the Unsheathing Throw (LDL�QDJH) and the
Sparrow-Dropper Swing (WVXEDPH�XFKL�GDKĊ).

The popularity of .XULNXUL�led to numerous other
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writer Fukumoto Kazuya’s 7KH�%ODFN�6HFUHW�:HDSRQ
(.XURL�KLPLWVX�KHLNL�����������IRU�.ĊGDQVKDōV�

Kaizuka Hiroshi, 7KH�:LQG�:LQG�XS�3LWFKHU�(1958-63) 6KĊQHQ�0DJD]LQH (May 31, 1965), cover featuring 7KH�%ODFN�6HFUHW�:HDSRQ

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who would go on to draw the cult boxing manga
7RPRUURZōV�-RH ($VKLWD�QR�-RR������������Chikai is
important beyond its foundational position within
the history of baseball manga. Within that genre,
it is lauded for its naturalistic rendering of bodies
in motion and its sensitive articulation of the main
characters’ internal feelings and interpersonal
relationships—features that weren’t unknown in
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UHŴHFW�&KLEDōV�EHJLQQLQJV�DV�DQ�DXWKRU�RI�VKĊMR�
(girls’) manga, where gracefully delineated poses
and personal intimacy are central. This realism
is reinforced by featuring actual professional
Japanese baseball players as main characters in
the story, namely shortstop Nagashima Shigeo,
homerun king Oh Sadaharu, and coach and
former slugger Kawakami Tetsuharu, all of the
7RNR�*LDQWV��7KRXJK�WKHVH�SODHUV�KDG�FDPHRHG�
in baseball manga before (there are also many
short biographical manga about star players),
only with Chikai is the young fan fantasy of being
able to play against and even defeat the pros
depicted as somehow believable and achievable.
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magic at the heart of the everyday, it radiates with
the promise to make the impossible possible,
which means not just ascending to the pros,
but further, as in Chikai�DQG�PDQ�VXEVHTXHQW�
PDNĨ�PDQJD��GHIHDWLQJ�$PHULFDQ�0DMRU�/HDJXH�

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in that sense, is often inherently nationalistic.

Chikai stars Ninomiya Hikari, a young pitcher
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DIWHU�WKH�ZLWQHVV�KLV�VLJQDWXUH�PDNĨ��D�VLGHDUP�
knuckleball whose speed and spin creates a mini
whirlwind behind the ball, causing it to pause
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downward or upward depending on the direction
of the rotation. Though its physics are fantastic,
Chiba depicts Ninomiya’s pitch conservatively:
simple motion lines, tame motion sounds, and a
bit of vibratory linework and elliptical distortion to
let you know the ball is moving in an exceptional
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later on—a knuckleball that seemingly splits
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zigzagging motion and that the actual ball can be
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that it disappears on its way to the plate and is
learned from a bearded hermit who trains in a
cave in the mountains. Though series like The
%ODFN�6HFUHW�:HDSRQ chose to go the other way
DQG�H[DJJHUDWH�WKH�PDNĨ�DV�SXUH�VXSHUSRZHU��
PRVW�RWKHU�EDVHEDOO�PDQJD�RI�WKH�Ō��V�ZLOO�IROORZ�

Kazumine Daiji and Fukumoto Kazuya, 7KH�%ODFN�6HFUHW�:HDSRQ (1963-65) Chiba Tetsuya and Fukumoto Kazuya, &KLNDL�QR�0DNĨ (1961-62)

6KĊQHQ�0DJD]LQH (October 29, 1967), cover featuring Star of the Giants

Kawasaki Noboru and Kajiwara Ikki, Star of the Giants (1966-71) 0RFKL]XNL�$NLUD�DQG�-LQER�6KLUĊ��V for Victory! (1968-70)

THE DEMON
BALL:
SPORTS MANGA, VISUAL DYNAMISM,
AND THE MAKY!
Ryan Holmberg

THE DEMON
BALL:
SPORTS MANGA, VISUAL DYNAMISM,
AND THE MAKY!
Ryan Holmberg

A
RT

SP
EA

K
E

SS
A

YS

Kawasaki Noboru and Kajiwara Ikki, Star of the Giants (1966-71)

While winning from the batter’s side typically
comes from smashing homeruns in Star of the
Giants (as in most other baseball manga), from
the pitcher’s side it comes not just from strikeouts
(the homerun’s opposite) but also on mishits, fouls,
and botched bunts—not as common in baseball
manga as you might expect, considering Japanese
baseball’s reputation for conservative, tactical play.
$OVR��ZKLOH�+RVKLōV�PDNĨ�DUH�UHSUHVHQWHG�E�D�
fair share of zooming speed lines and vibratory
outlines, more often their magic is conveyed
through stroboscopic and slow-motion effects.
�,Q�IDFW��RQH�RI�+RVKLōV�ƓUVW�VSHFLDO�SLWFKHV�LV�D�
super slow-mo curveball). …

The Eighties: Jump, Sunday,
Action, Otaku

History of Manga
Ryan Holmberg

History of Manga
The Eighties: Jump, Sunday, Action, Otaku

shōjo manga 少女マンガ girls’ comics
shōnen manga 少年マンガ boys’ comics
seishun manga 青春マンガ young adult manga, typically
connoting for an adolescent female audience
josei manga 女性マンガ “women’s comics,” meaning mainly
comics by women for adult females
love comedy ラブコメ romantic comedy
bishōjo 美少女 “beautiful girls,” attractive young female
characters in shōjo manga
lolicon ロリコン “lolita complex,” attraction to bishōjo within
manga, anime, and related media
otaku オタク nerd; literally “myself,” originally term used among
diehard manga and anime fans as a first person pronoun,
subsequently used as a name for such fans
moe 萌え “budding,” feelings of strong affection for fictional
characters in manga, anime, games, and related media, usually
directed toward specific types or specific attributes.

Shōnen Jump 少年ジャンプ no. 1 (August 1, 1968)

Shōnen Jump’s Editorial Principles

•manga and only manga
•primacy of popularity among readers
•prioritize high elementary and middle school readers
(manga vs. gekiga)
•manga to be created in close collaboration with
editors
•exclusivity agreements with artists
•proactive stance toward finding new talent
•“friendship, effort, victory” 友情・努力・勝利, as
principles for content, but also image of reader’s ideals

Historic print-runs
*actual sales around 85-90%

• 1968: 105,000
• 1973: 1.2 million, surpassing Shōnen Magazine
• 1978: 2.1 million
• 1980: 3 million
• 1985: 4 million
• 1989: 5 million
• 1991: 6 million
• 1995: 6.53 million
• 1997: 4 million, surpassed by Shōnen Magazine
• 2003: 3 million
• 2017: 2 million
• 2021: 1.3 million

Weekly Shōnen Jump 週刊少年ジャンプ (November 12, 1973)
Weekly Shōnen Jump 週刊少年ジャンプ (December 3, 1973)

Takahashi Yōichi 高橋陽一 (b. 1960)
Captain Tsubasa キャプテン翼 (1981-88)
Weekly Shōnen Jump (November 2, 1981)

Kurumada Masami 車田正美 (b. 1953)
Bet It All on the Ring リングにかけろ (1977-81)
Weekly Shōnen Jump (August 8, 1977)

Go! Go! Pirates! すすめ！パイレーツ (1977-80)
Weekly Shōnen Jump (December 19, 1977)

Eguchi Hisashi 江口寿史 (b. 1956)
Stop! Hibari kun! ストップ!!ひばりくん! (1981-83)
Weekly Shōnen Jump (October 19, 1981)

Toriyama Akira 鳥山明 (b. 1955), Dr. Slump Dr.スランプ (1980-84)
right: Weekly Shōnen Jump (December 8, 1980); left: (January 19, 1981)

Toriyama Akira 鳥山明 (b. 1955)
Dr. Slump Dr.スランプ (1980-84), a.k.a. Arale chan

Toriyama Akira 鳥山明 (b. 1955), Dragon Ball ドラゴンボール (1984-95)
right: Weekly Shōnen Jump 週刊少年ジャンプ (December 3, 1984)

Hara Tetsuo 原哲夫 (b. 1961) & Buronson 武論尊 (b. 1947)
Fist of the North Star 北斗の拳 (1983-88)
Weekly Shōnen Jump 週刊少年ジャンプ (September 26, 1983)

Hara Tetsuo 原哲夫 (b. 1961) & Buronson 武論尊 (b. 1947)
Fist of the North Star 北斗の拳 (1983-88)

Adachi Mitsuru あだち充 (b. 1951)
Touch タッチ (1981-86)
right: Shōnen Sunday 少年サンデー (August 19, 1981)

Takahashi Rumiko 高橋瑠美子 (b. 1957), Urusei Yatsura うる星やつら (1978-87)
left: Shōnen Sunday 少年サンデー (April 13, 1980); right: (June 1, 1980)

Takahashi Rumiko 高橋瑠美子 (b. 1957)
Urusei Yatsura うる星やつら Shōnen Sunday 少年サンデー (1978-87)

Takahashi Rumiko 高橋瑠美子 (b. 1957)
Urusei Yatsura うる星やつら Shōnen Sunday 少年サンデー (1978-87)

Takahashi Rumiko 高橋瑠美子 (b. 1957)
Urusei Yatsura うる星やつら Shōnen Sunday 少年サンデー (1978-87)

Takahashi Rumiko 高橋瑠美子 (b. 1957)
Urusei Yatsura うる星やつら Shōnen Sunday 少年サンデー (1978-87)

Takahashi Rumiko 高橋瑠美子 (b. 1957)
Urusei Yatsura うる星やつら Shōnen Sunday 少年サンデー (1978-87)

Lum cosplay, Comic Market 1983
as reported in Shōnen Jump (September 9, 1983)

”To Hagio Moto with Love” 萩尾望都に愛をこめて
Labyrinth 迷宮 (Spring 1976)
left: The Paul Clan ポルの一族

Cybele シベール no. 1 (April 1979)
left: Azuma Hideo 吾妻ひでお (1950-2019), under penname Leonardo da Chinpo
Little Red Riding Hood in Wonderland 赤ずきん・いん・わんだあらんど

Manga Burikko 漫画ブリッコ
right: Manga Burikko 漫画ブリッコ no. 1 (November 1982)
left: Manga Burikko 漫画ブリッコ (June 1983), featuring Uchiyama Aki 内山亜紀

Ōtomo Katsuhiro 大友克洋 (b. 1954)
Dōmu: A Child’s Dream 童夢 Action Deluxe アクションデラックス (1980-83)
right: cover of Futabasha book edition, 1983; left: issue 2 of original Dark Horse translation (1995)

Ōtomo Katsuhiro 大友克洋 (b. 1954)
Dōmu: A Child’s Dream 童夢 Action Deluxe アクションデラックス (1980-83)

Ōtomo Katsuhiro 大友克洋 (b. 1954)
Dōmu: A Child’s Dream 童夢 Action Deluxe アクションデラックス (1980-83)

Ōtomo Katsuhiro 大友克洋 (b. 1954)
Dōmu: A Child’s Dream 童夢 Action Deluxe アクションデラックス (1980-83)

Ōtomo Katsuhiro 大友克洋 (b. 1954)
Dōmu: A Child’s Dream 童夢 Action Deluxe アクションデラックス (1980-83)

Ōtomo Katsuhiro 大友克洋 (b. 1954)
Dōmu: A Child’s Dream 童夢 Action Deluxe アクションデラックス (1980-83)

Ōtomo Katsuhiro 大友克洋 (b. 1954)
AKIRA アキラ, serialized in Young Magazine (1982-90)

Ōtomo Katsuhiro 大友克洋 (b. 1954)
AKIRA アキラ, serialized in Young Magazine (1982-90)

Ōtomo Katsuhiro 大友克洋 (b. 1954)
AKIRA アキラ, serialized in Young Magazine (1982-90)

Tagame Gengoroh 田亀源五郎 (b. 1964)
left: Pride プライド (2004)
right: G-men Magazine (July 1996)

Nakazawa Keiji 中沢啓治 (1939-2015), Gen of Hiroshima (EduComics, 1980)
Macross / Robotech, no. 1 (Comico, 1984)

Frank Miller, Ronin (DC Comics, 1983-84)
Frank Miller, cover for English edition of Lone Wolf and Cub, no. 1 (First Publishing, 1987)

Frank Miller and Chris Claremont, Wolverine (Marvel Comics, 1982), TPB edition 1987
John Buscema and Chris Claremont, Wolverine no. 2 (Marvel Comics, December 1988)

Peter Laird & Kevin Eastman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, no. 1 (Mirage Studios, 1984)
Reggie Byers, Shuriken, no. 1 (Eternity Comics, 1985)

魔球
The Demon Ball:
Sports Manga, Visual
Dynamism, and the Makyū

Ryan Holmberg
[email protected]

Ryan Holmberg, The Demon Ball: Sports Manga, Visual Dynamism, and the Makyū
at VAMOS NIPPON!, the Naughton Gallery, Queen’s University, Belfast (July-August 2021)

Earliest image of baseball produced in Japan
Primary School Reader 小学読本 vol. 1 (1873)

First images of baseball in Japan
Primary School Reader 小学読本 vol. 1 (1st edition, 1873; 2nd 1874)
Wilson’s First Reader (1861)

Asō Yutaka 麻生豊 (1898-61)
The Happy-Go-Lucky Dad ノンキナトウさん, 報知新聞 (November 30, 1924)

Nagasaki Batten 長崎抜天 (1904-81)
Homerun: Tales of P-Boy ホームラン：ピー坊物語, Jiji Manga 時事漫画 (May 18, 1924)

Yomiuri Sunday Manga 読売サンデー漫画
（November 1, 1931)
Honoring the American Ballplayers

with Lefty Grove, Lou Gehrig, Left O’Doul,
and others
drawn by Shishido Sakō 宍戸左行, Tanaka
Hisara 田中比左良, and others

Shōnen Club 少年倶楽部 (May 1924), cover by Saitō Ioe 斎藤五百枝
Shōnen Club 少年倶楽部 (October 1931), cover by Saitō Ioe 斎藤五百枝

Satō Kōroku 佐藤紅緑 (1874-1949), Ah, a Flower in a Jade Cup あゝ玉杯に花うけて (1927-28)
serialized in Shōnen Club 少年倶楽部 (1927-28), illustrations by Saitō Ioe 斎藤五百枝
left: cover of Shōbunka’s best-sellng 1947 book edition

Takahashi Wataru 高橋わたる
Baseball 野球狂, Shōnen Club 少年倶楽部 (July 1932)

Matsubara Koreaki 松原惟勝
Ball ボール, Shōnen Club 少年倶楽部 (July 1932)

Yakyū Shōnen 野球少年 no. 1 (April 1947), cover by Saitō Ioe 斎藤五百枝
Manga Shōnen 漫画少年 no. 5 (May 1948), cover by Saitō Ioe 斎藤五百枝

Inoue Kazuo 井上一雄 (1914-49)
Bat Kid バット君 (Gakudōsha, 1948)
opening page in Manga Shōnen 漫画少年 no. 1 (January 1948)

Inoue Kazuo 井上一雄 (1914-49)
Bat Kid バット君 (Gakudōsha, 1948)

Inoue Kazuo 井上一雄 (1914-49)
Bat Kid バット君 (Gakudōsha, 1948); English edition (Bubbles Zine Publications, 2021)

the
cen-
ter

It’s a

fielder

pop
up

uh-oh

he trips

kr
ra

k

the catcher

fielder…

the
left

are
both

and

for
it

uh-
oh

but

still

the
2nd

base-
man

that
must’ve
hurt

safe!

going

ouch!

one
run
for
w

ouch

it’s over
his head

makes the

the

com-
es

here it

runs
for
it

the runner

the pitch

foul
ball

center fielder

cl
ap

of the

running

ain’t
no

thing

he
hits
it

rounds
third

he’s
head-
ing

home

uh-oh

yah!

whoops

And that
ends our

broadcast.

catch!

the
throw
home!

the 2nd
pitch

he
catches

it

but not in time!

oof

runs

c
l
a
p

that’s the end

inning

woo woo
he

was
hit

he
thr-
ows
to
1st

it
hits
the
net

strike
three

play

ball

sorry

it’s
close

he
reads
the
sign

you’re
out!

He
winds
up…

the
wind-
up

out

they’re being
careful

two
down

the
1st

pitch

the pitch
safe
at
2nd

it’s a
fast
ball

Next
up…

swing on
2nd

runner

Look!

there it
goes

the

strike
two

a bunt!

no
swi-
ng

strike
one

the pitcher

the 1st pitch

the
next
pitch

pitch

2nd pitch
fields

it
Uh-oh

oof

it’s up
there

ow!

too
late
for
2nd

foul
ball

A

kr
ra

k

he doesn’t

he
hurries

slug-
ger
g!

a hit

a crazy
curve
ball!

miss

swing
and A

going…
going…

keeps

Yokoo Tadanori 横尾忠則 (b. 1936)
Ōshita Hiroshi signing autographs, Manga Shōnen 漫画少年 (July 1950)
Poster for the National Rubber Ball Tournament, Kobe (1958)

Terada Hiroo 寺田ヒロオ (1931-92)
Uniform Number Zero 背番号０ Yakyū Shōnen 野球少年 (1956-60), insert pamphlet (April 1960)
Sportsman Sasuke スポーツマン佐助 Yakyū Shōnen (1957-59)

The Errors (Toshimaen Ballpark, May 1957), with Tezuka Osamu and Tokiwasō members
First issue of Weekly Shōnen Sunday 週間少年サンデー （April 5, 1959), showing Nagashima Shigeo

Kaizuka Hiroshi 貝塚ひろし (b. 1938)
The Windy Wind-Up Pticher くりくり投手 Omoshiro Book おもしろブック (1958-63)
cover of insert pamphlet, Omoshiro Book (August 1958)

Kazumine Daiji 一峰大二 (1935-2020), artist; Fukumoto Kazuya 福本和也 (1928-97), writer
The Black Secret Weapon 黒い秘密兵器 (1963-65)
cover of Weekly Shōnen Magazine 週間少年マガジン （May 31, 1964)

Chiba Tetsuya ちばてつや (b. 1939), artist; and Fukumoto Kazuya 福本和也 (1928-97), writer
A Wish Upon a Makyū ちかいの魔球 (1961-62)
left: title page, Shōnen Magazine 少年マガジン（July 22, 1962)

Kawasaki Noboru 川崎のぼる (b. 1941), artist; and Kajiwara Ikki 梶原一騎 (1936-87), writer
Star of the Giants 巨人の星 (1966-71)
left: Shōnen Magazine 少年マガジン（October 29, 1967)
right: Shōnen Magazine 少年マガジン（May 24, 1970), cover design by Yokoo Tadanori

Kawasaki Noboru 川崎のぼる (b. 1941), artist; and Kajiwara Ikki 梶原一騎 (1936-87), writer
Star of the Giants 巨人の星 Shōnen Magazine 少年マガジン（1966-71)

Kawasaki Noboru 川崎のぼる (b. 1941), artist; and Kajiwara Ikki 梶原一騎 (1936-87), writer
Star of the Giants 巨人の星 Shōnen Magazine 少年マガジン（1966-71)

Urano Chikako 浦野千賀子 (b. 1946)
Attack No. 1 アタックNo.1 (1968-70)
left: Weekly Margaret 週間マーガレット （September 21, 1969)

Urano Chikako 浦野千賀子 (b. 1946)
Attack No. 1 アタックNo.1 (1968-70)
left: Weekly Margaret 週間マーガレット （September 21, 1969)

Takahashi Makoto 高橋真琴 (b. 1934)
Cherry Tree Row さくら並木 (Hinomaru bunko, 1957)

Urano Chikako 浦野千賀子 (b. 1946)
Attack No. 1 アタックNo.1 (1968-70)
left: Weekly Margaret 週間マーガレット （September 21, 1969)

Mochizuki Akira 望月あきら (b. 1937), artist; Jinbo Shirō 神保史郎 (1948-94), writer
V for Victory! サインはV! (1968-70)
left: Weekly Shōjo Friend 週間少女フレンド supplemental issue （November 18, 1968)

Mochizuki Akira 望月あきら (b. 1937), artist; Jinbo Shirō 神保史郎 (1948-94), writer
V for Victory! サインはV! Weekly Shōjo Friend 週間少女フレンド (1968-70)

Mochizuki Akira 望月あきら (b. 1937), artist; Jinbo Shirō 神保史郎 (1948-94), writer
V for Victory! サインはV! Weekly Shōjo Friend 週間少女フレンド (1968-70)

Mochizuki Akira 望月あきら (b. 1937), artist; Jinbo Shirō 神保史郎 (1948-94), writer
V for Victory! サインはV! Weekly Shōjo Friend 週間少女フレンド (1968-70)

Nakajima Norihiro 中島徳博 (1950-2014), artist; Tōzaki Shirō 遠崎史朗 (b. 1943), writer
The Astros アストロ球団 (1972-76)
left: Weekly Shōnen Jump 週間少年ジャンプ (June 10, 1974)

Nakajima Norihiro 中島徳博 (1950-2014), artist; Tōzaki Shirō 遠崎史朗 (b. 1943), writer
The Astros アストロ球団 Weekly Shōnen Jump 週間少年ジャンプ (1972-76)

Nakajima Norihiro 中島徳博 (1950-2014), artist; Tōzaki Shirō 遠崎史朗 (b. 1943), writer
The Astros アストロ球団 Weekly Shōnen Jump 週間少年ジャンプ (1972-76)

Inoue Kazuo, Bat Kid (Bubbles Zine Publications, 2021)
Ryan Holmberg, The Demon Ball (Naughton Gallery, 2021)