Introduction: Manga as “Banal Memory”

In August 17, 2013, the Asahi Shimbun discovered that copies of Hadashi no Gen (Barefoot Gen), an internationally renowned manga about the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, had been pulled out from school library shelves at the city of Matsue in Shimane Prefecture. The city’s education board decided that children should not be allowed to freely check out Hadashi no Gen at the libraries of public elementary and junior high schools due to graphic descriptions of violence committed by Japanese troops, but teachers could still use them as educational materials. “We are not going to remove the manga because it is an invaluable piece,” Furukawa Yasunori, the deputy head of the education board, was quoted as saying. “But we understand that it contains portions that warrant consideration as appropriate reading material for children.” According to the article, the board’s decision stemmed from the complaint of one citizen who said the manga described actions that were never committed by Japanese troops during the war. Nakazawa Misayo, the widow of Hadashi no Gen creator Nakazawa Keiji, expressed dismay over the decision. “It is incredible and I am saddened,” said Misayo, 70. “I am afraid that board members do not grasp the tragedy and pain that the war and the atomic bombing brought on us.”