{
  "id": 13262263,
  "title": "'Rediscovered' Osamu Tezuka manga tackles discrimination against Korean residents in Japan",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/10/rediscovered-osamu-tezuka-manga-tackles-discrimination-against-korean",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-10T00:00:23.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Mainichi",
    "slug": "the-mainichi",
    "url": "https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20261009/p2a/00m/0et/010000c"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A reissued edition of the Osamu Tezuka manga \"Nagai Ana\" (The Long Cave) has gained unexpected popularity, reaching its seventh printing since its release by Hosei University Press in June. The manga, never included in Tezuka's complete works, delves into the history of discrimination against Zainichi Koreans, ethnic Koreans residing in Japan, from the prewar to the postwar era.\n\nThe manga's editor, Ken Akahane, expressed that the timing of the publication was apt, given the rise of xenophobic sentiment not only in Japan but globally. \"There are people who earnestly wish to address these issues,\" Akahane noted.\n\n\"Nagai Ana\" initially appeared in the weekly magazine Sunday Mainichi on November 6, 1970, before being reprinted in the second volume of \"Kuki no Soko\" (Under the Air) in 1972, but was never incorporated into collections of Tezuka's complete works. Set during Japan's postwar economic boom, the story follows Shohei Moriyama, a Zainichi Korean who has obtained Japanese citizenship and ascended to an executive role at a prominent corporation. Moriyama grapples with the psychological impact of forced labor he endured during World War II at Mount Togari in Gifu Prefecture. His act of sheltering an undocumented Korean immigrant complicates his familial relationships.\n\nThroughout the narrative, Moriyama endeavors to conceal his Korean heritage. Despite its relative brevity, the manga addresses a multitude of issues pertinent to Zainichi Koreans, such as forced labor, ethnic prejudice, generational rifts, familial separation, and clandestine migration.\n\nWhen it first appeared in Sunday Mainichi, a marginal note hailed it as \"A new frontier for manga master Osamu Tezuka, tackling the issue of Koreans in Japan head-on!\" It would have been irresponsible to present readers with the manga without providing context, as Akahane discovered during his research in 2023. The reissued edition includes 80 pages of commentary by six experts, aiming to deepen readers' comprehension of the historical and contextual nuances.\n\nThe reissued edition supplements the 50-page manga with supplementary material, providing readers with a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. As an academic publisher, the decision to include extensive commentary was made to facilitate a more profound understanding of the issues depicted in the manga. Akahane expressed hope that readers would not merely consume the story and move on, but rather engage with it as a means to personally contemplate these matters.\n\nReleased in 1970, during Japan's economic ascent and the year Osaka hosted the nation's inaugural World Exposition, the manga's themes resonated with contemporary societal debates. Issues such as the recognition of Korean schools as \"miscellaneous schools\" under the School Education Act, as well as protests against an immigration control law proposed during that period, were being actively discussed.\n\nCritic Seiichi Hayashi, a contributor to the new edition, lauded \"Nagai Ana\" for its comprehensive portrayal of the various forms of oppression experienced by Zainichi Koreans. Hayashi remarked that the manga served as a catalog of the multifaceted oppression faced by this community, an aspect that was groundbreaking when it was published in the late 1960s. Niji Kamiya, a researcher on Japan-South Korea relations and a translator who also contributed commentary, visited the underground tunnels at Mount Togari in Mizunami, Gifu Prefecture, in September of the previous year. Kamiya expressed that the manga's depiction of the tunnels felt so authentic that she concluded Tezuka must have personally visited the site for research purposes. The tunnels were excavated at the end of World War II and were utilized as an aircraft factory evacuation site, with many Korean and Chinese individuals being conscripted into grueling labor conditions. Kamiya emphasized that Tezuka exhibited sympathy towards the educational and human rights concerns of Zainichi Koreans and hoped that the manga would serve as an entry point for individuals to learn about the contributions Zainichi Koreans have made to Japan's modern history.",
  "summary": "TOKYO -- A reissued edition of \"Nagai Ana\" (The Long Cave), a manga first published in 1970 by Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989), has enjoyed unexpected popula",
  "key_points": [
    "\"Nagai Ana\" manga explores discrimination against Zainichi Koreans in Japan.",
    "Reissued edition gains popularity, seventh print since June release.",
    "Includes 80 pages of expert commentary to contextualize historical issues."
  ],
  "editors_take": "The reissued manga Nagai Ana sheds light on Japan's history of discrimination against Zainichi Koreans, resonating with current societal debates and offering a chance for readers to contemplate these issues.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}