Japanese Manga and Smoking
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II JOURNAL Fall 2012 University of Michigan 19 Japanese Manga and Smoking: by Masahito Jimbo Any person above the age of 50 will probably remember watching Astro Boy by the great Osamu Tezuka or When you think of Speed Racer on TV, both of which were recently turned into American movies Japanese culture, what and unfortunately flopped. Or how comes to mind? The about the more recent hits of Pikachu and Dragon Ball? food, such as sushi? The tradition, such as kimono Indeed, manga is much more than and kabuki? The classic superheroes and robots. Its culture is rich with dizzying diversity in themes movies by Akira Kurosawa and quality. A rags-to-riches saga and Yasujiro Ozu? about a salary man rising from a lowly office staff to the president of a mega- How about anime and conglomerate? Check, it’s the popular series for adult men, President Kosaku manga? “Manga,” or Shima. A coming of age story of a boy Japanese comics, and in an all-dorm agricultural high school with spirited classmates? Check, a new “anime,” or TV and movies but popular manga for girls, Silver based on manga characters, Spoon. A series of manga vignettes have been catching featuring a small, run-down diner in the middle of Tokyo that is only open Americans’ attention from midnight until the next morning, for a while. with colorful clientele rich with ironies of life? Check, a popular, adult-oriented Late Night Diner. But you might also see something else. PUFFING AWAY One of the longest running comics in Japan features an international sniper known and feared among all national governments and spy agencies alike. With a code name of Golgo 13, little is known about him, only that he is of Japanese descent, can shoot a target 20 II JOURNAL Fall 2012 University of Michigan from an impossible distance, and is a Joe Quesada was editor-in-chief of Marvel master of every martial art known to man. Comics from 2000 to 2011, he had banned TEN TOP-SELLING MANGA Naturally, he is stoic and extremely self- major characters (e.g., Wolverine of the (in order of popularity) disciplined, constantly training to improve X-Men series) from smoking, citing the his fitness and skills. Oh, by the way, he death of his relatives from smoking-related 1 One Piece also smokes a cigar. diseases as the reason. Epic saga about a band of ragtag youths with special powers (akin Turn the pages of any manga, and you Similar steps have not been taken in to the X-men) aspiring to be the best pirate band ever. A runaway will probably notice scenes after scenes of the manga world, however. Indeed, a number one selling manga in Japan. what you rarely see in American comics— preliminary study from the University characters lighting up a smoke. It’s not of Tokyo showed that, of the top four 2 Naruto limited to anti-heroes like Golgo. Another selling boy’s comic magazines (each A story about young ninjas in long-running manga, Cooking Papa, about magazine typically carrying 20 titles of training in an imaginary world with some similarities to Japan. a family that loves to cook, depicts the serialized manga stories) in Japan, smoking big, burly matriarch warning her expecting depictions appeared in 20 of the 87 titles, 3 Fairly Tale daughter-in-law about the perils of eating and teenage smokers accounted for 17.6% A fantasy about girls growing up too many eggplants while pregnant—while of the smoking depictions. Thus, there is to be sorceresses in one of many she puffs away on a cigarette right in front a significant concern that the Japanese sorcery guilds in the world. of her. Neither of these manga is widely children and adolescents receive greater 4 Bleach read here. So, it really doesn’t matter what exposure to smoking depictions than their A fantasy about a boy who is the comic readership across the Pacific American counterparts. accidentally turned into a death Ocean is exposed to. Or does it? god destined to battle evil spirits. Not that no one has tried to put a stop to Cigarette smoking among children and it. In 2006, the Japan Society for Tobacco 5 Kimi Ni Todoke (Let It Reach You) A story about a high school adolescents is one of the top United States Control filed an official complaint to girl who comes of age through government health concerns, because the creator, the publisher, and the TV friendship and love. the majority of new smokers are children production of Nana, a manga about a and adolescents. It is a significant public group of aspiring musicians in late teens 6 Gintama A science fiction set in the Edo health problem, because smoking causes and early 20s that was turned into TV Period, about a boy maturing into more preventable deaths than any other anime, with a wide audience consisting a samurai in a world dominated by extraterrestrials. A preliminary study from the University of Tokyo showed 7 Bakuman that, of the top four selling boy’s comic magazines in A story of a young boy aspiring to become a manga creator. Japan. teenage smokers accounted for 17.6% of the smoking depictions. 8 Hunter x Hunter A story of a boy training to be a hereditary and behavioral risks. Previous of teenage girls and women in early 20s. “hunter,” a licensed professional who specializes in fantastic studies provide clear and strong evidence In it, virtually every character smokes real pursuits such as locating rare that children and adolescents are more brands of cigarettes, leading the tobacco or unidentified animal species, likely to view smoking favorably and to control society to insist that it would lead treasure hunting, or hunting down begin smoking as a result of exposure to to impressionable youth following suit. lawless individuals. smoking in the media. The creator, the publisher, and the TV 9 Shingeki No Kyojin production all politely wrote back, saying (Attacking Giants) However, most of these studies have been essentially, “Tough luck.” Future dystopia in which humans done with TV and movies. Little data exist must protect themselves against regarding the depiction of smoking in The increasing popularity of the manga marauding cannibalistic giants. comics. It is notable, however, that when as a form of entertainment among the 10 Toriko A fantasy about food fighters with supernatural powers. II JOURNAL Fall 2012 University of Michigan 21 American men (21.5%). But the Japanese TEN TOP-SELLING AMERICAN COMICS (in order of popularity) women actually smoke less than the American women (12.1% vs. 17.3% in 1 Amazing Spider-man 6 Uncanny X-Force 2010). And the percentage continues to decline over the years. 2 Batman 7 Ultimate Comics Spider-man There are no official figures, but there is 3 Green Lantern 8 Batman and Robin anecdotal evidence that a high percentage 4 Uncanny X-Men 9 Detective Comics (Batman) of the Japanese manga creators smoke. Perhaps that is where the problem begins. 5 Action Comics (Superman) 10 Fantastic Four But that will be another research project. American children and adolescents raises cigarette packets not held by smokers), About the Author concerns that they are exposed more and conversations about smoking; type of Dr. Masahito Jimbo is a native of Japan often to smoking depictions than their tobacco products; smoker characteristics and obtained his MD and PhD from Keio counterparts who do not read them. There (gender, estimated age, and role); and how University School of Medicine in Tokyo, may be some safeguards, such as cutting smoking was depicted (positively, negatively Japan. After completing his internal out the smoking scenes or substituting or neutrally). Smokers will be considered to medicine residency there, he finished a cigarette with lollipop. (That’s what’s be teens only if clear indication of their age, his family medicine residency at Thomas being done in anime, due to fairly strict such as being a high school student, was Jefferson University in Philadelphia. While censorship laws.) described. When two or more smokers are practicing in rural North Carolina, he depicted in one panel, each smoker will be obtained MPH in Public Health Leadership Thanks to a generous grant from the Center counted as one depiction. We plan to utilize from the University of North Carolina at for Japanese Studies, we were able to both descriptive and statistical analyses. Chapel Hill. He then served as a faculty at launch a content analysis study. Multiple Thomas Jefferson University for five years search engines (e.g., Google, Yahoo) We are in midst of accumulating data, so before being recruited to the University of were used to determine the 10 top-selling no official conclusions have been reached Michigan, where he is currently Associate manga in Japan and the United States, yet. But one thing is clear—the depiction Professor of Family Medicine and Urology. respectively, in 2011. Similar methodology of smoking is prevalent in manga. And, was employed to identify the 10 top-selling they are not censored here. Look at the Dr. Jimbo divides his clinical and teaching American non-manga comics in the United cover of One Piece translated in English time between the family medicine clinic States in 2011. Ultimately, we decided to at a local comic store: one of the major at Domino’s Farms and hospital medicine. compare the 10 top-selling manga in Japan protagonists, Sanji, a French cook and an In research, he has been pursuing two and the 10 top-selling non-manga comics expert in French kicking martial arts, savate, inter-related lines of inquiry: “How does in the United States, because the manga is in all his smoking glory.