@article{ART003177401},
author={Heo Yoon},
title={The Post Memory of War and Un-visibility of Wounded Soldiers - Focusing on Shigeru Mizuki's War Cartoons},
journal={Journal of Popular Narrative},
issn={1738-3188},
year={2025},
volume={31},
number={1},
pages={535-571}
TY - JOUR
AU - Heo Yoon
TI - The Post Memory of War and Un-visibility of Wounded Soldiers - Focusing on Shigeru Mizuki's War Cartoons
JO - Journal of Popular Narrative
PY - 2025
VL - 31
IS - 1
PB - The Association of Popular Narrative
SP - 535
EP - 571
SN - 1738-3188
AB - Shigeru Mizuki, born in 1922, was a cartoonist famous for his monster cartoons as well as a soldier dispatched to Rabaul in 1943. At the end of the Asia-Pacific War, he was discharged due to left arm amputation by bombing. This assignment to the battlefield involved imminent defeat and death. This was unlike previous generations, who experienced victory in wars. No one expected the soldiers to return alive. Although educated in militarism, the entire generation experienced the futility of war, facing more mortality on the battlefield than any other age.
Mizuki has published war stories several times through All Lockdown!, Modern History of Japan, Rabaul War Story. Mizuki made a significant attempt to avoid displaying himself as a hero with war stories. Mizuki recognized that the Japanese Military Sexual Slavery of the brothels were drawn into the war like soldiers. However, he is not free from the criticism of objectifying Japanese Military Sexual Slavery. He criticizes that the military norms do not practice real battlefields at all. Recruits were subject to harassment and unprovoked corporal punishment. He desolated the lockdown and pointed out the structural problems of the Japanese military, differentiating from the glorified death. Mizuki made a significant attempt to avoid painting (displaying) himself as a hero with war stories. As a wounded soldier, Mizuki could have become a hero. Instead, he wrote criticisms of the military in his cartoons. This post-memory is made possible by the work of rewriting war memories. Mizuki's memory of the war ends with his bond with the Rabaul natives. Mizuki's relationship with Rabaul's indigenous people makes up for the memories of the war. The Japanese participating in this war utilize the memory of the past to mourn death. This is in contrast to Mizuki, however, who utilizes the war to remember and reflect on his time with indigenous people.
KW - Shigeru Mizuki;the Asia-Pacific War;Post Memory;Cartoon;Wounded Soldiers;Disability
DO -
UR -
ER -
Heo Yoon. (2025). The Post Memory of War and Un-visibility of Wounded Soldiers - Focusing on Shigeru Mizuki's War Cartoons. Journal of Popular Narrative, 31(1), 535-571.
Heo Yoon. 2025, "The Post Memory of War and Un-visibility of Wounded Soldiers - Focusing on Shigeru Mizuki's War Cartoons", Journal of Popular Narrative, vol.31, no.1 pp.535-571.
Heo Yoon "The Post Memory of War and Un-visibility of Wounded Soldiers - Focusing on Shigeru Mizuki's War Cartoons" Journal of Popular Narrative 31.1 pp.535-571 (2025) : 535.
Heo Yoon. The Post Memory of War and Un-visibility of Wounded Soldiers - Focusing on Shigeru Mizuki's War Cartoons. 2025; 31(1), 535-571.
Heo Yoon. "The Post Memory of War and Un-visibility of Wounded Soldiers - Focusing on Shigeru Mizuki's War Cartoons" Journal of Popular Narrative 31, no.1 (2025) : 535-571.
Heo Yoon. The Post Memory of War and Un-visibility of Wounded Soldiers - Focusing on Shigeru Mizuki's War Cartoons. Journal of Popular Narrative, 31(1), 535-571.
Heo Yoon. The Post Memory of War and Un-visibility of Wounded Soldiers - Focusing on Shigeru Mizuki's War Cartoons. Journal of Popular Narrative. 2025; 31(1) 535-571.
Heo Yoon. The Post Memory of War and Un-visibility of Wounded Soldiers - Focusing on Shigeru Mizuki's War Cartoons. 2025; 31(1), 535-571.
Heo Yoon. "The Post Memory of War and Un-visibility of Wounded Soldiers - Focusing on Shigeru Mizuki's War Cartoons" Journal of Popular Narrative 31, no.1 (2025) : 535-571.
