A landmark publishing event of one of Japan's most famous cartoonists
Shigeru Mizuki is the preeminent figure of Gekiga manga and one of the most famous working cartoonists in Japan today–a true living legend. Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths is his first book to be translated into English and is a semiautobiographical account of the desperate final weeks of a Japanese infantry unit at the end of WorldWar II. The soldiers are told that they must go into battle and die for the honor of their country, with certain execution facing them if they return alive. Mizuki was a soldier himself (he was severely injured and lost an arm) and uses his experiences to convey the devastating consequences and moral depravity of the war. 
Mizuki's list of accolades and achievements is long and detailed. In Japan, the life of Mizuki and his wife has been made into an extremely popular television drama that airs daily. Mizuki is the recipient of many awards, including the Best AlbumAward for his book NonNonBa (to be published in 2012 by D+Q) and the Heritage Essential Award for Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths at the Angoulême International Comics Festival, the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Special Award, the Kyokujitsu Sho Decoration, the Shiju Hosho Decoration, and the KodanshaManga Award.His hometown of Sakaiminato honored him with Shigeru Mizuki Road―a street decorated with bronze statues of his Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro characters―and the Shigeru Mizuki International Cultural Center.

Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths

Comics & Graphic Novels

Mizuki, Shigeru

Manga

Drawn and Quarterly

The first English translation of Mizuki's best-loved work
NonNonBa is the definitive work by acclaimed Gekiga-ka Shigeru Mizuki, a poetic memoir detailing his interest in yokai (spirit monsters). Mizuki's childhood experiences with yokai influenced the course of his life and oeuvre; he is now known as the forefather of yokai manga. His spring 2011 book, Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths, was featured on PRI's The World, where Marco Werman scored a coveted interview with one of the most famous visual artists working in Japan today.
Within the pages of NonNonBa, Mizuki explores the legacy left him by his childhood explorations of the spirit world, explorations encouraged by his grandmother, a grumpy old woman named NonNonBa. NonNonBa is a touching work about childhood and growing up, as well as a fascinating portrayal of Japan in a moment of transition. NonNonBa was the first manga to win the Angoulême Prize for Best Album. Much like its namesake, NonNonBa is at once funny and nostalgic, firmly grounded

NonNonBa

A fascinating period in Japanese history explored by a master of manga 
Showa 1926–1939: A History of Japan is the first volume of Shigeru Mizuki's meticulously researched historical portrait of twentieth-century Japan. This volume deals with the period leading up to World War II, a time of high unemployment and other economic hardships caused by the Great Depression. Mizuki's photo-realist style effortlessly brings to life the Japan of the 1920s and 1930s, depicting bustling city streets and abandoned graveyards with equal ease. When the Showa era began, Mizuki himself was just a few years old, so his earliest memories coincide with the earliest events of the time. With his trusty narrator Rat Man, Mizuki brings history into the realm of the personal, making it palatable, and indeed compelling, for young audiences as well as more mature readers. As he describes the militarization that leads up to World War II, Mizuki's stance toward war is thoughtful and often downright critical―his portrayal of the Nanjing Massacre clearly paints the incident (a disputed topic within Japan) as an atrocity. Mizuki's Showa 1926–1939 is a beautifully told history that tracks how technological developments and the country's shifting economic stability had a role in shaping Japan's foreign policy in the early twentieth century.

Showa 1926-1939: A History of Japan (Showa: A History of Japan, 1)

A master cartoonist and war vet details Japan's involvement in World War II
"Showa 1939" "1944: A History of Japan" continues the award-winning author Shigeru Mizuki's autobiographical and historical account of Showa-era Japan. This volume covers the final moments of the lead-up to World War II and the first few years of the Pacific War, and is a chilling reminder of the harshness of life in Japan during this highly militarized epoch. Mizuki writes affectingly about the impact on the Japanese populace of world-changing moments, including the devastating Second Sino-Japanese War, the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the first half of the Pacific War. On a personal level, these years mark a dramatic transformation in Mizuki's life, too. His idyllic childhood in the countryside comes to a definitive end when he's drafted into the army and shipped off to the tiny island of Rabaul in Papua New Guinea. His life becomes a constant struggle for survival, not only against the constant Allied attacks but against the harsh discipline of the Japanese army officers. During his time in Rabaul, Mizuki comes to understand the misery and beauty of the island itself, a place that will permanently mark him and haunt him for the rest of his life."

Showa 1939-1944: A History of Japan (Showa: A History of Japan, 2)

A sweeping yet intimate portrait of the legacy of World War II in Japan
Showa 1944-1953: A History of Japan continues the award-winning author Shigeru Mizuki's autobiographical and historical account of the Showa period in Japan. This volume recounts the events of the final years of the Pacific War, and the consequences of the war's devastation for Mizuki and the Japanese populace at large. After the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, Japan and the United States are officially at war. The two rival navies engage in a deadly game of feint and thrust, waging a series of microwars across the tiny Pacific islands. From Guadalcanal to Okinawa, Japan slowly loses ground. Finally, the United States unleashes the deathblow with a new and terrible weapon--the atomic bomb. The fallout from the bombs is beyond imagining. On another front, Showa 1944-1953 traces Mizuki's own life story across history's sweeping changes during this period, charting the impact of the war's end on his life choices. After losing his arm during the brutal fighting, Mizuki struggles to decide where to go: whether to remain on the island as an honored friend of the local Tolai people or return to the rubble of Japan and take up his dream of becoming a cartoonist.Showa 1944-1953 is a searing condemnation of the personal toll of war from one of Japan's most famous cartoonists.

Showa 1944-1953: A History of Japan (Showa: A History of Japan, 3)

The final volume in the Eisner-nominated history of Japan; one of NPR's Best Books of 2014! Showa 1953-1989: A History of Japan concludes Shigeru Mizuki's dazzling autobiographical and historical account of Showa-period Japan, a portrait both intimate and ranging of a defining epoch. The final volume picks up in the wake of Japan's utter defeat in World War II, as a country reduced to rubble struggles to rise again. The Korean War brings new opportunities to a nation searching for an identity. A former enemy becomes their greatest ally as the United States funnels money, jobs, and opportunity into Japan, hoping to establish the country as a bulwark against Soviet Communist expansion. Japan reinvents itself, emerging as an economic powerhouse. Events like the Tokyo Olympiad and the World's Fair introduce a friendlier Japan to the world, but this period of peace and plenty conceals a populace still struggling to come to terms with the devastation of World War II. During this period of recovery and reconciliation, Mizuki's struggles mirror those of the nation. He fights his way back from poverty, becoming a celebrity who is beloved by millions of manga-reading children. However, prosperity cannot bring the happiness Mizuki craves, as he struggles to find meaning in the sacrifices made during the war. The original Japanese edition of the Showa: A History of Japan series won Mizuki the prestigious Kodansha Manga Award; the English translation has been nominated for an Eisner Award.

Showa 1953-1989: A History of Japan (Showa: A History of Japan, 3)

A master cartoonist and veteran tells the life story of the man who started the Second World War Seventy years after his death, Adolf Hitler remains a mystery. Historians, military tacticians, and psychologists have tried in vain to unravel his complex motivations for leading Germany into the Holocaust and World War II. WithShigeru Mizuki's Hitler, the manga-ka (Kitaro, NonNonba, Showa: A History of Japan) delves deep into the history books to create an absorbing and eloquent portrait of Hitler's life. Beginning with Hitler's time in Austria as a starving art student and ending with a Germany in ruins,Shigeru Mizuki's Hitler retraces the path Hitler took in life, coolly examining his charismatic appeal and his calculated political maneuvering. The Munich Beer Putsch, Hitler's ascent to chancellor, the sudden death of his half-niece Geli, the Battle of Stalingrad, his relationship with Eva Braun, and his eventual demise: all are given equal attention in this thorough and compelling biography. In Mizuki's signature style, which populates incredibly realistic backgrounds with cartoony people, Japan's most famous living cartoonist has created an overview of Hitler's life that is as fascinating as it is informative.

Shigeru Mizuki’s Hitler

Meet one of Japan's most popular characters of all time-Kitaro, the One-Eyed Monster Boy The Birth of Kitaro collects seven of Shigeru Mizuki's early, and beloved, Kitaro stories, making them available for the first time in English, in an all-new, kid-friendly format. These stories are from the golden era of the late 1960s, when Gegege no Kitaro truly hit its stride as an all-ages supernatural series. Mizuki's Kitaro stories are both timelessly relevant and undeniably influential, inspiring a decades-long boom in stories about yokai, Japanese ghosts, and monsters.
"Kitaro's Birthday" reveals the origin story of the yokai boy Kitaro and his tiny eyeball father, Medama Oyaji. "Neko Musume versus Nezumi Otoko" is the first of Mizuki's stories to feature the popular recurring character Neko Musume, a little girl who transforms into a cat when she gets angry or hungry. Other stories in The Birth of Kitaro draw heavily from Japanese folklore, with Kitaro taking on legendary Japanese yokai like the Nopperabo and Makura Gaeshi, and fighting the monstrous recurring villain Gyuki.
With more than 150 pages of spooky and often funny comics about the titular yokai boy, The Birth of Kitaro is the perfect introduction to the award-winning author Mizuki's most popular series, seminal comics that have won the hearts of Japanese children and adults for more than half a century.

The Birth of Kitaro (Kitaro, 1)

Children's Books

"Kitaro is a fun, eerie romp into Japan's supernatural world." --School Library Journal, YALSA Great Graphic Novel for Teens The second in a seven-volume series of the best of Shigeru Mizuki's Kitaro comics, designed with a kid-friendly format and price point! Kitaro Meets Nurarihyon is the second volume in the adventures of Shigeru Mizuki's bizarre yokai boy Kitaro and his gaggle of otherworldly friends. These seven stories date from the golden age of Gegege no Kitaro, when Mizuki had perfected the balance of folklore, comedy, and horror that made Kitaro one of Japan's most beloved characters.
In Kitaro Meets Nurarihyon, Kitaro and his father, Medama Oyaji, face off against one of their most powerful enemies--the self-styled Yokai Supreme Commander known as Nurarihyon. Over the course of this volume, Kitaro takes on the swamp-dwelling Sawa Kozo, the mysterious Diamond Yokai, and the sea giant called Umizato, and wages a double feature of battles against the bizarre Odoro Odoro. Finally, Kitaro journeys to hell itself in the infamous and surreal story "Hell Ride."
In addition to more than 150 pages of Mizuki's all-ages monster fun, Kitaro Meets Nurarihyon includes bonus materials: "Yokai Files" that introduce Japan's folklore monsters and a "History of Kitaro" essay by the translator Zack Davisson. If you found the world of yokai fascinating in The Birth of Kitaro, you will find even more to love in Kitaro Meets Nurarihyon!

Kitaro Meets Nurarihyon (Kitaro, 2)

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Kitaro faces off against a swamp monster, a paper screen come to life, and an army of mythical raccoon dogs Kitaro and the Great Tanuki War features adventures of Shigeru Mizuki’s beloved yokai boy. In the epic title story, Kitaro battles the tanuki, a Japanese animal that features prominently in the country’s yokai legends. The furry beasts draw on the power of the blood moon to awaken the monstrous catfish that lives in the depths of the earth. The twisting of the catfish causes earthquakes that threaten to destroy all of Japan. With his yokai allies captured, Kitaro is the only one left who can take on the great tanuki and his army. Will he be up for the challenge? 
 This volume contains two additional stories about traditional folklore monsters as seen through Mizuki’s whimsical and genre-defining lens. In “Mokumokuren,” Kitaro faces off against a paper screen come to life, while “The Obebenuma Yokai” introduces a grisly swamp creature. Kitaro and the Great Tanuki War showcases the golden age of the Gegege no Kitaro series from the 1960s―and has never before appeared in English. 
 D+Q’s Kitaro series celebrates Mizuki’s expert blend of folklore, comedy, and horror, sharing the all-ages stories that made Kitaro one of Japan’s most beloved characters. This kid-friendly edition also features a “History of Kitaro” essay by the award-winning series translator and Mizuki scholar Zack Davisson.

Kitaro and the Great Tanuki War (Kitaro, 3)

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