Barefoot Gen
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
ese manga
series by Keiji Nakazawa
. Loosely based on Nakazawa's own experiences as a Hiroshima survivor, the series begins in 1945 in and around Hiroshima
, Japan
, where the six-year-old boy Gen lives with his family. After Hiroshima is destroyed by atomic bombing
, Gen and other survivors are left to deal with the aftermath.
Barefoot Gen ran in several magazines, including Weekly Shōnen Jump
, from 1973 to 1985. It was subsequently adapted into three live action
film adaptations directed by Tengo Yamada, which were released between 1976 and 1980. Madhouse
released two anime
films, one in 1983 and one in 1986. In 2007, a live action
television drama
series adaptation aired in Japan on Fuji TV over two nights, August 10 and 11.
with the everyday life of Gen, his younger brother Shinji, their father Daikichi, elder sister Eiko, and pregnant mother Kimie, during the final days of World War II
.
The beginning of the plot mainly focuses on the Nakaoka family's struggle to afford food ration cards and other items due to food shortages throughout Japan. Like the other residents, the family wonders why Hiroshima has so far suffered only minor damage; when American B-29 Superfortress bombers have fire-bombed nearly all of Japan's major cities
.
Gen and Shinji try and help their family by working tirelessly in the family's wheat field, or attempting to find food to feed their pregnant mother Kimie, who has grown ill from malnutrition.
On the night of August 5, the family is awakened by an air raid and take refuge in their bomb shelter, though, after some time, it is clear this is yet another false alarm. During the ordeal, Gen's father Daikichi states his fears concerning the constant passing of enemy aircraft with no following attack and his suspicion that Hiroshima is being saved for something special.
The next morning, Gen presents a wooden battleship he has gotten from a merchant who, after Gen helped his glass-making business, said he reminded him of his son, to Shinji, promising to take him to the river to set it afloat after he returns from school, and leaves his home around 7:40 in the morning. Upon reaching his school, Gen takes notice of a passing B-29 aircraft
and discusses with a female friend how odd it is that a single B-29 would be passing over the city with no air raid siren warning accompanying it, as was often common. As this occurs, his father, sister, and brother watch and discuss as an army of ants enters their home in large numbers, while his mother hangs clothes on a clothesline on a second-floor balcony of the house. Suddenly, Gen, his friend, and his family are all blinded by a flash of white light which is then closely followed by the explosion, flinging Gen underneath a ruined wall, throwing his mother off the balcony, and burying his father and siblings under the house.
After the explosion scene ends, a long sequence documenting the immediate horrors of the bomb begins: including the death of his friend, his amazement at the enormous destruction of the city surrounding him, and the sight of deformed and extremely burned people wandering the streets. The rest of his family, apart from him and his mother, are trapped under the ruins of the house. They can't get them out, and have to flee, leaving them to die. Soon after, Gen and his mother are taken to a safer area by a neighbor, where his mother gives premature birth to a baby girl. Gen leaves to find items and a midwife but is unable to and aids in the birth himself. He then leaves his mother and newborn sister in search of food or help but is unable to find anyone or anything as everyone is injured or dead and everything is destroyed or on fire.
Later that night, Gen is unable to sleep due to the wailing of burned survivors nearby. He and his mother decide to get up and give the people water, as they are clamoring out of thirst, only to discover that they die soon after drinking it and so stop handing the water out, as thirst was the only instinct keeping them alive.
By August 8, Gen finds that soldiers have entered the city and are distributing rice, but gets there too late, only to find them collecting corpses and burning the dead. He finds a fireman's hat which becomes a signature part of his character. He is later horrified to find a soldier shivering from cold in the intense summer heat, losing his hair, defecating blood, and vomiting blood. He takes the soldier to the Red Cross hospital only to find out that he is being left for dead by the doctors there, as his unknown sickness cannot be cured. Simultaneously, his mother attempts to find milk for the baby as her breasts have run dry, and clamors to find a feeding mother to give her some, only to find a baby attempting to nurse from his mother's corpse. Another woman then attacks her and attempts to kill the baby, but quickly changes her mind, pointing out her baby has died and she has reacted out of despair. In her change of heart, she breastfeeds Kimie's baby.
After several days of wandering around for food, Gen finds a ration storehouse containing rice, only to find that most of it has been seared by the heat of the blast. After digging through and onto the lower bags in the stack, he then finds that some have not been seared and takes them to his mother to eat along with some fresh vegetables. Gen and his mother then decide to name the baby Tomoko, meaning friend, as Gen hopes she will be surrounded by many friends all her life, and the two remark on the growing number of pyres being burned with the dead by soldiers. Gen and his mother then take refuge in a makeshift shack, and on August 16, dig up the skulls of their dead family members from the ruins of the former home. As they do so, a passing family announces the surrender of Japan, to which Gen and his mother respond angrily; his mother emphasizing that it was too late now to surrender after this carnage. Soon after, Gen discovers his hair has started to fall out, and remembering the stricken soldier, panics, only to be reassured by his mother.
In the shack, Gen, his mother, and little sister eat as little of the rationed rice as possible in an attempt to save it, when a small boy, Ryuta, attempts to steal the rice. Gen stops him and brings him back only to be shocked by his physical resemblance to his younger brother Shinji. After speaking with the boy and feeding him, Gen and his mother learn he is orphaned and decide to keep him with them, Gen's mother stating that she would wish for someone to mind after Shinji in a similar situation.
The following day, Gen and Ryuta head out to find food as their sister is suffering from malnutrition due to lack of milk, and are picked up by a man from out of town who takes them to tend for his sick brother, another bomb survivor, for 3 Yen per day. The two accept and find the man they will take care of is crude, rotting, and angry, his family rejecting him and his attitude. Despite his harshness, Gen and Ryuta decide to stay and take care of him regardless, and Gen even spends the night with him, inspiring him to paint once again. Due to their commitment where others hired to care for him gave up or failed, the man's brother pays them 100 Yen, and the boys head out to find milk quickly, in hopes of bringing it back to feed Gen's sister. Unfortunately, they arrive with the milk too late, as Tomoko has already died of malnutrition. Her body is then burned in a pyre, and Gen cries out to his father for guidance.
Soon after, Gen is cheered up by Ryuta who has come to call him older brother, something which makes Gen feel proud and gives him a strong connection to his new friend. Despite hearing that no grass would grow in Hiroshima for seventy years, Gen and Ryuta find that the wheat is starting to grow, and Gen is excited to discover his hair is also growing back. In his new found optimism, Gen remembers the promise he made to Shinji of taking him to the river after school, and so, he builds a new wooden boat, placing a candle on to the top. Two weeks after the bomb, Gen takes Ryuta and his mother to the river, where they light the candle and release the boat, together they watch the flame in the sunset, a symbol meant to express that beyond all terrible experiences, lies hope.
, resistance and loyalty.
Gen's family suffers as all families do in war. They must conduct themselves as proper members of society, as all Japanese are instructed in paying tribute to the Emperor. But because of a belief that their involvement in the war is due to the greed of the rich ruling class, Gen's father rejects the military propaganda and the family comes to be treated as traitors. Gen's family struggles with their bond of loyalty to each other and to a government that is willing to send teenagers on suicide missions in battle. This push and pull relationship is seen many times as Gen is ridiculed in school, mimicking his father's views on Japan's role in the war, and then is subsequently punished by his father for spouting things he learned through rote brainwashing in school.
Many of these themes are put into a much harsher perspective when portrayed alongside themes of the struggle between war and peace.
Kawaguchi Takayuki believes that the characters Katsuko and Natsue coopt but change the stereotypical "Hiroshima Maiden
" story, as typified in Black Rain
, as although courageous, Katsuko and Natsue are severely scarred both physically and mentally.
(Shūkan Shōnen Jampu), which had earlier published Nakazawa's autobiographical Hiroshima story "Ore wa Mita" ("I Saw It"). It was cancelled after a year and a half, and moved to three other less widely distributed magazines: Shimin (Citizen), Bunka Hyōron (Cultural Criticism), and Kyōiku Hyōron (Educational Criticism). It was published in book collections in Japan beginning in 1975. A volunteer organization, Project Gen, formed in 1976 to produce English translations, which were released in four volumes. This made Barefoot Gen one of the first manga released in English.
The group Rondo Gen published an Esperanto
translation as Nudpieda Gen (Barefoot Gen) in 1982. The chief translator was Izumi Yukio.
The German Rowohlt Verlag published only the first volume in 1982 under their mass-market label rororo.
Carlsen Comics tried it again in 2004 but cancelled the publication after four volumes. Both publishers took the name "Barfuß durch Hiroshima" (Barefoot through Hiroshima).
The first volume was published in Norwegian in 1986 by GEVION norsk forlag A/S. The Norwegian title is "Gen, Gutten fra Hiroshima" (Gen, the Boy from Hiroshima). A similar edition in Swedish ("Gen – Pojken från Hiroshima'" was published in 1985 by Alvglans förlag, which may have been the earliest published manga in Swedish.
The first volume was published in Finnish in 1985 by Jalava, becoming the first Japanese comic to be published in Finland, but publishing was likewise abandoned. The Finnish title is "Hiroshiman poika" (The Son of Hiroshima), and Finnish translation was done by Kaija-Leena Ogihara. In 2006 Jalava republished the first volume (with its original translation) and continued with publication of second volume.
A new English translation has been released with an introduction by Art Spiegelman
, who has compared the work to his own work, Maus
(which is about the experiences of Spiegelman's father during the Holocaust
in Europe
). Last Gasp
released the final two volumes on February 10, 2010.
Nakazawa plans to present a set of series #1 - #10 to US President Barack Obama
with wishing to prompt against nuclear proliferation
.
Barefoot Gen 2
is set three years after the bomb fell. It focuses on the continuing survival of Gen and orphans in Hiroshima.
Often action, dialogue and the images are almost expressionistic to add to the impact of the film. The falling of the bomb is shown first from the American point of view which is very orderly and impassive. Then, when the bomb explodes, the view is from the Japanese showing powerful images of people being vaporized, buildings exploding and multi-color explosions.
Initially released individually on dub-only VHS tape by Streamline Pictures
, and then dub-only DVD by Image Entertainment
, Genenon eventually sold bilingual versions of the film on DVD as a set.
in 2007 and was aired over two days.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series by Keiji Nakazawa
Keiji Nakazawa
is a Japanese manga artist and writer.He was born in Hiroshima and was in the city when it was destroyed by an atomic bomb in 1945. All of his family members who had not been evacuated died in the bombing except for his mother, and an infant sister who died several weeks after the bombing...
. Loosely based on Nakazawa's own experiences as a Hiroshima survivor, the series begins in 1945 in and around Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, where the six-year-old boy Gen lives with his family. After Hiroshima is destroyed by atomic bombing
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.For six months...
, Gen and other survivors are left to deal with the aftermath.
Barefoot Gen ran in several magazines, including Weekly Shōnen Jump
Weekly Shonen Jump
is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of July 2, 1968, and it is still circulating. One of the longest-running manga magazines in Japan, it has a circulation of 2.8 million copies...
, from 1973 to 1985. It was subsequently adapted into three live action
Live action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
film adaptations directed by Tengo Yamada, which were released between 1976 and 1980. Madhouse
Madhouse (company)
is a Japanese animation studio, founded in 1972 by ex–Mushi Pro animators including Masao Maruyama, Osamu Dezaki, Rintaro, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri. It has created and helped to produce many well known shows, starting with TV anime series Ace o Nerae! in 1973, and including western favourites Ninja...
released two anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
films, one in 1983 and one in 1986. In 2007, a live action
Live action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
television drama
Japanese television drama
, also called , are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including murder romance, comedy, detective stories, horror, and many others...
series adaptation aired in Japan on Fuji TV over two nights, August 10 and 11.
Plot
The story begins on August 4, 1945, in HiroshimaHiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
with the everyday life of Gen, his younger brother Shinji, their father Daikichi, elder sister Eiko, and pregnant mother Kimie, during the final days of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
The beginning of the plot mainly focuses on the Nakaoka family's struggle to afford food ration cards and other items due to food shortages throughout Japan. Like the other residents, the family wonders why Hiroshima has so far suffered only minor damage; when American B-29 Superfortress bombers have fire-bombed nearly all of Japan's major cities
Air raids on Japan
During World War II the Allied forces conducted many air raids on Japan which caused extensive destruction to the country's cities and killed over 300,000 people. These attacks began with the Doolittle Raid in mid-April 1942, but did not resume until June 1944 when United States Army Air Forces ...
.
Gen and Shinji try and help their family by working tirelessly in the family's wheat field, or attempting to find food to feed their pregnant mother Kimie, who has grown ill from malnutrition.
On the night of August 5, the family is awakened by an air raid and take refuge in their bomb shelter, though, after some time, it is clear this is yet another false alarm. During the ordeal, Gen's father Daikichi states his fears concerning the constant passing of enemy aircraft with no following attack and his suspicion that Hiroshima is being saved for something special.
The next morning, Gen presents a wooden battleship he has gotten from a merchant who, after Gen helped his glass-making business, said he reminded him of his son, to Shinji, promising to take him to the river to set it afloat after he returns from school, and leaves his home around 7:40 in the morning. Upon reaching his school, Gen takes notice of a passing B-29 aircraft
Enola Gay
Enola Gay is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, mother of the pilot, then-Colonel Paul Tibbets. On August 6, 1945, during the final stages of World War II, it became the first aircraft to drop an atomic bomb as a weapon of war...
and discusses with a female friend how odd it is that a single B-29 would be passing over the city with no air raid siren warning accompanying it, as was often common. As this occurs, his father, sister, and brother watch and discuss as an army of ants enters their home in large numbers, while his mother hangs clothes on a clothesline on a second-floor balcony of the house. Suddenly, Gen, his friend, and his family are all blinded by a flash of white light which is then closely followed by the explosion, flinging Gen underneath a ruined wall, throwing his mother off the balcony, and burying his father and siblings under the house.
After the explosion scene ends, a long sequence documenting the immediate horrors of the bomb begins: including the death of his friend, his amazement at the enormous destruction of the city surrounding him, and the sight of deformed and extremely burned people wandering the streets. The rest of his family, apart from him and his mother, are trapped under the ruins of the house. They can't get them out, and have to flee, leaving them to die. Soon after, Gen and his mother are taken to a safer area by a neighbor, where his mother gives premature birth to a baby girl. Gen leaves to find items and a midwife but is unable to and aids in the birth himself. He then leaves his mother and newborn sister in search of food or help but is unable to find anyone or anything as everyone is injured or dead and everything is destroyed or on fire.
Later that night, Gen is unable to sleep due to the wailing of burned survivors nearby. He and his mother decide to get up and give the people water, as they are clamoring out of thirst, only to discover that they die soon after drinking it and so stop handing the water out, as thirst was the only instinct keeping them alive.
By August 8, Gen finds that soldiers have entered the city and are distributing rice, but gets there too late, only to find them collecting corpses and burning the dead. He finds a fireman's hat which becomes a signature part of his character. He is later horrified to find a soldier shivering from cold in the intense summer heat, losing his hair, defecating blood, and vomiting blood. He takes the soldier to the Red Cross hospital only to find out that he is being left for dead by the doctors there, as his unknown sickness cannot be cured. Simultaneously, his mother attempts to find milk for the baby as her breasts have run dry, and clamors to find a feeding mother to give her some, only to find a baby attempting to nurse from his mother's corpse. Another woman then attacks her and attempts to kill the baby, but quickly changes her mind, pointing out her baby has died and she has reacted out of despair. In her change of heart, she breastfeeds Kimie's baby.
After several days of wandering around for food, Gen finds a ration storehouse containing rice, only to find that most of it has been seared by the heat of the blast. After digging through and onto the lower bags in the stack, he then finds that some have not been seared and takes them to his mother to eat along with some fresh vegetables. Gen and his mother then decide to name the baby Tomoko, meaning friend, as Gen hopes she will be surrounded by many friends all her life, and the two remark on the growing number of pyres being burned with the dead by soldiers. Gen and his mother then take refuge in a makeshift shack, and on August 16, dig up the skulls of their dead family members from the ruins of the former home. As they do so, a passing family announces the surrender of Japan, to which Gen and his mother respond angrily; his mother emphasizing that it was too late now to surrender after this carnage. Soon after, Gen discovers his hair has started to fall out, and remembering the stricken soldier, panics, only to be reassured by his mother.
In the shack, Gen, his mother, and little sister eat as little of the rationed rice as possible in an attempt to save it, when a small boy, Ryuta, attempts to steal the rice. Gen stops him and brings him back only to be shocked by his physical resemblance to his younger brother Shinji. After speaking with the boy and feeding him, Gen and his mother learn he is orphaned and decide to keep him with them, Gen's mother stating that she would wish for someone to mind after Shinji in a similar situation.
The following day, Gen and Ryuta head out to find food as their sister is suffering from malnutrition due to lack of milk, and are picked up by a man from out of town who takes them to tend for his sick brother, another bomb survivor, for 3 Yen per day. The two accept and find the man they will take care of is crude, rotting, and angry, his family rejecting him and his attitude. Despite his harshness, Gen and Ryuta decide to stay and take care of him regardless, and Gen even spends the night with him, inspiring him to paint once again. Due to their commitment where others hired to care for him gave up or failed, the man's brother pays them 100 Yen, and the boys head out to find milk quickly, in hopes of bringing it back to feed Gen's sister. Unfortunately, they arrive with the milk too late, as Tomoko has already died of malnutrition. Her body is then burned in a pyre, and Gen cries out to his father for guidance.
Soon after, Gen is cheered up by Ryuta who has come to call him older brother, something which makes Gen feel proud and gives him a strong connection to his new friend. Despite hearing that no grass would grow in Hiroshima for seventy years, Gen and Ryuta find that the wheat is starting to grow, and Gen is excited to discover his hair is also growing back. In his new found optimism, Gen remembers the promise he made to Shinji of taking him to the river after school, and so, he builds a new wooden boat, placing a candle on to the top. Two weeks after the bomb, Gen takes Ryuta and his mother to the river, where they light the candle and release the boat, together they watch the flame in the sunset, a symbol meant to express that beyond all terrible experiences, lies hope.
Themes
Major themes throughout the work are power, hegemonyHegemony
Hegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...
, resistance and loyalty.
Gen's family suffers as all families do in war. They must conduct themselves as proper members of society, as all Japanese are instructed in paying tribute to the Emperor. But because of a belief that their involvement in the war is due to the greed of the rich ruling class, Gen's father rejects the military propaganda and the family comes to be treated as traitors. Gen's family struggles with their bond of loyalty to each other and to a government that is willing to send teenagers on suicide missions in battle. This push and pull relationship is seen many times as Gen is ridiculed in school, mimicking his father's views on Japan's role in the war, and then is subsequently punished by his father for spouting things he learned through rote brainwashing in school.
Many of these themes are put into a much harsher perspective when portrayed alongside themes of the struggle between war and peace.
Kawaguchi Takayuki believes that the characters Katsuko and Natsue coopt but change the stereotypical "Hiroshima Maiden
Hiroshima Maidens
The Hiroshima Maidens are a group of twenty-five Japanese women who were young when they were seriously disfigured as a result of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on the morning of August 6, 1945....
" story, as typified in Black Rain
Black Rain (novel)
is a novel by Japanese author Masuji Ibuse. Ibuse began serializing Black Rain in the magazine Shincho in January 1965. The novel is based on historical records of the devastation caused by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. However, Ibuse does not refer to social or political considerations that led...
, as although courageous, Katsuko and Natsue are severely scarred both physically and mentally.
Publication history
Hadashi no Gen the autobiography was originally serialized beginning in 1973 in the mass-market manga anthology Weekly Shōnen JumpWeekly Shonen Jump
is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of July 2, 1968, and it is still circulating. One of the longest-running manga magazines in Japan, it has a circulation of 2.8 million copies...
(Shūkan Shōnen Jampu), which had earlier published Nakazawa's autobiographical Hiroshima story "Ore wa Mita" ("I Saw It"). It was cancelled after a year and a half, and moved to three other less widely distributed magazines: Shimin (Citizen), Bunka Hyōron (Cultural Criticism), and Kyōiku Hyōron (Educational Criticism). It was published in book collections in Japan beginning in 1975. A volunteer organization, Project Gen, formed in 1976 to produce English translations, which were released in four volumes. This made Barefoot Gen one of the first manga released in English.
The group Rondo Gen published an Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
translation as Nudpieda Gen (Barefoot Gen) in 1982. The chief translator was Izumi Yukio.
The German Rowohlt Verlag published only the first volume in 1982 under their mass-market label rororo.
Carlsen Comics tried it again in 2004 but cancelled the publication after four volumes. Both publishers took the name "Barfuß durch Hiroshima" (Barefoot through Hiroshima).
The first volume was published in Norwegian in 1986 by GEVION norsk forlag A/S. The Norwegian title is "Gen, Gutten fra Hiroshima" (Gen, the Boy from Hiroshima). A similar edition in Swedish ("Gen – Pojken från Hiroshima'" was published in 1985 by Alvglans förlag, which may have been the earliest published manga in Swedish.
The first volume was published in Finnish in 1985 by Jalava, becoming the first Japanese comic to be published in Finland, but publishing was likewise abandoned. The Finnish title is "Hiroshiman poika" (The Son of Hiroshima), and Finnish translation was done by Kaija-Leena Ogihara. In 2006 Jalava republished the first volume (with its original translation) and continued with publication of second volume.
A new English translation has been released with an introduction by Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
, who has compared the work to his own work, Maus
Maus
Maus: A Survivor's Tale, by Art Spiegelman, is a biography of the author's father, Vladek Spiegelman, a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. It alternates between descriptions of Vladek's life in Poland before and during the Second World War and Vladek's later life in the Rego Park neighborhood of...
(which is about the experiences of Spiegelman's father during the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
). Last Gasp
Last Gasp
Last Gasp is a book and underground comix publisher and distributor based in San Francisco, California.- History :Founded in 1970 by Ron Turner to publish the ecologically-themed comics magazine Slow Death Funnies, followed by the all-female anthology It Ain't Me Babe, Last Gasp soon became a major...
released the final two volumes on February 10, 2010.
Editions
Barefoot Gen Series- Barefoot Gen #1: A Cartoon Story Of Hiroshima (ISBN 0867196025)
- Barefoot Gen #2: The Day After (ISBN 086719619X)
- Barefoot Gen #3: Life After The Bomb (ISBN 0867195940)
- Barefoot Gen #4: Out Of The Ashes (ISBN 0867195959)
- Barefoot Gen #5: The Never-Ending War (17 April 2008, ISBN 0867195967)
- Barefoot Gen #6: Writing the Truth (17 April 2008, ISBN 0867195975)
- Barefoot Gen #7: Bones into Dust (5 Mar 2009, ISBN 0867195983)
- Barefoot Gen #8: Merchants of Death (9 April 2009, ISBN 0867195991)
- Barefoot Gen #9: Breaking Through Borders (10 Feb 2010, ISBN 0867196009)
- Barefoot Gen #10: Never Give Up (10 Feb 2010, ISBN 0867196017)
Nakazawa plans to present a set of series #1 - #10 to US President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
with wishing to prompt against nuclear proliferation
Nuclear proliferation
Nuclear proliferation is a term now used to describe the spread of nuclear weapons, fissile material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information, to nations which are not recognized as "Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also known as the...
.
Live-action
In 1976, 1977 and 1980, Tengo Yamada directed three live-action version films.- Barefoot Gen Part 1 (1976)
- Barefoot Gen: Explosion of Tears (1977)Barefoot Gen (1977 film)is the live-action film of Barefoot Gen Part2 in 1977.-Cast:* Kazuhide Haruta as "Gen Nakaoka", Barefoot Gen, the protagonist of the story.* Hiroshi Tanaka as "Daikichi Nakaoka", Gen's father.* Mariko Miyagi as "Kimie Nakaoka", Gen's mother....
- Barefoot Gen: Part 3 Battle of Hiroshima (1980)Barefoot Gen (1980 film)is the live-action film of Barefoot Gen Part3 in 1980.-Cast:* Jun Harada as "Gen Nakaoka", Barefoot Gen, the protagonist of the story.* Mizuho Suzuki as "Daikichi Nakaoka", Gen's father.* Satomi Oka as "Kimie Nakaoka", Gen's mother....
Animated films
Two animated films were based on the manga, in 1983 and 1986, both directed by Mori Masaki for a production company that Nakazawa founded.- Barefoot Gen (1983)
- Barefoot Gen 2 (1986)Barefoot Gen 2 (anime)is an action drama anime following Barefoot Gen .-Plot:* See the Plot of the main article of Barefoot GenBarefoot Gen 2 takes place 3 years after the end of the original movie, with Gen trying to cope during the early post-war reconstruction of Japan...
Barefoot Gen 2
Barefoot Gen 2 (anime)
is an action drama anime following Barefoot Gen .-Plot:* See the Plot of the main article of Barefoot GenBarefoot Gen 2 takes place 3 years after the end of the original movie, with Gen trying to cope during the early post-war reconstruction of Japan...
is set three years after the bomb fell. It focuses on the continuing survival of Gen and orphans in Hiroshima.
Often action, dialogue and the images are almost expressionistic to add to the impact of the film. The falling of the bomb is shown first from the American point of view which is very orderly and impassive. Then, when the bomb explodes, the view is from the Japanese showing powerful images of people being vaporized, buildings exploding and multi-color explosions.
Initially released individually on dub-only VHS tape by Streamline Pictures
Streamline Pictures
Streamline Pictures was an American media company that was best known for its distribution of English dubbed Japanese animation. -Founding:Founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1988, Streamline Pictures was one of the first North American companies that was created primarily for the intention of...
, and then dub-only DVD by Image Entertainment
Image Entertainment
Image Entertainment, Inc. is an independent licensee, producer and distributor of home entertainment programming and film & television productions in North America, with approximately 3,000 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 250 exclusive CD titles in domestic release, and approximately 450...
, Genenon eventually sold bilingual versions of the film on DVD as a set.
TV drama
A two episode TV drama was produced by Fuji TelevisionFuji Television
is a Japanese television station based in Daiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, also known as or CX, based on the station's callsign "JOCX-DTV". It is the flagship station of the Fuji News Network and the ....
in 2007 and was aired over two days.
- Barefoot Gen (2007)Barefoot Gen (TV drama)is a Japanese television special drama.The drama come from the one of the popular manga "Barefoot Gen" written by Keiji Nakazawa, from his real experiences as the atomic bomb survivor....
See also
- Honkawa Elementary School Peace MuseumHonkawa Elementary School Peace MuseumThe Honkawa Elementary School Peace Museum is a museum of the Peace in Honkawacho, Naka-ku, Hiroshima, Japan.The school was the closest school to ground zero....
- White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and NagasakiWhite Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and NagasakiWhite Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is an HBO documentary film that was directed and produced by Steven Okazaki and was released on August 6, 2007 on HBO, marking the 62nd anniversary of the first atomic bombing...
(2007) - Grave of the FirefliesGrave of the Firefliesis a 1988 Japanese animated war tragedy film written and directed by Isao Takahata. This is the first film produced by Shinchosha, who hired Studio Ghibli to do the animation production work...