'Barefoot Gen' comic stirs history controversy

By Linda Sieg and Leng Cheng

National Aug. 25, 2013 - 06:30AM JST ( 0 )

TOKYO —
By Linda Sieg and Leng Cheng

A Japanese school board’s bid to limit children’s access to a classic anti-war comic has sparked an outcry from those who fear the move is part of a trend to whitewash the country’s wartime past.

The furor, which grabbed headlines this week, echoes concerns about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s conservative agenda to recast Japan’s wartime history in a less apologetic tone.

Keiji Nakazawa’s manga, “Barefoot Gen”, is based on the author’s own experience of the Aug 6, 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and tells of the struggle of a boy whose father and siblings were killed.

Published over a dozen years from 1973 and translated into some 20 languages, the comic includes harsh criticism of the late Emperor Hirohito in whose name Japan fought World War Two.

Besides its stark depiction of the aftermath of the bombing, the 10-volume manga graphically illustrates atrocities by Japanese soldiers in Asia.

more:http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/barefoot-gen-comic-stirs-history-controversy