Frederik L. Schodt

Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the manga-anime revolution

Astro Boy essays

Looks at Professor Risley's introduction of the Western-style circus to Japan in 1864 and his subsequent tours of the country with the Imperial Japanese Troupe of acrobats, an encounter that opened both cultures to one another.

How an American Acrobat Introduced Circus to Japan--and Japan to the West

Professor Risley and the Imperial Japanese Troupe

Osamu Tezuka

Since first published in 1983, Manga! Manga!: The World of Japanese Comics has been the book to read for all those interested in Japanese comics. It is virtually the "bible" from which all studies and appreciation of manga begins. More than that, given the influence of Japanese manga on animation and on American-produced comics as well, Manga! Manga! provides the background against which these other arts can be understood. The book includes 96 pages from Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix, Reiji Matsumoto's Ghost Warrior, Riyoko Ikeda's The Rose of Versailles, and Keiji Nakazawa's Barefoot Gen.

The World of Japanese Comics

Manga! Manga!

A wide-ranging, readable account of an eccentric and exceptional man who crossed cultures and changed history.

Ranald MacDonald and the Opening of Japan

Native American in the Land of the Shogun

Patrick W. Galbraith

With over 500 entries, including common expressions, people, places & moments of otaku history, this is a comprehensive A-Z of facts about popular culture in modern Japan.

An Insider's Guide to the Subculture of Cool Japan

The Otaku Encyclopedia

The robotic Astro Boy battles a deadly underground tank, helps solve a murder, and prevents the world from being destroyed by a robot bomb.

Astro Boy

Still in the 20th century, Astro Boy is eventually discovered and learns that robots are treated like slaves, prompting him to fight for robot rights, while he meets his creator at a very important moment.

An all-out war between man and machine threatens to destroy robotic Astro Boy.

The robotic Astro Boy encounters time machines, train bombs, brain switching, and his first love.

Essential reading for fans, literati, and anyone interested in the shape of visual culture to come.

Writings on Modern Manga

Dreamland Japan

Manga in Japanese means "comics," and comics in Japan are simply the most marvelous multifaceted misunderstood mass-market monster publishing phenomenon ever, anywhere. A multibillion dollar industry ... tens of millions of devoted fans ... thousands of ceaselessly toiling artists, a few of whom grow fabulously wealthy. There's something for everyone, too, from historical romances set in the French revolution and bloody duels between medieval samurai, to tales of wrestlers, enlightened Buddhist sages, spacemen, anthropomorphic cats, gangsters, girls in and out of love, warrior robots, sushi-makers, and even the tireless Mr. Nobody at the office, the esteemed soldier in Japan's economic-miracle army. Until now, this world has been hardly remarked upon by Western observers, except for mention of the fact that on trains, in restaurants, and indeed at every leisure moment the Japanese seem to have their heads buried in comics. But with this book Japanese comics emerge in all their spectacular variety for the first time in English. Author Fred Schodt offers a wealth of highlights and sidelights into history, themes, and artists. And every page is chock-full of samples from Japanese comic magazines. Here is popular culture running at a high pitch, and outsiders might find it all a bit puzzling and perverse. So if you're a bit straitlaced take it slow. But if your assumptions about comics are open to challenge, or if you thought you knew the real Japan because you've read all about Zen and the tea ceremony and Theory Z, read on, read on.

The pioneering genius of Japan’s “God of Comics,” Osamu Tezuka (1928–89), is examined through his life’s masterwork: Tetsuwan Atomu, also known as Mighty Atom or Astro Boy, a comic series featuring a cute little android who yearns to be more human. The history of Tetsuwan Atomu and Tezuka’s role in it is a road map to understanding the development of new media in Japan and the United States. Topics include Tezuka’s life, the art of animation, the connection between fantasy robots and technology, spin-offs, and Astro Boy’s cultural impact. Frederik L. Schodt is a translator and author of numerous books about Japan, including Manga! Manga! and Dreamland Japan. He often served as Osamu Tezuka’s English interpreter. In 2009 he was received the The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette for his contribution to the introduction and promotion of Japanese contemporary popular culture.

Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution

The Astro Boy Essays

A classic work praised for its scope and intelligence, now in a gift edition for fans, with a new Foreword

The Heart Sutra is the most widely read, chanted, and copied text in East Asian Buddhism. Here Frederik L. Schodt explores his lifelong fascination with the sutra: its mesmerizing mantra, its ancient history, the “emptiness theory, and the way it is used around the world as a metaphysical tool to overcome chaos and confusion and reach a new understanding of reality--a perfection of wisdom. Schodt's journey takes him to caves in China, American beats declaiming poetry, speculations into the sutra's true origins, and even a robot Avalokiteśvara at a Kyoto temple.

Frederik L. Schodt

About

Books

Join the club