"The last half of Japan's Showa era, on which this volume concentrates, was as different from the first half as day is from night. It was an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity, despite being rife with internal contradictions. Because it is recent history, it is less analyzed, messier, and harder to summarize, yet Mizuki is more than up to the challenge. At the end of this series, we see Shigeru Mizuki coming to terms, not only with his own history, but with that of the entire Showa period and its turbulent highs and lows, even with the emperor who presided over it all"--Back flap.

Continues 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.

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.

"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 Japan of the 1920s and 1930s, depicting bustling city streets and abandoned graveyards with equal ease"--Publisher's website.