Tezuka’s lost manga on plight of ethnic Koreans republished | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis
Tezuka’s lost manga on plight of ethnic Koreans republished
July 2, 2026 at 07:00 JST
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A part of the cover of a reprint edition of Osamu Tezuka’s short story “Nagai Ana” released on June 2 (Provided by Hosei University Press)
Delving into issues of discrimination against ethnic Koreans in Japan, a short manga titled “Nagai Ana” (Long tunnel) by Osamu Tezuka has been republished more than half a century after its debut in 1970
The title has never been included in anthologies of Tezuka’s complete works, remaining only known to those in the know.
The reprint project was led by a young editor at Hosei University Press, which specializes in academic books, who wanted the public to know about the plight of oppressed people
Tezuka (1928-1989) is often called “the god of manga.” His “Nagai Ana” is set in Japan during its rapid economic growth period
The protagonist, called only by his surname, Moriyama, hails from the Korean Peninsula and has obtained Japanese citizenship. He climbs the corporate ladder while he hides his origin due to fears of discrimination
But he eventually finds himself faced with deep-rooted ethnic discrimination that deepens his agony
The 50-page story was published in the weekly magazine Sunday Mainichi in 1970. It has never been included in anthologies of Tezuka’s works, except for the first edition of the second volume of “Under the Air,” an anthology of Tezuka’s short stories released in 1972
Hosei University Press editor Ken Akahane, 34, discovered “Nagai Ana” in 2023 while he was studying how minorities were described in films, books and manga and was struck by the story
“I think there is no other manga that features an ethnic Korean as the protagonist and depicts the realities of discrimination against ethnic Korean residents and their agony in a straightforward manner the way it does,” he said
There is a recurring scene where Moriyama remembers the fear and pain he felt while he was forced to engage in hard labor in an underground bunker at Mount Togariyama in Gifu Prefecture during World War II
Moriyama is jeered at as a “senjin,” a derogatory name for Koreans, and endured abusive treatment while his companions lost their lives
It is a widely known fact that an underground factory was constructed at the location during the war
In recent years, discriminatory opinions against people with foreign roots have become widespread on social media and elsewhere
But Akahane thought that readers of the manga could imagine the pain felt by those being discriminated against
The editor sounded out Tezuka Productions Co., which handles copyrights for the author’s works, about the reprint project and obtained the greenlight
It marked the first time for Hosei University Press to publish a manga
It also contains commentaries by six experts, including a comparative literature scholar, a historian and a researcher specializing in Japan-Korea relations, to offer the story’s historical background and other topics
“Nagai Ana” is on sale at bookstores around Japan and online
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