To all those that appreciate Japanese anime, manga, doujinshi, otaku subculture, and the Comic Market and morec
With great sorrow I must report to you the passing
of Yoshihiro Yonezawa, the prolific manga critic and chairman of the Comic
Market--the
world's largest doujinshi (non-corporate self publishing) marketplace
event. He passed away early in the morning of October 1st, 2006.
He
died of lung cancer at the age of 53.
Born March 21st, 1953 in Kumamoto, he started getting
involved in manga criticism while still in Meiji University. Following
the
publication of "The History of Post War Manga Trilogy" in 1980, he
devoted his efforts toward chronicling and reviewing trends of manga and
how manga related to Japanese popular culture. His authorship
of "Forbidden Books ~The Ichiro Jyo Collection" ["Hakkin Bon"] (a Besatsu
Taiyo publication) in 1999 won him the Publishing Academy Award [Shuppan
Gakkai Shou.] He won the Japan Children's Literature Academy's
Academy Award [Nihon Jidou Bungaku Gakkai Gakkai Shou] with his "On
Fujiko Fujio ~ The Formula of F and (A)"
Mr. Yonezawa was a regular contributor to numerous
publications and he often took part in numerous in-depth dialogues over
issues
regarding manga, doujinshi, and popular culture with a long list of
prestigious figures. At this time I cannot supply you with a full
listing as it is quite long and varied, but the following includes
some of the books he worked on: "The History of Post War Shoujo Manga,"
"The History of Post War Science Fiction Manga," "The History of Post
War Comedic Manga," "The World of Collection B-Class American
Memorabilia," "The History of Post War Baseball Manga," and "The Formalism
of "Tears" As Depicted In Manga."
From 1980, he assumed the role of chairman of the
Comic Market, an event that was first came in being in 1975. The
Comic Market is a
temporary marketplace (originally a one day only affair, but now it
is a two to three day event taking place every summer and winter)
organized by volunteers to help facilitate the exchange of printed
matter published by authors themselves to be bought and enjoyed by readers
and other authors. Numerous other doujinshi marketplaces take
place in Japan every weekend but the Comic Market has grown to be the world's
largest--Over 430 thousand flocked to scour through tens of thousands
of different books published by 35000 publishing groups during the
latest summer session of the Comic Market (Aug. 11th~13th, 2006.)
Mr. Yonezawa's contribution to the Japanese manga
community is immeasurable. His presence touched the lives of hundreds
of thousands, if
not millions of Japanese manga fans. His ideal to provide the
least restrictive "space" through which individuals could freely pursue
their
creative desires helped provide a key foundation that made the Japanese
anime and manga community what it is today.
While many morn his loss, the Comic Market has made
clear that the torch has been passed and a new leadership is ready to preserve
and
maintain the core values of the Comic Market that Mr. Yonezawa helped
establish.
He is survived by his wife, Eiko and children.
Funeral services will take place Sept. 6th and 7th at Azabu, Tokyo.
See link provided
below for more information.
I had the great fortunate of conversing with Mr.
Yonezawa a number of times over the years and he was always very helpful
and eager to
share the unique world of Japanese doujinshis. I personally morn
his loss very deeply. I find solace that I was able to translate
at least
some of his writings into English while he was still active.
("Dojinshi as Otaku Expression: The State of Japanese fanzinedoms" and
"The
Tides of Dojinshi: A fanzine history" articles included in the guidebook
for the Japanese Pavilion at the 9th International Architecture
Exhibition - The Biennale of Venice.)
Dan Kanemitsu
Tokyo, Japan