Trash Market
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Trash Market'' is a volume of semi-autobiographical short stories by Japanese manga artist Tadao Tsuge. The stories were serialized mainly in the Japanese
alternative manga Alternative manga or underground manga is a Western term for Japanese comics that are published outside the more commercial manga market, or which have different art styles, themes, and narratives to those found in the more popular manga magazin ...
magazine ''
Garo Garo may refer to: People and languages * Garo people, a tribal people in India ** Garo language, the language spoken by the Garo tribe Places * Kingdom of Garo, a former kingdom in southern Ethiopia * Garo, Colorado * Garo Hills, part of the ...
'' from 1968 to 1972. They were published by
Drawn & Quarterly Drawn & Quarterly (D+Q) is a publishing company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, specializing in comics. It publishes primarily comic books, graphic novels and comic strip collections. The books it publishes are noted for their artistic con ...
in English on May 12, 2015. Many of the stories are based on Tsuge's life experiences, such as his time at a
blood bank A blood bank is a center where blood gathered as a result of blood donation is stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. The term "blood bank" typically refers to a department of a hospital usually within a clinical pathology labora ...
, and critics have noted the realism of the stories.


Plot

; : A pharmaceutical manufacturer worker and replica painter tells a biography of
Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...
. His friend Goro, a student activist, visits him complaining of a bald spot he got from being hit at a protest as well as about American presence in Japan. After coming home from a union meeting he finds the police taking Goro to the station as a witness. ; : Tomeo, a child, is disliked by his grandfather who feels that his mother pays him more attention than his two working older brothers. Tomeo's father also stays at home and takes out his frustration on his mother and him. One day, as his father hits them and argues with his grandfather, one of his brothers leaves because of the family's issues. ; "Manhunt" : Mr. Taguchi, an office worker, had an urge to see
steam engines A steam engine is a heat engine that performs Work (physics), mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cyl ...
and disappeared for three months. When he had spent all his money traveling from town to town and returned, a local newspaper interviews him for a piece. The newspaper recounts a narrative it put together while searching for him, but he finds that the details contradict his experiences. Confused, he reluctantly agrees to write notes for them based on their story. ; : A veteran of the
Burma Campaign The Burma campaign was a series of battles fought in the British colony of British rule in Burma, Burma as part of the South-East Asian theatre of World War II. It primarily involved forces of the Allies of World War II, Allies (mainly from ...
who suffers from daydreams bumps into a young woman and talks to her at a café. As he walks with her along an embankment, he rapes her as a nosy lady watches and the lady yells for help afterwards. ; "A Tale of Absolute and Utter Nonsense" : A manga artist joins a large group which discusses plans to get revenge on the government. On the day of the attack, his group violently clashes with the riot police protecting
Edo Castle is a flatland castle that was built in 1457 by Ōta Dōkan in Edo, Toshima District, Musashi Province. In modern times it is part of the Tokyo Imperial Palace in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is therefore also known as . Tokugawa Ieyasu established th ...
and each side suffers casualties. As the manga artist dies, he sees Emperor
Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...
's back as he tips his hat. ; : A group of men wait outside a
blood bank A blood bank is a center where blood gathered as a result of blood donation is stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. The term "blood bank" typically refers to a department of a hospital usually within a clinical pathology labora ...
exchanging stories while waiting to sell their blood so they can eat for the day. They speak to a woman who needs money and they collect some to watch her have sex with an old man. However, both are reluctant and the man ends up embracing her instead.


Production

Tsuge drew from his own life experiences for many of the stories in the manga, making some of them early
autobiographical comics An autobiographical comic (also autobio, graphic memoir, or autobiocomic) is an autobiography in the form of comic books or comic strips. The form first became popular in the underground comix movement and has since become more widespread. It i ...
. Tsuge had a dysfunctional family—with his mother, father, and stepfather always fighting—so he would stay out of his house until his two brothers came home from work. After graduating from middle school, he got a job assembling and cleaning equipment at a blood bank where "the physically handicapped, hoodlums, and thugs" waited in the waiting room and in the yard. One time as he was cleaning the bathroom, he read graffiti in pencil saying: "Even I, a former lieutenant in the navy, have been reduced to selling my blood", which weighed on his heart. Another seller that had an impression on him was one who was six feet tall and had the build of a wrestler, but a disfigured face, which resulted in the man wailing after nurses gossiped about him. Tsuge said that there was some self-portraiture of him in the protagonist of "Up on the Hilltop, Vincent Van Gogh", which was originally a prose story that he remade for ''Garo''.Tsuge, p. 269 Tsuge was also attracted to
Ken Domon was a celebrated Japanese photographer known for his work as a photojournalist and as a photographer of Buddhist temples and statuary. Domon, who began his career in the 1930s contributing photo reportages to magazines that supported the increas ...
's photography of beggars and copied similar photographs by hand in "Song of Showa" to impart a sense of realism and poverty. Despite being apolitical, Tsuge was forced to participate in
protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...
against the US-Japan Security Treaty by his union in front of the Diet Building which made him feel "constantly on edge and irritable". Katsuichi Nagai, the founder of ''Garo'', decided to blank the final panel of "A Tale of Absolute and Utter Nonsense"—showing the back of Emperor
Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...
tipping his hat—out of fear of attacks from right-wing groups due to perceived
lèse-majesté ''Lèse-majesté'' or ''lese-majesty'' ( , ) is an offence or defamation against the dignity of a ruling head of state (traditionally a monarch but now more often a president) or of the state itself. The English name for this crime is a mod ...
.


Release

A majority of the stories were originally serialized in the
alternative manga Alternative manga or underground manga is a Western term for Japanese comics that are published outside the more commercial manga market, or which have different art styles, themes, and narratives to those found in the more popular manga magazin ...
magazine ''
Garo Garo may refer to: People and languages * Garo people, a tribal people in India ** Garo language, the language spoken by the Garo tribe Places * Kingdom of Garo, a former kingdom in southern Ethiopia * Garo, Colorado * Garo Hills, part of the ...
'' by , with the eponymous story in ''Yagyō'', from 1968 to 1972. The individual stories have been collected in various anthologies by different publishers in Japan.
Drawn & Quarterly Drawn & Quarterly (D+Q) is a publishing company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, specializing in comics. It publishes primarily comic books, graphic novels and comic strip collections. The books it publishes are noted for their artistic con ...
announced the short story collection at
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...
in July 2014. At their panel, the marketing manager Julia Pohl-Miranda said of Tsuge: "He's had a long career of not only writing about the seedy underbelly of hecity, but also engaging with the seedy underbelly of hecity." The manga was translated by Ryan Holmberg and published on May 12, 2015.


Reception

Greg Hunter of ''
The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing r ...
'' ascribed a visual airiness to the manga which meshes well with the stories, noting a tension between Tsuge's apolitical beliefs and the subject matter, concluding by saying: "it is no exaggeration to say that the book is a triumph—a moving collection of art made in depressed circumstances, and with irony and ambiguity intact." Hillary Brown of ''
Paste Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to: Science and technology * Adhesive or paste ** Wallpaper paste ** Wheatpaste, a liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water * Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves as ...
'' felt that the art was primitive and that the manga did not try to get inside the heads of its characters, likening it to
Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...
's films by saying that it is "driven by social issues and a sense of unease, long on cheap style and energy, full of titillation and with little in the way of gray." James Hadfield of ''
The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...
'' said that the manga "stands on its own merits, vividly capturing the tumult and existential funk of Japan's postwar period as seen through the eyes of society's least fortunate." ''
Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'' described the manga as dark, "but never maudlin, and thoughtful without falling into pretension", but called its tendency to ramble its biggest flaw, concluding that it is "an honest, uncomfortable look into postwar malaise". Tim O'Neil of
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
called the manga Tsuge's "most empathetic and engaging work," noting how he humanizes the characters in the eponymous story as well as how his stories imply a larger context, concluding that Tsuge is "committed to a view of comics realism that is both unflattering and unflinching." Sean Rogers of ''
The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'' described it as "one of the year's major comics publications, historically important and aesthetically raw," adding that Tsuge depicts postwar Japan "with a crudity that hovers between realism and disgust."


See also

*
Yoshiharu Tsuge is a Japanese cartoonist and essayist. He was active in comics between 1955 and 1987. His works range from tales of ordinary life to dream-like surrealism, and often show his interest in traveling about Japan. He has garnered the most attent ...
 – the brother of the artist


References


External links

* {{anime News Network, manga, 17717, noparen=true 1968 manga Autobiographical anime and manga Drawn & Quarterly titles Gekiga Manga anthologies