A Case Study of Late Twentieth-Century Japan through Art: Tezuka Osamu and Astro Boy

Essay 
Lesson 
Handouts (pdf)

This module focuses on late twentieth-century Japan, 1945-present.

Late twentieth-century Japan materials

• “Late Twentieth-Century Japan: An Introductory Essay,” by William Tsutsui, University of Kansas

• “A Case Study of Late Twentieth-Century Japan through Art: Tezuka Osamu and Astro Boy” (lesson plan), by Mary Hammond Bernson, University of Washington

• Print the Entire Lesson Module (pdf)

For this lesson, you will need images of Astro Boy, to be projected or displayed in class. You  may also display other creations of Osamu Tezuka, whose work is widely available;  segments of the anime versions even appear on YouTube. Good sources of an image of Astro Boy include, in roughly declining order of usefulness:

• “Tezuka Osamu, Founder of Story Manga,” Takarabako, no. 13 (September 2007).

• Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga (Melbourne, Australia: National Gallery of Victoria, 2006).

• “Museum Show Spotlights Artistry of Manga God Osamu Tezuka,” Wired (May 31, 2007).

• Astro Boy.

This project is funded by the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership.

Created © 2008 Program for Teaching East Asia, University of Colorado.