WHAT IF THE JAPANESE COULD ALTER WW2 - A CASE STUDY OF KAWAGUCHI'S MANGA SERIES - SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF COMIC ART (SJOCA) VOL. 3 - 1 (FALL 2016)

Aug 23, 2026

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An analysis of Kaiji Kawaguchi’s Jipangu (Zipang) examines how the manga uses World War II as a detailed setting while adopting a naturalistic, serious tone. A 21st-century Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force vessel is transported to 1942, forcing the crew to confront dilemmas about saving Japanese lives without harming American allies. The narrative diverges from historical records after roughly 9,000 pages, producing an alternative postwar Japan and inviting debate on how far modern actors should intervene in the past.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages25

Reading Time1 h 3 min

AccessFree to download

Background: Jipangu as alternate history

Alternate history genres and definitions

Counterfactual reasoning in historical thought

Narrative premises and dilemmas

The 21st-century MSDF ship in 1942

Ethical and political questions of intervention

Publication context and reception

Serialization, circulation, and collected volumes

Academic attention and translation limits

Broader historical and political relevance

Japan’s wartime past and international role

“WHAT IF THE JAPANESE COULD ALTER WW2?– A CASE STUDY OF KAWAGUCHI´ S MANGA SERIES by Pascal Lefèvre SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF COMIC ART (SJOCA) VOL. 3: 1 (FALL 2016) To the general public abroad, Japanese manga may seem a type of graphic narratives that excel in escapist, fantastic stories, and consequently to be less rooted in factual history or in contemporary daily life. While Kaiji Kawaguchi’sJipangu (translated as Zipang in English and French) contains a certain amount of fantastic aspects, it is, on the whole, rather serious and“naturalistic,” because it not only uses the Second World War as its detailed setting, but also because it questions in an explicit way postwar Japan’s coping with the wartime period. The author establishes this link between contemporary times and the wartime past by having a 21st century Japanese Maritime Self-‐ Defense Force (MSDF)-‐vessel transported, in an unexplained but seemingly natural way, to the Pacific in 1942. Once the ship arrives in this historical context, the crew faces many dilemmas, such as how to save as many Japanese as possible without hurting any Americans, their 21st century Allies. Gradually and inevitably, the narrative diverges from the historical record, leading after almost 9,000 pages to a different outcome of the Second World War. A quite different postwar Japan emerges, but one that is not necessarily better or worse than the actual Japan we know. Therefore, the series can be considered as an example of the alternate history genre, but one in which effort has been put into making it as plausible as possible. The focus in this manga series lies precisely on the continuing debate (especially among the 21st century crew) about what course the changes to history should take and how the 21st century crew should or should not interfere with the historical past. Consequently, the sensitive issues in the manga series have relevance in today’s controversy about Japan’s role in the international context and Japan’s supposedly inadequate addressing of the past. The series Jipangu started in 2000 in the popular Kodansha manga magazine Weekly Morning, with an average weekly circulation of 400,000 to 450,000 copies.1 Readers were taken on a fantastic journey that, with a weekly rhythm, would last for more than nine years, traced in 442 weekly episodes of about twenty or twenty-‐two pages each. Like other popular manga series, the weekly installments were collected in tankoubon volumes of some two hundred pages, consisting of eleven chapters or weekly episodes each.2 By 2010, some fifteen million copies had been sold in Japan.3 1 Maxey 2012, 3. 2 Since I cannot read Japanese, this analysis will be based on the complete French translation of the forty-‐three tankoubon volumes. References to the French edition are made as follows: the number of the volume in Roman numerals followed by page number. 3 Maxey 2012, 3. SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF COMIC ART (SJOCA) VOL. 3: 1 (FALL 2016) Zipang has to date attracted only limited academic attention; the main exceptions are the studies published by myself and historian Trent Maxey.4 Of course, the fact that the complete series isnot widely translated may explain this lack of critical attention. Nevertheless, as I will try to argue, there are good and urgent reasons to consider this series in more detail because it inhabitsa somewhat particular place both in the genre of alternate histories and in the contemporary debate about Japan’s military. Before going into more detail about the narrative and its possible political meanings, it is important to briefly sketch the broader context in which the narratives are situated, more precisely the genre of alternate history and the specific Japanese historical background. Both aspects are crucial for a better understanding of this manga.5 THE GENRE OF ALTERNATE HISTORY Various genre labels like war story or time travel can be applied to Zipang, because it contains a mixture of var

FAQs

How does Jipangu (Zipang) frame its World War II setting?

It is presented as a serious, naturalistic alternate-history narrative grounded in WWII, while still operating through counterfactual premises rather than escapist fantasy.

What core conflict arises once the 21st-century ship reaches 1942?

The crew must navigate dilemmas about preserving as many Japanese lives as possible without causing harm to American allies.

What does the article argue about the genre’s purpose and relevance?

Alternate history is treated as a structured form of counterfactual speculation that helps explore causal and moral implications, and the manga’s themes connect to contemporary debates about Japan’s wartime memory and international stance.

Aug 23, 2026

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