''Nonkina Tōsan'' is an early

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

comic strip by , first published in 1923, in the newspaper '' Hochi Shinbun.'' The strip follows the antics created by the main character “Nonkina Tōsan (''Easygoing Daddy'')” and his partner “Neighbor Taishō" ( ”. Inspired by American comics, especially ''

Bringing Up Father ''Bringing Up Father'' is an American comic strip created by cartoonist George McManus. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, it ran for 87 years, from January 2, 1913, to May 28, 2000. The strip was later titled ''Jiggs and Maggie'' (or '' ...

,'' was one of the pioneering

yonkoma is a comic strip format that generally consists of gag comic strips within four panels of equal size ordered from top to bottom. They also sometimes run right-to-left horizontally or use a hybrid 2×2 style, depending on the layout requiremen ...

, becoming a success, generating a number of merchandising items and adaptations to animated shorts and feature films. Tinplate_toys_in_1920s_Japan

History

Nonkina Tōsan was originally an eight-panel cartoon titled “呑気なとうさん” (renamed “のんきな父さん” from the May 27 issue of the same year and changed to a six-panel cartoon from the October 28 issue of the same year) that had been serialized irregularly in the “Sunday Manga ” section of the Hochi Shimbun since April 29, 1923. In an attempt to soothe the pain of the people affected by the

Great Kanto Earthquake Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" * Artel Great (bo ...

in September of that year and the chronic recession that preceded it, Tomoichirō Takada, then editorial director of the Hochi Shimbun, considered serializing a cheerful comic strip in the paper and selected the work by Asō, a rookie comic strip artist. At the time, George McManus' ''Bringing Up Father'', (serialized as ''Oyaji Kyoiku'' in Asahi Graph) was a popular comic strip, and Aso was reluctant to start serializing it, saying that he did not think he could compete with it in any way, but eventually accepted. After the serialization began, the circulation of Hochi Shimbun increased, and Asō became a popular manga artist. The color version of the book became a bestseller, and it became a social phenomenon at the end of the

Taishō era The was a period in the history of Japan dating from 30 July 1912 to 25 December 1926, coinciding with the reign of Emperor Taishō. The new emperor was a sickly man, which prompted the shift in political power from the old oligarchic group ...

, with advertisements using characters and merchandise such as dolls and hand towels being created. It has even become a buzzword, with men with a carefree demeanor being called ''nontou'' (ノントウ). In October 1926, the series ended temporarily due to Asō's trip to Europe. After returning to Japan, in 1929, serialization resumed under the title ''Zoku Nonkina tosan'' (続ノンキナトウサン) in the ''Yomiuri Sunday Manga'' page of the Sunday edition of ''

Yomiuri Shimbun The is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are ''The Asahi Shimbun'', the ''Chunichi Shimbun'', the ''Ma ...

''. From the November 26 issue of the same year, it was moved to the ''Yukan Hochi Shimbun'', with the title changed to ''ノンキナトウサン'' and the format changed to a 4-panel comic, serialized every day on the top left of the front page. It seems that the panel layout, speech bubbles, and simplified character depictions were influenced by ''Bringing Up Father'', and in the early serializations, the dialogue was written horizontally and in

katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived fr ...

. Over the course of the series, the panel layout changed from 2x2 to 1x4 vertically. After the war, in 1945, Asō serialized ``Nonkina tosan'' again in Daiichi Shimbun. Asō died in 1961, so the

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...

ended before 2019, when the copyright was extended to 70 years after the author's death, and the work entered the public domain.

Films

''Ryūgūmairi'' ''Nonkina Tōsan ryūgūmairi'' ( ''ノンキナトウサン竜宮参り; Carefree Dad's visit to Ryūgū palace'' ) is a Japanese short silent animated film produced and released in 1925. Written and directed by . Produced by Azuma Eigasha (Takamatsu Azuma Production) and Asahi Cinema.

''Hanami no maki''

''Nonkina Tōsan Hanami no Maki'' (''ノンキナトウサン花見の巻;'' ''Carefree Dad's Cherry blossom viewing reel)'' is a Japanese feature film produced in 1925 ) and released on September 18 of the same year. Starring . Directed by . It was produced and independently distributed by Sanjuzo Naoki (later

Sanjugo Naoki was a pen name of a novelist in Taishō and Shōwa period Japan. His real name was . Early life Naoki Sanjūgo was born in what is now Chūō-ku, Osaka. The noted historian Uemura Seiji, specialist in East Asian history, was his brother. Agains ...

)'s United Motion Picture Artists Association. It was released as a double feature with 'Nonkina Tōsan'' Activity Volume'', mentioned below.

Katsudo no maki

''Nonkina Tōsan'' ''Katsudo no maki'' (ノンキナトウサン活動の巻 ''Carefree Dad's Activity Reel'' )is a Japanese feature-length film produced in 1925 and released on September 18 of the same year. Directed by Tokuji Ozawa. Starring Gokuro Soga. It was released as a double feature with the above-mentioned ``''Nonkina Tōsan'' ''Hanami no Maki''''.

''Nonkina tōsan''

''Nonkina tōsan'' ''(のんきな父さん)'' is a Japanese feature-length film produced and released in 1946., directed by

Masahiro Makino was a Japanese film director. He directed more than 260 films, primarily in the chanbara and yakuza film, yakuza genres. His real name was , but he took the stage name Masahiro, the kanji for which he changed multiple times (including , , and ). ...

, starring

Isamu Kosugi was a Japanese actor and film director. Career Born in Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, Kosugi first studied at the Nihon Eiga Haiyū Gakkō before joining the Nikkatsu studio in 1925. He came to prominence in tendency films such as '' Ikeru n ...

. Produced by

Shochiku is a Japanese entertainment company. Founded in 1895, it initially managed '' kabuki'' theaters in Kyoto; in 1914, it also acquired ownership of the Kabuki-za theater in Tokyo. In 1920, Shochiku entered the film production industry and establis ...

Kyoto Studio. At the end of Masahiro Makino's time as director of Shochiku Kyoto Studio, two projects were approved: this film and

Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese filmmaker who directed roughly one hundred films during his career between 1923 and 1956. His most acclaimed works include '' The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (1939), '' The Life of Oharu'' (1952), '' Ugetsu'' (1953), and ' ...

's ''

Utamaro and his Five Women ''Utamaro and His Five Women'' is a 1946 Japanese Jidaigeki, historical drama film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. It is based on the novel of the same title by Kanji Kunieda, itself a fictionalized account of the life of famous printmaker Kitagawa ...

''.『映画渡世・地の巻 - マキノ雅弘自伝』、マキノ雅弘、

平凡社 Heibonsha (平凡社) is a Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, which publishes encyclopedias, dictionaries and books in the fields of science and philosophy. Since 1945 it has also published books on art and literature. After the production of this work, Makino headed to Shochiku headquarters with his resignation letter in hand, and when he returned after it was accepted, an employee union was formed and Makino was appointed as the chairman. He had no choice but to go on strike for a week and negotiated his demands with the head office. After the strike, Mizoguchi cranked up ``''Utamaro'''' in just one week, and completed each work. Both films were produced with Makino's personal loans. After they were completed, he previewed both films to his vice president, Shiro Kido, and had them purchased at a reasonable price. Employee demands through strikes were also accepted. The film was shot with a baseball game scene featuring 25 professional baseball players, including

Katsuhiko Haida Katsuhiko Haida (1911–1982) was a Japanese film actor and music composer. He played an important role in the 1951 film '' Tokyo File 212''. He also appeared in ''The Burning Sky'', and ''Escapade From Japan''. His brother is Yukihiko Haida, ...

's best friend

Takehiko Bessho , born , was a Japanese baseball player whose professional career as a player lasted from 1942 until 1960. Bessho first achieved fame as a pitcher in Japanese professional baseball; later, he served as a Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) manage ...

. Among the many singers who made special appearances in this film, suddenly died of a heart attack on October 14 of the same year, shortly after filming.

References

External links

''Nonkina tōsan'' page
at the Oita Prefectural Museum of History (in Japanese) * * * * * * * * {{Jmdb title, 1946, bv000750, Nonkina tōsan Yonkoma 1923 establishments in Japan Pre-1945 manga 1923 manga