Discussion
On November 11, 2025, the 299th Japan Specialist Seminar was held in a hybrid format at the GS Room of the Graduate School of International Studies, Seoul National University, with HA Seong-ho (HK Research Professor, Institute for Global China Studies, Pukyong National University) delivering a lecture titled “Realistic Representations of Machines in Japanese Children’s Popular Culture: Continuities from the Prewar to the Postwar Period.”
The presentation examined how wartime mechanical imagery for children evolved into a central visual style within postwar Japanese popular culture. Focusing on illustrator Komatsuzaki Shigeru, the speaker traced continuities from his wartime depictions of fantastical military machinery to his postwar work in science-adventure emonogatari and plastic model kit box art. Komatsuzaki’s dynamic compositions, dense visual style, and distinctive metallic textures helped shape a lasting aesthetic tradition that reinterpreted prewar and wartime machines as symbols of scientific imagination rather than instruments of war.
The discussion addressed topics such as Komatsuzaki’s awareness of wartime collaboration, the relationship between American and Japanese war illustrations, the cultural impact of the Osaka Expo era, and debates surrounding the rightward drift of Japanese popular culture. Participants also explored how wartime visual conventions were adapted across decades and how portrayals of “war without death” became popularized in children’s media. The seminar concluded with an active and wide-ranging Q&A session.
