秘境と原子力 ―占領期文化としてのターザン漫画

Abstract

During the occupation period when Japanese people were rapidly accepting American culture, one of the most popular heroes in children’s comics was Tarzan. The purpose of this paper is to examine how this American hero was adapted in Japan, and clarify the representations and discourses related to these comics. First, most Tarzan comics are set in an unexplored region of Africa where wild beasts and uncivilized people live. This depiction of Africa is based on prewar comics and adventure novels for children, meaning Tarzan comics during the occupation period had a clear connection with the colonial imaginary that flourished in imperial Japan. Second, in Tarzan comics, like a Tarzan movie, Tarzan often protects a hidden treasure in Africa from villains. Notably, some Tarzan comics feature uranium, a primary material used in atomic bombs, as the hidden treasure. Tarzan cooperates with an American boy and a scientist and fights against the enemy to protect the uranium and prevent a nuclear war, implying that only the United States can control atomic energy properly. It signifies that Tarzan comics were deeply connected with imperial Japan’s colonial imaginary in the prewar era, cultural representations of atomic energy in the occupation period, and legitimizes the US’s proper use of atomic energy, similar to typical discourse on atomic energy during the occupation of Japan.