An academic debate is raging in Japan, and nothing less than the country's cultural heritage is at stake. The burning question reads something like this: Who are the Isonos, and what do they mean for modern-day Japan?
Confused? Stay with us. Sazae-san, a Japanese comic strip written by Machiko Hasegawa, first appeared in 1946 - the year the Japanese began rebuilding their shattered empire. Sazae-san featured the Isono family and appeared regularly in the national newspaper Asahi Shimbun from 1946 to 1974. Sazae-san quickly became the archetype of the "common man" post-war Japanese family, a virtual fixture of Japanese family life. (Blondie's got nothing on them.) An Isono family Sunday-evening animation series still runs today, though its content and authenticity are questioned by serious Isono scholars.
That's right, scholars. The Tokyo Sazae-san Academy, formed in 1981 by editors, members of academia, and others, published The Enigma of the Isono Family in December 1992. By the following May, the book was already in its 35th printing and to date has sold more than 600,000 copies. Based on the culture created within the strip (not the television series, please), the book's examination of the Isonos is a reflection on Japan's rebirth post- WWII. Topics include the Isono family's attitudes toward general education, sexual education, home electronics (of course), and non-Japanese.
Now you can't go publishing a definitive Isono history without expecting a revisionist counterpoint. In response to the Tokyo Sazae-San Academy's findings, an enraged Setagaya Sazae-san Research Association was formed, resulting in the March 1993 publication of The Secrets of Sazae-san, which set the story straight on the true nature of Sazae-san.
This craze for a scholarly reinterpretation of cartoon culture didn't start with the Isonos. In 1991, *An Introduction to Ultra-Man Research* debated the formal origins of cartoon-hero Ultra-Man in terms of both legal status and social class. Recently, we've seen the emergence of similar studies into the origins of Doraemon culture (Japan's most popular children's cartoon character). Research into Super Mario culture cannot be far off, now that there is a videogame series, movie, and even a Super Mario Rave.
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