History of Japanese Manga

Some people believe that it is during and after the US occupation of Japan, manga was shaped by U.S. cultural influences, including U.S. comics brought to Japan.

Modern manga originates in the US occupation and post-occupation years, when a previously militaristic and ultranationalist Japan was rebuilding its political and economic infrastructure. There was an explosion of artistic creativity in this period from manga artists such as Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy) and Machiko Hasegawa (Sazae-san)

Astro Boy became immensely popular in Japan and elsewhere, and Sazae-san is still running today. Tezuka and Hasegawa were both stylistic innovators

A group of female manga artists later called the Year 24 Group, also known as Magnificent 24s made their shōjo manga debut In 1969. The group included Hagio Moto, Riyoko Ikeda, Yumiko Oshima, Keiko Tekemiya and Ryoko Yamagishi. They marked the first major entry of women artists into manga. Thereafter, shōjo manga would be drawn primarily by women artists for an audience of girls and young women.

In the following decades (1975-present), shōjo manga continued to develop stylistically while simultaneously evolving different but overlapping subgenres. Major subgenres include romance, superheroines, and "Ladies Comics" (in Japanese, redisu レディース, redikomi レディコミ, and josei 女性).