{"id":416,"date":"2025-08-02T20:30:41","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T12:30:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/?p=416"},"modified":"2025-09-09T19:48:57","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T11:48:57","slug":"anpanman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/2025\/08\/02\/anpanman\/","title":{"rendered":"Love and Courage Are the Only Friends: The Jus\u00adtice March of the Lone Brave Anpan\u00adman"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Japan\u00adese man\u00adga artist, pic\u00adture book writer, and poet Yanase Takashi (\u3084\u306a\u305b \u305f\u304b\u3057\uff0c1919\u20132013) and his cre\u00adation, Anpan\u00adman, are unique fig\u00adures in the world of chil\u00addren\u2019s books. These works have brought warmth and moved gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions, and their sto\u00adries reveal the mov\u00ading life of a cre\u00adator deeply trau\u00adma\u00adtized by war and a pur\u00adsuit of love and jus\u00adtice. For read\u00aders both young and old, his works and his life are worth savor\u00ading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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The \u201cAnpan\u00adman\u201d series cur\u00adrent\u00adly avail\u00adable to Chi\u00adnese read\u00aders includes three sub-series: Anpan\u00adman Adven\u00adture Pic\u00adture Book, Anpan\u00adman Pic\u00adture Sto\u00adries, and Anpan\u00adman Clas\u00adsic Sto\u00adry\u00adbook, total\u00ading 25 vol\u00adumes. How\u00adev\u00ader, this rep\u00adre\u00adsents only a small por\u00adtion of the com\u00adplete Anpan\u00adman uni\u00adverse. The full ros\u00adter includes over 500 books alone, as well as numer\u00adous spin-offs such as ani\u00adma\u00adtion, movies, and games. There are even five \u201cAnpan\u00adman Chil\u00addren\u2019s Muse\u00adums\u201d in Japan! The \u201cAnpan\u00adman\u201d ani\u00admat\u00aded series, which pre\u00admiered in 1988 and remains incred\u00adi\u00adbly pop\u00adu\u00adlar, has count\u00adless fans in main\u00adland Chi\u00adna, Hong Kong, and Tai\u00adwan. In 2009, when it sur\u00adpassed 1,000 episodes, it even broke the Guin\u00adness World Record for the most char\u00adac\u00adters in an ani\u00admat\u00aded series, with 1,768 char\u00adac\u00adters appear\u00ading!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The slight\u00adly weird \u201cAnpan\u00adman\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many adult read\u00aders, it\u2019s unde\u00adni\u00adable that at first glance, Anpan\u00adman appears a bit pecu\u00adliar. In hun\u00addreds of pic\u00adture books and ani\u00adme sto\u00adries, and across over 1,600 episodes, Anpan\u00adman, a man with a round, red bean-cov\u00adered face and a patched cape, flies about. How\u00adev\u00ader, his abil\u00adi\u00adties are lim\u00adit\u00aded, or often lim\u00adit\u00aded, because he unhesi\u00adtat\u00ading\u00adly offers a help\u00ading hand to those in need and hunger. His method is straight\u00adfor\u00adward: he tears off a piece of his own face and feeds it to them. While this sac\u00adri\u00adfice can be debil\u00adi\u00adtat\u00ading, he nev\u00ader regrets it, always wel\u00adcom\u00ading every oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty to help oth\u00aders with a smile. A torn face, wet, or dirty face can weak\u00aden Anpan\u00adman\u2019s pow\u00aders, and in severe cas\u00ades, even cause him to fall from the sky. He often needs to wait for the res\u00adcue of Uncle Jam and his com\u00adpan\u00adions, who craft and attach a new face, before he can regain his pow\u00ader\u00adful pow\u00aders and defeat his arch-neme\u00adsis, the Germs. What\u2019s more inter\u00adest\u00ading is that the vil\u00adlain Bac\u00adte\u00adria Man can only be defeat\u00aded but nev\u00ader killed. He can always escape safe\u00adly after say\u00ading \u201cBye-bye Bac\u00adte\u00adria\u201d, and he will grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly have more helpers like the Red Elf and the Elves who are keen on play\u00ading pranks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yanase Takashi\u2019s con\u00adcept of Anpan\u00adman \u201ctear\u00ading off his face and eat\u00ading it\u201d has irked some adult read\u00aders and view\u00aders, and this has often been the sub\u00adject of crit\u00adi\u00adcism on Chi\u00adnese social media. In fact, as ear\u00adly as the 1970s, when the first Anpan\u00adman pic\u00adture book was pub\u00adlished, Japan\u00adese adult read\u00aders and book review\u00aders also received a num\u00adber of sim\u00adi\u00adlar neg\u00ada\u00adtive com\u00adments, say\u00ading that \u201cthe plot is too gory.\u201d Some \u201cexperts\u201d also crit\u00adi\u00adcized the plot as vul\u00adgar and unsuit\u00adable for library shelves, fear\u00ading it would cor\u00adrupt chil\u00addren. For a while, even the edi\u00adtors at the pub\u00adlish\u00ading house begged Yanase to stop includ\u00ading Anpan\u00adman with a torn face in his pic\u00adture books. How\u00adev\u00ader, it grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly became appar\u00adent that young read\u00aders were enam\u00adored with Anpan\u00adman, and Anpan\u00adman became so pop\u00adu\u00adlar in kinder\u00adgartens and libraries that a fren\u00adzy of demand for copies of the book devel\u00adoped. One father told Yanase Takashi that his son loved Anpan\u00adman so much that he read it over and over again, and he could recite it by heart! Yanase Takashi lament\u00aded that \u201cchil\u00addren are the most unfor\u00adgiv\u00ading crit\u00adics,\u201d and he con\u00adtin\u00adued to write new Anpan\u00adman books. By the time it was adapt\u00aded into an ani\u00admat\u00aded series in 1988, this some\u00adwhat eccen\u00adtric Anpan\u00adman had already become pop\u00adu\u00adlar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The core sto\u00adry of Anpan\u00adman<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some peo\u00adple force\u00adful\u00adly link the con\u00adcept of \u201cgiv\u00ading away body parts for oth\u00aders to eat\u201d to Japan\u00adese cul\u00adture, but this is com\u00adplete\u00adly unnec\u00ades\u00adsary. Aren\u2019t Chi\u00adnese peo\u00adple also famil\u00adiar with Bud\u00addhist sto\u00adries like \u201cgiv\u00ading one\u00adself to feed the tiger\u201d and \u201ccut\u00adting flesh to feed the eagle\u201d? The bor\u00adrow\u00ading of this con\u00adcept in the plot of Mas\u00adter Yideng res\u00adcu\u00ading Huang Rong in Jin Yong\u2019s mar\u00adtial arts nov\u00adel \u201cThe Leg\u00adend of the Con\u00addor Heroes\u201d was read\u00adi\u00adly accept\u00aded by read\u00aders, right? In anoth\u00ader cul\u00adtur\u00adal con\u00adtext, the rit\u00adu\u00adal of break\u00ading bread for believ\u00aders also sym\u00adbol\u00adizes sac\u00adri\u00adfice for the sal\u00adva\u00adtion of human\u00adi\u00adty. There\u00adfore, Anpan\u00adman\u2019s tear\u00ading off his face for oth\u00aders to eat is also a con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtion of a great ide\u00adal, the spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal core of which lies in:The ulti\u00admate in com\u00adpas\u00adsion, self-sac\u00adri\u00adfice, and self\u00adless devo\u00adtion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anpan\u00adman is the embod\u00adi\u00adment of jus\u00adtice and warmth. His bread-faced face not only sym\u00adbol\u00adizes shar\u00ading and giv\u00ading, but also serves as the source of his strength. Even when his own face is giv\u00aden to some\u00adone in need, he can regain his strength with a new bread-face made by Uncle Jam. This cycle is more than just a sto\u00adry set\u00adting; it also con\u00adveys an impor\u00adtant con\u00adcept:Self\u00adless giv\u00ading and the cycle of love can bring infi\u00adnite vital\u00adi\u00adty and kind\u00adness<\/strong>. \u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Take \u201cAnpan\u00adman and the Prick\u00adly Man\u201d for exam\u00adple. While Anpan\u00adman is out help\u00ading oth\u00aders, a strange old man arrives at the bak\u00adery. See\u00ading the old man unable to walk due to hunger, Cream Sis\u00adter offers him a fresh\u00adly baked loaf of bread, and the old man returns the favor with a small cac\u00adtus. It turns out that the Prick\u00adly Man, trans\u00adformed from the small cac\u00adtus, is a spy plant\u00aded by the Bac\u00adte\u00adria Man. After wreak\u00ading hav\u00adoc in the bak\u00adery, he packs up the secret flour used to make Anpan\u00adman. The sto\u00adry con\u00adtin\u00adues as usu\u00adal: Anpan\u00adman returns to the bak\u00adery, don\u00adning a new face, tracks down the Bac\u00adte\u00adria Man\u2019s lair, and engages in a life-and-death duel with the fake Anpan\u00adman. Inter\u00adest\u00ading\u00adly, it\u2019s the Prick\u00adly Man who ulti\u00admate\u00adly pierces the fake Anpan\u00adman, caus\u00ading the explo\u00adsion. While this was\u00adn\u2019t inten\u00adtion\u00adal, the Prick\u00adly Man still man\u00adages to pierce the fake Anpan\u00adman\u2019s face. The explo\u00adsion pierces the thick clouds, allow\u00ading sun\u00adlight to dis\u00adperse the Bac\u00adte\u00adria Man and the Mold Imp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yanase Takashi cre\u00adates an end\u00adless cycle of self\u00adless giv\u00ading, self-sac\u00adri\u00adfice, and heart\u00adwarm\u00ading love in his sto\u00adries. All those who side with Anpan\u00adman are \u201cinfect\u00aded\u201d by his naivety, becom\u00ading some\u00adwhat fool\u00adish\u00adly, indis\u00adcrim\u00adi\u00adnate\u00adly, and unre\u00adquit\u00aded\u00adly help\u00adful, even if it means falling prey to his ene\u00admies. How\u00adev\u00ader, this fool\u00adish, self\u00adless sac\u00adri\u00adfice always leads to a kind of \u201cres\u00adur\u00adrec\u00adtion\u201d when their super\u00adpow\u00aders are regained, mak\u00ading them even more pow\u00ader\u00adful. Ene\u00admies, on the oth\u00ader hand, become less for\u00admi\u00adda\u00adble, their mis\u00adchief more like pure pranks, even cre\u00adat\u00ading endear\u00ading and hilar\u00adi\u00adous side effects. For exam\u00adple, the mis\u00adchie\u00advous Spiky Man ulti\u00admate\u00adly per\u00adforms a sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant deed, help\u00ading to dis\u00adin\u00adfect the sun\u00adlight. The end\u00adless cre\u00adativ\u00adi\u00adty of Bac\u00adte\u00adria Man\u2019s \u201cevil deeds\u201d cre\u00adates sus\u00adpense and intrigue in the plot, giv\u00ading Anpan\u00adman more oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adties to demon\u00adstrate his strength. Con\u00adse\u00adquent\u00adly, Yanase Takashi is reluc\u00adtant to see Bac\u00adte\u00adria Man elim\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded, con\u00adstant\u00adly recruit\u00ading helpers to esca\u00adlate his mis\u00adchief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As Laozi said, \u201cWhen all in the world under\u00adstand beau\u00adty to be beau\u00adti\u00adful, then ugli\u00adness exists.\nWhen all under\u00adstand good\u00adness to be good, then evil exists.\u201d In this sense, bac\u00adte\u00adria peo\u00adple, as rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtives of \u201cneg\u00ada\u00adtive ener\u00adgy\u201d, are so impor\u00adtant!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diverse char\u00adac\u00adters present a rich world of human beings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Anpan\u00adman and Bac\u00adte\u00adriaman are the two most oppos\u00ading pos\u00adi\u00adtive and neg\u00ada\u00adtive poles in the sto\u00adry, then the var\u00adi\u00adous com\u00adplex char\u00adac\u00adters in the \u201cAnpan\u00adman\u201d series are the sup\u00adport\u00aders of these two poles, or the diverse exis\u00adtences that wan\u00adder between the two poles. They make the world of Anpan\u00adman more three-dimen\u00adsion\u00adal and full, and more warm and touch\u00adable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Birth of Anpan\u00adman\u201d traces the ori\u00adgins of this pecu\u00adliar super\u00adman, whose pow\u00aders range from the \u201cweak\u201d to the \u201csuper\u00adpow\u00adered,\u201d pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly due to the lov\u00ading bread face made for him by Uncle Jam and Sis\u00adter Cream. Anpan\u00adman may have been a mete\u00ador from out\u00ader space, arriv\u00ading on Earth with a strange egg, who hap\u00adpened to crash-land on a bac\u00adte\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal island and became a bac\u00adte\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal man. They\u2019re a pair of nat\u00adur\u00adal ene\u00admies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Birth of Anpan\u00adman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In addi\u00adtion to the fam\u00adi\u00adly-like team of Uncle Jam, Sis\u00adter Cream, and Pup\u00adpy Cheese, Anpan\u00adman also has allies such as Toast Man, Cur\u00adry Bread Man, Mel\u00adon Man, Cream Bread Broth\u00ader, Rice Ball Man, Fried Shrimp Rice Man, Fried Pork Cut\u00adlet Man, and Mixed Pot Man. It is obvi\u00adous that they are all nec\u00ades\u00adsary for the diver\u00adsi\u00adty to enrich the food cul\u00adture, and these dai\u00adly del\u00adi\u00adca\u00adcies are obvi\u00adous\u00adly good. They also have the sup\u00adport of many small ani\u00admal char\u00adac\u00adters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the Bac\u00adte\u00adria Man\u2019s side, besides his con\u00adstant com\u00adpan\u00adions, the moldy imps, he also boasts dis\u00adtinc\u00adtive vil\u00adlains, such as the Red Elf, who con\u00adstant\u00adly plays mis\u00adchief with him, and his sis\u00adter, the Blue Elf. These vil\u00adlains like\u00adly hail from the Bac\u00adte\u00adria Plan\u00adet and have come to Earth with a mis\u00adsion to cause trou\u00adble, pre\u00adsum\u00adably to make food like Anpan\u00adman moldy. There\u00adfore, their train\u00ader, the Bac\u00adte\u00adria Sage (see \u201cAnpan\u00adman and the Mag\u00adic Brush\u201d), is rel\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly neu\u00adtral. He seems to har\u00adbor no ill will towards Anpan\u00adman and even urges the Bac\u00adte\u00adria Man to study with the brush, rather than \u201cmak\u00ading trou\u00adble.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Red Elf is a most intrigu\u00ading crea\u00adture. She\u2019s incred\u00adi\u00adbly head\u00adstrong and prone to mis\u00adchief, yet she also pos\u00adsess\u00ades a remark\u00adably gen\u00adtle and endear\u00ading side. The Bac\u00adte\u00adria Man is devot\u00aded to her and obeys her every com\u00admand, but she\u2019s obsessed with the right\u00adeous Toast Man and won\u2019t tol\u00ader\u00adate him even slight\u00adly harm\u00ading her idol. So, is the Red Elf good or evil? In fact, there are even more com\u00adplex char\u00adac\u00adters in the ani\u00adme, such as Spi\u00adral Anpan\u00adman and Black Spi\u00adral Anpan\u00adman, who pos\u00adsess dual per\u00adson\u00adal\u00adi\u00adties of both good and evil. Under cer\u00adtain cir\u00adcum\u00adstances, they can be seduced by the Bac\u00adte\u00adria Man and tem\u00adporar\u00adi\u00adly become accom\u00adplices of evil. Does\u00adn\u2019t this also mir\u00adror the com\u00adplex\u00adi\u00adties of human nature?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Birth of Anpan\u00adman<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1973 Japan\u00adese ver\u00adsion of Anpan\u00adman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The first \u201cAnpan\u00adman\u201d pic\u00adture book appeared in 1973, but the char\u00adac\u00adter actu\u00adal\u00adly appeared ear\u00adli\u00ader in Yanase Takashi\u2019s col\u00adlec\u00adtion of short fairy tales for adult read\u00aders, \u201cTwelve Pearls\u201d (pub\u00adlished in 1970), and first in his radio dra\u00admas. Yanase Takashi was 54 when he drew this seem\u00ading\u00adly \u201cweak\u201d Super\u00adman into the pic\u00adture book, and most of the sub\u00adse\u00adquent Anpan\u00adman sto\u00adries were writ\u00adten after he entered his six\u00adties and sev\u00aden\u00adties. Since he and his wife had no chil\u00addren, they treat\u00aded Anpan\u00adman as their own child, pre\u00adfer\u00adring to be known as \u201cAnpan\u00adman Grand\u00adpa.\u201d In these sim\u00adple and cheer\u00adful sto\u00adries, drawn in a seem\u00ading\u00adly \u201cold-fash\u00adioned\u201d man\u00adga style, this sto\u00adry\u00adtelling grand\u00adfa\u00adther imbues him\u00adself with the pro\u00adfound insights of his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his youth, he served in the mil\u00adi\u00adtary and endured star\u00adva\u00adtion. After retir\u00ading, he worked as a design\u00ader, drew comics, wrote poet\u00adry, and edit\u00aded radio dra\u00admas. By chance, ani\u00adme mas\u00adter Osamu Tezu\u00adka asked him to be the art direc\u00adtor for the ani\u00admat\u00aded film \u201cOne Thou\u00adsand and One Nights.\u201d Fol\u00adlow\u00ading its huge suc\u00adcess, Tezu\u00adka per\u00adson\u00adal\u00adly fund\u00aded the adap\u00adta\u00adtion of a recent radio dra\u00adma, \u201cThe Gen\u00adtle Lion,\u201d into an ani\u00admat\u00aded film. After the award-win\u00adning ani\u00adma\u00adtion, Yanase Takashi adapt\u00aded it into his debut pic\u00adture book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe Gen\u00adtle Lion\u201d was trans\u00adlat\u00aded and intro\u00adduced to Chi\u00adna in 2003. I was deeply impressed by it. It tells the sto\u00adry of a lion raised by a moth\u00ader dog, report\u00aded\u00adly inspired by a true sto\u00adry at a Ger\u00adman zoo. How\u00adev\u00ader, Yanase Takashi\u2019s focus is on the lion, who grows up to become a super\u00adstar, escapes his cage, returns to his aging moth\u00ader dog, and trag\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly dies at the hands of a human gun. Although the author offers an imag\u00adined hap\u00adpy end\u00ading, the trag\u00adic scene is tru\u00adly more shock\u00ading. Yanase Takashi does not shy away from con\u00adflict and vio\u00adlence in his pic\u00adture books, but he uses extreme\u00adly exag\u00adger\u00adat\u00aded car\u00adtoon tech\u00adniques to high\u00adlight the fol\u00adly and absur\u00addi\u00adty of vio\u00adlence. Read\u00aders are deeply moved by the inter\u00adspecies warmth and kind\u00adness expressed in this sto\u00adry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bInspired by the suc\u00adcess of \u201cThe Gen\u00adtle Lion\u201d, Yanase Takashi began to cre\u00adate the \u201cnext\u201d sto\u00adry at the strong invi\u00adta\u00adtion of his edi\u00adtor, and this sto\u00adry he was going to tell for him\u00adself, to tell his own sto\u00adry. At that time, the whole world was pop\u00adu\u00adlar with the \u201csuper\u00adman\u201d cul\u00adture, and Japan was also deeply influ\u00adenced. \u201cAstro Boy\u201d cre\u00adat\u00aded by Osamu Tezu\u00adka was a more sci-fi image of a young super\u00adman. Yanase Takashi was obvi\u00adous\u00adly also affect\u00aded and inspired by some\u00adthing, but the \u201csuper\u00adman\u201d in his mind was not proud of his super\u00adpow\u00aders, and his con\u00adcept of jus\u00adtice was not so \u201chigh-end\u201d, but very sim\u00adple, sim\u00adple, straight\u00adfor\u00adward, and its uni\u00adver\u00adsal\u00adi\u00adty could even be applied to the so-called \u201cene\u00admy\u201d. In Yanase Takashi\u2019s view, \u201cJus\u00adtice is not about talk\u00ading big, but about hand\u00ading a piece of bread to some\u00adone who is starv\u00ading.<\/strong>This is the true mean\u00ading of the Anpan\u00adman spir\u00adit, and it is also the pro\u00adfound under\u00adstand\u00ading that Yanase Takashi gained from the twists and turns of his first half of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Insights from com\u00adplex life expe\u00adri\u00adences<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yanase Takashi at one year old<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Born in 1919, Yanase Takashi (\u67f3\u6fd1\u5d69) came from a well-off fam\u00adi\u00adly. Both his par\u00adents came from promi\u00adnent fam\u00adi\u00adlies in Kochi Pre\u00adfec\u00adture, and the Yanase fam\u00adi\u00adly had been hered\u00adi\u00adtary local offi\u00adcials with a 300-year-old tra\u00addi\u00adtion. His father, Yanase Kiyoshi, was a jour\u00adnal\u00adist with a pas\u00adsion for lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture and art. In his youth, he trav\u00adeled exten\u00adsive\u00adly through\u00adout Chi\u00adna and fell in love with Mount Song (\u5d69) in Henan, hence the name \u201cSong\u201d (\u5d69) for his eldest son. How\u00adev\u00ader, life is unpre\u00addictable, and when Yanase Takashi was five years old, his father died en route to Xia\u00admen, where he was serv\u00ading as a clerk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The moth\u00ader had no choice but to first adopt her youngest son, Chi\u00adhi\u00adro, to her late hus\u00adband\u2019s old\u00ader broth\u00ader, and lat\u00ader sent Yanase Takashi to fos\u00adter care. This uncle was a rur\u00adal doc\u00adtor and also loved lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture. He and his wife loved the two lit\u00adtle broth\u00aders very much and treat\u00aded them as their own chil\u00addren. How\u00adev\u00ader, the pain of sep\u00ada\u00adra\u00adtion from his moth\u00ader was always lin\u00adger\u00ading. Yanase Takashi lat\u00ader wrote a poem \u201cThe Day Mom Left\u201d, in which he wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

One day<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were sep\u00ada\u00adrat\u00aded from our moth\u00ader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mom said our health is not good<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I want to be treat\u00aded at my uncle\u2019s house who is a doc\u00adtor <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200b\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Yanase Takashi, who final\u00adly did not wait for his moth\u00ader, reached ado\u00adles\u00adcence and once ran away from home and even attempt\u00aded sui\u00adcide by lying on the rail\u00adway tracks, but for\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly he escaped before the gates of death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yanase Takashi strug\u00adgled aca\u00add\u00ade\u00adm\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly, but his pas\u00adsion for draw\u00ading led him to strive for admis\u00adsion to the Tokyo High\u00ader School of Tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy, where he found a sat\u00adis\u00adfy\u00ading job as a graph\u00adic design\u00ader. How\u00adev\u00ader, his good for\u00adtune did\u00adn\u2019t last long. He soon received his draft notice. After endur\u00ading a gru\u00adel\u00ading boot camp and two years of ser\u00advice in Japan, he was assigned to an artillery reg\u00adi\u00adment, tasked with cre\u00adat\u00ading and deci\u00adpher\u00ading cipher codes. He was then uncer\u00ade\u00admo\u00adni\u00adous\u00adly sta\u00adtioned in a rur\u00adal area of Fuzhou, Chi\u00adna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dur\u00ading Chi\u00adna\u2019s War of Resis\u00adtance Against Japan\u00adese Aggres\u00adsion, Yanase Takashi\u2019s reg\u00adi\u00adment remained idle for two years, per\u00adhaps due to mis\u00adjudg\u00adment and poor sched\u00adul\u00ading by his supe\u00adri\u00adors. Due to the iso\u00adlat\u00aded region, the locals were unaware of the war unfold\u00ading out\u00adside. Bored, Yanase Takashi applied for a pro\u00admo\u00adtion\u00adal role, con\u00adnect\u00ading with the locals through comics and sto\u00adry\u00adtelling. The suc\u00adcess was remark\u00adable, and it paved the way for his future career as a man\u00adga artist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was only as the Pacif\u00adic War neared its end that Yanase Takashi tru\u00adly felt the bru\u00adtal\u00adi\u00adty of war. His artillery reg\u00adi\u00adment was ordered to the Shang\u00adhai front. They car\u00adried their bag\u00adgage on foot for near\u00adly six months, near\u00adly dying of ill\u00adness along the way. Even more hor\u00adrif\u00adic was the hunger, which kept him on the brink of death for months. Per\u00adhaps it was this expe\u00adri\u00adence that made him think deeply about the pro\u00adfound con\u00adnec\u00adtion between hunger and jus\u00adtice. Halfway through his unit\u2019s jour\u00adney, they learned of Japan\u2019s sur\u00adren\u00adder, and he thought, \u201cFinal\u00adly, I can go home.\u201d And so, the young man was unknow\u00ading\u00adly sent back to Japan. Upon return\u00ading home, he learned that his younger broth\u00ader, Chi\u00adhi\u00adro, a top stu\u00addent at a pres\u00adti\u00adgious uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty, had been killed in action. In real\u00adi\u00adty, his broth\u00ader had been aboard a war\u00adship that had been sunk by bombs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such a painful and absurd expe\u00adri\u00adence left Yanase Takashi deeply con\u00adfused: What were he and his broth\u00ader fight\u00ading for? Was it jus\u00adtice? What exact\u00adly is jus\u00adtice? He lat\u00ader wrote in \u201cAnpan\u00adman\u2019s Last Let\u00adter\u201d: \u201cThere is no such thing as \u2018fight\u00ading for jus\u00adtice.\u2019 \u2018Jus\u00adtice\u2019 can sud\u00adden\u00adly change, even be com\u00adplete\u00adly reversed. \u2018Jus\u00adtice\u2019 is unbe\u00adliev\u00adable.\u201d Life expe\u00adri\u00adence has made me ful\u00adly under\u00adstand this truth, and it has become the foun\u00adda\u00adtion of my post\u00adwar think\u00ading.The true and unchang\u00ading jus\u00adtice is love and sac\u00adri\u00adfice.<\/strong>\u201d\u2014\u2014This is exact\u00adly the start\u00ading point of \u201cAnpan\u00adman\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Anpan\u00adman and the Mag\u00adi\u00adcal Wood\u00aden Horse<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Anpan\u00adman March<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, I would like to express my spe\u00adcial thanks to the pic\u00adture book cre\u00adators and trans\u00adla\u00adtors from Tai\u00adwan -Xu Shun\u00ading.<\/strong>The con\u00adtent intro\u00adduced above refers to her long arti\u00adcle- Anpan\u00adman\u2019s Song of Jus\u00adtice (seri\u00adal\u00adized in Cos\u00admic Light Mag\u00ada\u00adzine from Sep\u00adtem\u00adber to Novem\u00adber 2022).<\/strong>What I ben\u00ade\u00adfit\u00aded most from this long arti\u00adcle were the quo\u00adta\u00adtions from orig\u00adi\u00adnal works that don\u2019t yet have Chi\u00adnese trans\u00adla\u00adtions. For exam\u00adple, I learned that Yanase Takashi\u2019s theme song, \u201cAnpan\u00adman March,\u201d actu\u00adal\u00adly has a first sec\u00adtion, which is usu\u00adal\u00adly omit\u00adted in the cur\u00adrent ver\u00adsions of the ani\u00adme. Here\u2019s Xu Shun\u00ading\u2019s \u201cten\u00adta\u00adtive trans\u00adla\u00adtion\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Yeah, how hap\u00adpy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liv\u00ading is joy even if there is pain in the heart<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why live and what to do<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nev\u00ader live your life in igno\u00adrance<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Live this moment with a burn\u00ading heart<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please go for\u00adward with a smile<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Whether it is the Can\u00adtonese or Man\u00addarin ver\u00adsion of the car\u00adtoon, only the lat\u00adter part is retained. For exam\u00adple, in the Can\u00adtonese ver\u00adsion, the main part of the open\u00ading song is as fol\u00adlows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

What is your hap\u00adpi\u00adness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you need to do to be hap\u00adpy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s over with\u00adout me know\u00ading it<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t want to be like this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t for\u00adget your dreams<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t shed tears<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So you have to fly high<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if you are at the ends of the earth<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, don\u2019t be afraid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For every\u00adone<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only with love and courage<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ah Anpan\u00adman<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are so gen\u00adtle<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bTo pro\u00adtect every\u00adone\u2019s dreams!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Man\u00addarin ver\u00adsion has some minor trans\u00adla\u00adtion changes, and its core sen\u00adtence is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Come on, for every\u00adone<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t be afraid any\u00admore<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Love and courage are your friends<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Per\u00adhaps, from the adult per\u00adspec\u00adtive of some direc\u00adtors and edi\u00adtors, state\u00adments like \u201cTo live is joy, even if one\u2019s heart is wound\u00aded\u201d and \u201cWhy live, what to do\u201d seem too heavy for young chil\u00addren and too con\u00adfus\u00ading for adults accus\u00adtomed to peace and qui\u00adet. Yet, these are indeed the strongest insights and ques\u00adtions Yanase Takashi brings to the sto\u00adry of Anpan\u00adman. It\u2019s worth not\u00ading that after the Great East Japan Earth\u00adquake in March 2011, some\u00adone request\u00aded a song for those hard\u00adest hit by the dis\u00adas\u00adter. Amidst the dev\u00adas\u00adtat\u00aded ruins, the full ver\u00adsion of \u201cAnpan\u00adman March\u201d came over the radio. The bright melody and pro\u00adfound lyrics instant\u00adly bright\u00adened the hearts of count\u00adless peo\u00adple. Those who had expe\u00adri\u00adenced this dev\u00adas\u00adtat\u00ading change sud\u00adden\u00adly under\u00adstood Yanase Takashi\u2019s mes\u00adsage: to smile and regain the courage to \u201clive in the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also a Japan\u00adese schol\u00adar, Kazuo Kuma\u00adda, who pub\u00adlished an aca\u00add\u00ade\u00adm\u00adic paper in 2014, \u201cThe Lone\u00adli\u00adness of Anpan\u00adman: Love, Courage and Male Alliance\u201d (\u30a2\u30f3\u30d1\u30f3\u30de\u30f3\u306e\u5b64\u5875\uff0d\u611b\u3068\u52c7\u6c17\u3068\u30db\u30e2\u30bd\u30fc\u30b7\u30e3\u30eb\uff0d, pub\u00adlished in \u201cHuman Cul\u00adture: Bul\u00adletin of the Insti\u00adtute of Human Cul\u00adture, Aichi Gakuin Uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty\u201d, Sep\u00adtem\u00adber 2014), dis\u00adcussing the deep soci\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcance of this march. He specif\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly men\u00adtioned that this song might have been writ\u00adten by Yanase Takashi for his younger broth\u00ader who died in vain in the war. Because the younger broth\u00ader did not want to join the Kamikaze Spe\u00adcial Attack Force, which was like com\u00admit\u00adting sui\u00adcide, but was forced to sign up as a \u201cvol\u00adun\u00adteer\u201d under pres\u00adsure from his male \u201ccom\u00adrades\u201d. There\u00adfore, this schol\u00adar believes that,The \u201cAnpan\u00adman\u201d cre\u00adat\u00aded by Takashi Yanase is actu\u00adal\u00adly a lone\u00adly brave man. His self\u00adless and fear\u00adless choice does not come from any exter\u00adnal pres\u00adsure, but belongs only to him\u00adself and comes only from his deep under\u00adstand\u00ading of jus\u00adtice.<\/strong>The most impor\u00adtant line in the lyrics, the core mean\u00ading is:Love and courage are your only friends.<\/strong>This may be the most cru\u00adcial point of Anpanman\u2019s \u201cval\u00adues of jus\u00adtice\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Half a cen\u00adtu\u00adry has passed since the first Anpan\u00adman pic\u00adture book was pub\u00adlished, and this less-than-super\u00adpow\u00adered \u201csuper\u00adman\u201d seems even more endur\u00ading. Its sto\u00adries are uni\u00adver\u00adsal\u00adly appeal\u00ading and heart\u00adwarm\u00ading, writ\u00adten in sim\u00adple, acces\u00adsi\u00adble lan\u00adguage and illus\u00adtrat\u00aded in a vibrant and engag\u00ading style. For chil\u00addren, it\u2019s an intro\u00adduc\u00adtion to love and courage; for adults, it\u2019s a pro\u00adfound alle\u00adgo\u00adry for reflect\u00ading on the mean\u00ading of life. Yanase Takashi nev\u00ader neglects the wis\u00addom of child\u00adhood in his work, firm\u00adly believ\u00ading in chil\u00addren\u2019s capac\u00adi\u00adty for pro\u00adfound under\u00adstand\u00ading. It\u2019s for this rea\u00adson that the seem\u00ading\u00adly sim\u00adple Anpan\u00adman sto\u00adry touch\u00ades upon the deep\u00adest aspects of human nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How\u00adev\u00ader, a good sto\u00adry is one that you just enjoy. As Yanase Takashi said in the after\u00adword of Anpan\u00adman and the Prick\u00adly Man, \u201cPlease don\u2019t delve into the rea\u00adsons, just read it and enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ajia, Writ\u00adten in Bei\u00adjing on Feb\u00adru\u00adary 12, 2025<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u65e5\u672c\u6f2b\u753b\u5bb6\u3001\u7ed8\u672c\u4f5c\u5bb6\u517c\u8bd7\u4eba\u67f3\u6fd1\u5d69\uff08\u65e5\u8bed\uff1a\u3084\u306a\u305b \u305f\u304b\u3057\uff0cYanase Takashi\uff0c1919-2013\uff09\u548c\u4ed6 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":417,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,12,1],"tags":[5,7,10,6],"class_list":["post-416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review","category-ajia-review","category-thoughts","tag-5","tag-7","tag-10","tag-6"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/\u9762\u5305\u8d85\u4eba\u52a8\u753b\u7247.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":443,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416\/revisions\/443"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}