Kajiwara Ikki's "Rikidozan" Script and the Showa Era Heroes: 1960s and 1970s

Kajiwara Ikki's "Rikidozan" Script and the Showa Era Heroes: 1960s and 1970s

In the 1960s and 1970s, Japan was in the midst of rapid economic growth after a period of postwar reconstruction. Amidst the lingering memories of defeat and the turmoil of the occupation period, the nation was dispelling its "weakness" and harboring a yearning for "strength. In this atmosphere, the pro-wrestler Rikidozan emerged as a postwar hero figure who, through the extreme physical expression of "punching power," relieved the depression of the Japanese people. Kajiwara Ikki (real name: Takamori Asaki), a former sportswriter turned manga author and movie scriptwriter, established the "sporty" genre. According to Wikipedia, he continued to depict images of fighting youth in a series of works, including "The Star of the Giant" and "Ashita no Joe. ([en.wikipedia.org](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%A2%B6%E5%8E%9F%E4%B8%80%E9%A8%8E?utm_source=chatgpt.com)) He was also involved in the scriptwriting of a movie about Rikidozan. In this way, he secured his unique position as a
mediator between the real-life "strongman" and the fictional hero. In the postwar era, when values were shifting toward "conquest, perseverance, and victory," the structure in which violent depictions were affirmed as justifiable could be ethically criticized from today's perspective. At the time, however, it was also a symbolic drama that "restored the pride of the Japanese people that had been stolen from them. Kajiwara's script was a mirror that reflected the social questions of "what is a hero" and "what is strength" through the story of the real body of Rikidozan. His images of heroes traverse the boundaries of manga, film, and sports, and continue to shine with an unusual brilliance within the cultural matrix of the Showa era.