• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.68
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• pp.130-165
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• 2014

By exploring the works of popular culture, our research aims to demonstrate that culture and politics revolve around each other. Culture and politics are not separate but are articulated into cultural politics; the process of articulation reveals various comparable areas, including contradictions and differences. Our research pays specific attention to Japanese modernity in the eight popular manga series by Naoki Urasawa. These works seemingly value peace and brotherhood, placing themselves in opposition to the logics of the conservative right wing. After engaging in a thorough reading and re-reading, however, we found three salient themes in the deep layers of the works: first, no-nationality a-nationality; second, the relationship between Japan and the West, and representation of Asia; and third, nostalgia for Japan of the past, and transnational desire. The manga series contain the ideas of leaving Asia and entering the West and overcoming modernity. Our research findings reveal that the works of popular culture, specifically those by Naoki Urasawa, subtly expose transnational desires of Japan in tandem with the tensions in international politics between Asia and Japan.