The East Asia Media Studies Center, affiliated with Research Faculty of Media and Communication at Hokkaido University, will hold a mini-exhibition titled "Understanding Myanmar through Manga: How to Resist Military Dictatorship" on November 2nd.

A military coup took place in Myanmar on February 1, 2021. Local people calling for civilian rule have resisted in various ways, including using social media to communicate with the international community, collecting donations for the People's Defence Force (PDF) fighting against the Burmese military and for refugees, and boycotting work and school, but the military dictatorship continues to this day.

A Taiwanese comic strip depicting the situation in Myanmar, titled "Myanmar, the Last War," was produced. It has received a great response and has now been translated and published in several languages (the Japanese version is titled "In the early morning of February 1st, Myanmar's final war began.").

This exhibition will introduce some of the manga's key scenes with commentary, and will also feature a lecture by the manga's illustrator, Hironari Yanagi. It will also feature one-panel manga depicting the situation in Myanmar by local children and Japanese manga artists.

Did you know that Myanmar is scheduled to hold a military-led general election in December of this year? There are concerns that the military, which is still carrying out airstrikes and artillery bombardment and massacring its citizens, will undergo a mere formal "transition to civilian rule" after the election, and will then have the legitimate right to kill. Why not learn about the background of what is happening now through manga and think about what you can do while you're in Japan?

For more information, please see here. *You will be redirected to the Hokkaido University Research Faculty of Media and Communication website.