Depictions of Tobacco and Alcohol Use in Contemporary Japanese Shōnen Manga: A Content Analysis

Japanese manga, which present dramatic and imaginative stories in comic book form, have a growing readership in Asia, Europe, and North America. We investigated depictions of tobacco and alcohol use in a sample of contemporary shōnen manga, which have a primary readership of males ages 8-18, but als...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of health communication 2019-11, Vol.24 (11), p.848-855
Main Authors: Lee, Yen-Han, DeJong, William
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alcohol
Alcohol use
Artists
Beer
Behavior
Characters
Cigarettes
Content analysis
Drinks
Government agencies
Health technology assessment
Manga
Qualitative research
Readership
Role models
Smoking
Tobacco
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Summary:Japanese manga, which present dramatic and imaginative stories in comic book form, have a growing readership in Asia, Europe, and North America. We investigated depictions of tobacco and alcohol use in a sample of contemporary shōnen manga, which have a primary readership of males ages 8-18, but also appeal to young females and adults. Large number of characters were shown smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol, especially males, adults, and those categorized as "good" characters. Compared to the shōnens' early chapters (initiated in 1990-2003, depending on the series), more recently published chapters (2011-2016) portrayed fewer characters overall using a tobacco product and fewer minors using an alcohol product. The later chapters also presented significantly fewer depictions of tobacco-related behavior, consumption of both beer and other/unknown alcoholic beverages, and alcohol-related paraphernalia. Antitobacco and antialcohol behaviors or dialogue were rare. These findings raise legitimate concerns about the influence of these depictions on young readers' beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral choices. Future research should explore whether those concerns are warranted, but in the interim, government agencies and watchdog groups in Japan should consider applying increased public pressure on manga artists and producers to curtail these depictions and to offer positive role models in their place.
ISSN:1081-0730
1087-0415
DOI:10.1080/10810730.2019.1678704