This work should be a sequel of "Brutal Stories of Comic-Writers"
drawn by the same author in the latter half of 1960.
Both of them belong to the series of "Yellow Tear" and their subtitles
are much the same. That is "Brutal Stories of Young People".
The word of "Futen" reminds our generation of "Futen Rojin Nikki
(Diary of A Mad Graybeard)" written by TANIZAKI Junichiro who was one of
the famous writers.
Why the outsiders who appeared around Shinjuku in the latter half of
1960 were called "Futen" is not known to me. But it was perhaps since
about 1967 when the word began to be spoken by the mass media.
"Futen" means literary "The Insane", but I think that people understood
it affirmatively as one who resisted against the organization and the
establishment and who wanted to be free from an existing theory of value
at that time.
I think that it didn't unrelated to the fact that existence of hippie
that just cried "love and peace" in rising of Vietnam antiwar movement
in America. It was February 1965 that America on a full scale intervened
to Vietnam War and took a bold course to "Bombing The North".
America has been tormented by guerrilla warfare means of " Vietcom"
(Vietnam release front party) since then and while a number of killed
soldiers increased daily, the mood of antiwar was gradually rising among
the young people in their home country, America.
They expressed resistance to the existing sense of values on an action
of conscription refusal, the large scale of antiwar rally, "love in"
and so on. Some of them escaped into a world of the drug or the world
that is religious such as Indian Yoga and Japanese Zen.
Common people of the society called a clutch of young people hippie
who did not have a regular employment and liked psychedelic clothes,
music and group life. Hippie did so influence on Japanese "Futen",
I think.
There were probably many kinds of persons called "Futen", as appeared
in this comic, of course. For example there were probably young people
that aimed at the artist and the musician, young people wasted by
political movement , young people that ran away from home, and unemployed
persons, too.
At that time Japan was developing its economy quickly.
In 1970 was held "International Exhibition in Osaka", where Japanese
large enterprises exhibited advanced technologies and impressed people
all over the world of "economic power of Japan".
But it was certain that there were various problems taking place
simultaneously in the other side of a flashy such incident.
A global problem was after all Vietnam war. It was in 1966 when China
was in the middle of "Great Socialist Cultural Revolution."
The 3rd Middle East War broke out between Israel and Egypt in 1967 and
"May revolution" in Paris in 1968, when French students organized a
rebellion to "Management Community".
On the other hand lots of problems gushed one after another as if they
interlocked to tendency of the world.
In 1968 the students in university Nihon negotiated with the authority,
requesting democracy of the campus. The author of the university
responded with enforcement by arresting the leaders, introducing the
police force into the campus and lockout.
It was 21st October in the same year when "Tumult Incident in Sinjyuku"
like a civil war took place. Thousands of demonstrators gathered to
the meeting of "The International Anti-War Day" repeated fight with
the police force, destroyed the equipments of the station and the guard
cars of police and etc. Hundreds of people were injured with this
collision and confused struggle.
In January 1969 "Offense and Defense of Yasuda Auditorium" that became
the greatest climax of Tokyo University Conflict was unrolled over 2 days,
which was relayed by TV. This was a symbol of the beginning of "Picture
Age", where a war and battle in itself was made to a kind of show like
"Asama Mountain Villa Incident" or "Bay Area War".
Judging from my own experiences in that time, majority of "Futen" were
people of the inwards artist type or introspective philosopher type, who
were not able to make actively a political movement of anti-establishment.
By the word "Futen" I am reminded of a playhouse, "Jyokyo Gekizyo"
directed by a theater producer, Toh Jyuro and a coffee shop named
"Fugetsudo" in Sinjyuku, in which many artists on the beret and musicians
with long hair discussed earnestly.
(That situation is symbolically depicted by this comic in pages 110,111.)
"Futen" reminded me, too, of two French thinkers, J�EP�ESartre and
S�Ede�EBeauvoir, who visited in Japan, September 1966.
Sartre was a philosopher and writer well known to the world in such works
as "Vomiting" and "A Way to Freedom". His existentialism appealed
"freedom as destiny" and seemed to us to be a thought criticizing
established organizations and existing theories of values.
On the other hand Beauvoir represented for the movement of "Woman
Liberation". Her work, "Second sexuality", is a sort of Bible to young
intelligent women.
They stayed in Japan for about 4 weeks and giving some lectures at
several places. I myself was one of the audience that were extraordinary
full of "Auditorium Okuma" in university Waseda and that listened to his
lecture.
Such atmosphere has been reflected into Nagashima's comics.
There is a view point to watch carefully and consider deeply human lives,
although there are not the assertion of a political thought.