What this genre is
The caricature tradition typified by the Choju-jinbutsu-giga scrolls, where movement and comedy are carried by brushed ink lines alone. There are no panels and no speech balloons, so the direct bloodline to modern manga is thin — but as the oldest high point of telling a story through pictures, it is often called manga's ancestor.
Roots — about this band: From Edo caricature to Tezuka. Where all of it begins.
Connections
Three kinds of line: direct evolution, influence, and born in reaction against.
↑ Grew out of this
Key works
Four scrolls drawn in ink line alone, in which rabbits and frogs wrestle and play in the water. The living line and the exaggerated animal acting have earned it the name of Japan's oldest manga. It is in fact the work of several hands, and has neither panels nor dialogue — but as a high point of making story and comedy out of pictures alone, it belongs here.
Roots — walk the band
Genres in the same band, in order of year. You are at the highlighted one.
- 1150 Emaki & Caricature（you are here）↓
- 1814 Edo Caricature↓
- 1900 Satirical Cartoons↓
- 1923 Newspaper Strips↓
- 1931 Prewar Children's Manga↓
- 1935 Kamishibai↓
- 1946 Akahon↓
- 1947 Story Manga Revolution↓
- 1955 Rental Manga
All genres
About this entry
Genre boundaries are drawn where the network of manga happens to concentrate, not by decree. Years are approximate. Where opinions differ, this page says so rather than picking a winner.