June 10,
2008: The U.S. Navy, sensitive to
Japanese concerns about nuclear weapons, has always stationed non-nuclear
aircraft carriers in Japan (where at least one has been stationed since World
War II). But the last non-nuclear carrier, the USS Kitty Hawk, is about to
retire. A nuclear powered carrier, the USS George Washington, is being sent to
replace it. Faced with a potential political, diplomatic and security
disaster, ways were sought to assure
Japanese that the nuclear carriers were safe. This was not an impossible task.
Japan is one of the largest users of nuclear power generation in the world (55
plants, generating 30 percent of all their electricity). The only thing nuclear
about the George Washington are its two
reactors. The U.S. Navy has an exemplary
safety record with the hundreds of nuclear reactors it has put into service
over the last half century. How to get that news out to the Japanese? Simple,
create a comic book, or "manga" showing life aboard the George Washington from
the point of view of a young sailor.
Manga are
basically comic books or, is U.S. parlance, "graphic novels." Although Japan is
one of the most literate nations in the world, adults, as well as children, are
major consumers of manga, and have been for nearly a century. The George
Washington manga, titled "CVN 73," is only 200 pages long, which is a little
short by Japanese standards, but has proved to be very popular in Japan. You can view or download a pdf version of CVN
73 (in English or Japanese) at http://www.cnfj.navy.mil/
Manga are
produced on all sorts of subjects, from business, professional and technical,
to (for the most part) fiction. The major manga creators (artists and writers)
are big celebrities in Japan (and, increasingly, in the United States and
elsewhere in the world.)
