One of the most well-known manga publishers from Japan is Shueisha. It is responsible for hits like One Piece, Dragon Ball, or Naruto. In the past, the star manga artists used to go on trips together, but a possible danger made them stop at the early stages.
What were those trips? In an interview with Yudetamago from June 2012, the two manga artists Yoichi Takahashi of Captain Tsubasa and Takashi Shimada of Kinnikuman talked about the trips of Shueisha at that time. Both are veterans at the publisher and have been active since 1978 and 1980 respectively.
Especially in their early days, there had been many trips with overnight stays. The two recall a trip where Akira Toriyama, later the manga artist of Dragon Ball, was involved for the first time. They were still minors back then and were not allowed to drink alcohol.
As every year, there would have been a trip around New Year’s, where a group photo would be taken at the end. This photo was subsequently used every time for the cover of the New Year’s issue of the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, the most famous magazine of Shueisha.
But during one trip, a statement was made so severe that no more trips took place in the following years.
A statement ended the annual trip at Shueisha
What was that statement? All authors of the publisher are said to have traveled in the same bus to a hotel at the foot of Mount Fuji. There they were supposed to have their annual closing party. But someone on the bus reportedly said the following statement:
If this bus has an accident and falls into the valley, the Jump magazine will be history next week.
This did not sit well with the responsible parties, as there were said to have been no more joint trips since the following year.
It is also a scary thought that all star authors could die in a bus accident. In the worst case, Shueisha could have gone bankrupt and there would have been no more mangas like One Piece or Naruto.
What about today? However, authors do not have to completely forgo their annual closing party nowadays. As veteran Tetsuya Chiba reported on his blog, the Tezuka and Akatsuka award ceremony has since taken place at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, hosted by Shueisha. The event is also considered the annual closing party, where many employees of the publisher come together.
Do you think the reaction of the organizers was exaggerated, or can you understand that these joint group trips by bus were canceled? Feel free to write it to us in the comments.
A manga has started at Shueisha some time ago that initially began as a joke. However, it has now become one of the most read stories. You can read more about it here on MeinMMO: New hype manga started as a joke, is now one of the most read Shonen stories
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