Since it was first published in 1952, “The Diary of Anne Frank” has been the most read and studied foreign book in Japan. Everyone regardless of generation knows about the little girl from Amsterdam and her tragic destiny. This best seller is also available as a manga, but one in which Anne Frank is simply seen as the heroine of a successful novel with a cruel and moving ending. There are few people in the Land of the Rising Sun who do not know about the Holocaust, although it is a rather distant story for the Japanese, despite their alliance with the Third Reich. Yet they do not seem to know their own history either: “War, it’s horrible. And we were the biggest victim when the Americans dropped their atomic bombs on us,” said Makoto Otsuka, Director of the Anne Frank and Holocaust Memorial near Hiroshima, the only one in Asia. There is essentially a consensus over this vague notion in Japan.

Telling the story of these authors in the first person, this interactive and documentary comic book explores the representation of the past in Japanese society today. Japan adopted the universal figure of Anne Frank, and made a manga of it a specifically Japanese form, but one that the entire world has now appropriated. It is an act of thumbing one’s nose, as well as a genuine attempt to build a bridge between two cultures. The authors tell the story of Westerners in Japan in the form of a “web-manga,” combining drawings, photographs, sound, and video, in order to dispel the fog of cultural relativism that generally shrouds Asia when it is observed from the West.

CREDITS

Anne Frank in the Land of Manga
Based on an original idea by Alain Lewkowicz
Interactive comics by Alain Lewkowicz, Vincent Bourgeau, Samuel Pott, Marc Sainsauve
With the participation of Makoto Otsuka, Chiaki Sugihara, Hidétoshi Tsuruoka, Hiroshi Motomiya, Yasuhiro Shigi, Kimiko Nezu, Steven Leeper.
Arte France, Subreal Productions coproduction

Direction: Alain Lewkowicz
Conception et Multimédia direction: Samuel Pott
Design: Vincent Bourgeau
Photography and videos: Marc Sainsauve
Technical direction and Flash development: Arnaud Gatouillat
Graphic design : Roland Lecouteux
Intégration and Animation Flash : Christophe Choffel
Photographic touching up services : Julie Carretier-Cohen
Translations et tracking in Japan : Herminien Ogawa
Translations : Mathilde Sobottke, Léa Le Dimna, Anouk Macquet
Comments recording : Jean-Christian Viry
Documentation : Nao Kaneko
Production assistant : Moane Rosello
Technical means : Loca Images, HLC Production, le 36