Although Chinese civilization has exerted a profound influence on Japanese culture across the centuries, the emphasis on modernization and Westernization in post-Meiji Japanese history has shifted educational attention away from Ancient China, especially in the decades after Pacific War. Today, most Japanese school curricula have relegated the study of Ancient China to instruction in kanbun (Japanese-annotated classical Chinese) and rudimentary mentions in world history classes.

As such, many contemporary Japanese are more likely to encounter the wealth of Chinese civilization through personal interest than formal education. A number of high-quality manga representations of ancient Chinese classics and personae have been published in recent years as though to compensate for this lack of curricular coverage.

The arduous project of rendering Sangokushi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms) into manga was carried out by Yokoyama Mitsuteru (1934–2004) over sixteen years (1971–87). Sōten kōro (Beyond the Heavens, 1994–2005; story by Yi Hagin, 1945–98; illustrations by King Gonta, 1962–) offers a different take on Cao Cao, the King of Wei. Currently, one of the most popular manga series—not only in this genre but also in overall manga—is Kingudamu (Kingdom, 2006– ; by Hara Yasuhisa, 1975–), the story of two boys: one who grows up to become the famed general Li Xin, the other the First Emperor of Qin.

This presentation offers preliminary findings from analysis of mostly Kingudamu, and considers their meaning in the history of Sino-Japanese cultural relations in the postwar period.