The professor to the rescue
A cartoon strip takes on the repatriation of treasures from the  
British Museum
The Economist
Aug 26th 2010 | TOKYO

“THE Stonehenge megaliths have been stolen!?” So exclaims Professor  
Munakata at the outset of a rollicking adventure set at the British  
Museum, in the form of a manga, or Japanese cartoon. Over the past  
five months, readers of Big Comic, a Japanese fortnightly magazine,  
have followed the exploits of the fictitious ethnographer as he gets  
embroiled in a bizarre plot to force the repatriation of the museum’s  
prized objects.

The strip, called “The Case Records of Professor Munakata”, was  
introduced 15 years ago by Yukinobu Hoshino, one of Japan’s most  
notable manga artists. Portly, bald and impeccably dressed with cap,  
cape and cane, the professor is Japan’s anti-Indiana Jones. He does  
not invite danger but bumbles into it. The strip does not follow any  
set formula but takes on serious issues.

In previous escapades the professor barely survived after uncovering  
an ancient burial ground in Japan’s hinterland. He also risked his  
life leading an archaeological survey of an island between Japan and  
Korea that both countries claim. The current saga, which reached its  
tumultuous conclusion on August 25th, marks the first time that the  
brave hero (and his 56-year-old creator too) has paid a visit to the  
West.



http://www.economist.com/node/16886045?story_id=16886045&fsrc=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+economist%2Ffull_print_edition+%28The+Economist%3A+Full+print+edition%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher