A historical story using Ghosts to explain the life times of the reign of Emperor Hirohito. Comic Showa-shi describes an era of upheaval and impoverishment in Japanese history, beginning with the Tokyo Earthquake in 1923, and covering the financial panic, the Great Depression, the March 15th Incident, and other events up until the Manchurian Incident in 1931. (Source: Volume 1 cover)

Comic Showa-shi received the Kodansha Manga Award in the General category in 1989. The series was published in English as Showa: A History of Japan by Drawn & Quarterly in 4 volumes from November 12, 2013 to October 13, 2015. The 2nd & 3rd English volumes for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia.