Japan Inc

Japan Inc aka Manga Nihon Keizai Nyumon (an introduction to the Japanese economy) is a manga by Shotaro Ishinomori (written 1986 to 1988). It's a non-fiction manga about the Japanese economy (also covering economics in general), mostly seen from the POV of several employees of the car firm Toyosan: The managers Tsugawa and Kudo, their boss Akiyama, their female coworker Miss Amamiya, and lower-rank guy Ueda. Originally serialized in the upscale business paper "Nippon Keizai Shinbun", the manga was published as an economics textbook by the University of California.


 * An Aesop: Capitalism is good.
 * Bland Name Product: The car firms Toyosan, Mitsutomo, Chrysky; the US TV station CBN...
 * Bottle Fairy: Tsugawa's wife.
 * Butt Monkey: Ueda
 * Useful Notes/Capitalism: Provides several of them as footnotes.
 * Character Development: Ueda starts as the somewhat goofy little employee, but he learns and seems to have grown some discipline at the end.
 * Eagle Land
 * Foil: Tsugawa and Kudo. Tsugawa is your typical ruthless manager, Kudo is the social guy who thinks about the employees.
 * Foreign Fanservice: A stripper in a cowgirl costume.
 * Happily Married: Kudo.
 * I Want Grandkids: Ueda's mom comments that Miss Amamiya has the right shape to get many children, hint hint.
 * Jerkass: Tsugawa
 * The Mafia
 * Massive Numbered Siblings: Ueda has eight, and seven of them are sisters.
 * Miniature Senior Citizens: Ueda's mother.
 * Plucky Comic Relief: Ueda
 * Private Detective: Finds out that a big union boss is customer in an S&M club.
 * Ronald Reagan
 * Salaryman: The main characters
 * The Series: There's an anime made in 1987/88 (25 episodes of 25 minutes each). You can also find it on YouTube (at least, parts of it).
 * She Is Not My Girlfriend: Ueda has to correct his mother's impression that Miss Amamiya is this.
 * Tsundere: Miss Amamiya has some of it.
 * Visual Pun: When Ueda admits he likes America, she comments: "He must be an alien." In this panel, he is drawn as The Alien.
 * When You Coming Home Dad: Tsugawa
 * Your Cheating Heart: Tsugawa has an affair with an Italian woman - and Kudo knows.