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Kachō Kōsaku Shima (Japanese: 課長島耕作, Hepburn: Kachō Shima Kōsaku, lit. Section Chief Kōsaku Shima) is the first in a number of Japanese manga series, by Kenshi Hirokane, about a fictional salaryman named Kōsaku Shima. The series ran from 1983-1992 under this title, winning the 1991 Kodansha Manga Award in the General category.

It depicts the life of a salaryman, a Japanese white-collar worker who devotes his life to his company. The manga have been translated from Japanese into English (partially; through Kodansha Bilingual Editions), French and German. In addition to various manga there has also been one comedic ONA, and two comedic anime adaptations lasting 11 episodes each, a live action film, and a single episode TV drama. The character also acts as the "host" or framing device for a business documentary series on NHK World, Shima Kosaku's Asian Entrepreneurs.

At the start of the long-running series, Shima Kōsaku is a kachō, or section chief, of a huge conglomerate, Hatsushiba Electric. He is later promoted to buchō (division chief) and eventually promoted to manager and executive-director, and with each promotion the title of the series changed as well. He was promoted to the president of Hatsushiba Electric, and the title changed to "Shachō" Shima Kōsaku, which means "President Kōsaku Shima". The fictional conglomerate is modeled after Panasonic, or Matsushita Electric, where Hirokane worked before and is highly accurate in its portrayal of Japanese corporate culture.

Series

• Kachō Shima Kōsaku (課長島耕作, "Section Chief Kōsaku Shima") 1983-1992: 17 volumes
• Buchō Shima Kōsaku (部長島耕作, "Manager Kōsaku Shima") 1992â€"2002: 13 volumes
• Young Shima Kōsaku (ヤング島耕作, "Young Kōsaku Shima") 2001â€"2010: 8 volumes
• Torishimariyaku Shima Kōsaku (取締役島耕作, "Assistant Director Kōsaku Shima") 2002â€"2005: 8 volumes
• Jōmu Shima Kōsaku (常務島耕作, "Director Kōsaku Shima") 2005â€"2006: 6 volumes
• Senmu Shima Kōsaku (専務島耕作, "Executive Director Kōsaku Shima") 2006â€"2008: 5 volumes
• Shachō Shima Kōsaku (社長島耕作, "President Kōsaku Shima") 2008â€"2013: 16 volumes
• Kakarichou Shima Kōsaku (係長島耕作, "Subsection Chief Kōsaku Shima") 2010â€"2013: 4 volumes
• Kaichō Shima Kōsaku (会長島耕作, "Chairman Kōsaku Shima") 2013â€"present: 3 volumes
• Gakusei Shima Kōsaku (å­¦ç"Ÿå³¶è€•ä½œ, "Studen Kōsaku Shima") 2014â€"present: 1 volume

Video games

• Kachō Kōsaku Shima: Super Business Adventure (Super Famicom) 1993 (published by Yutaka)
• CR Kachō Kōsaku Shima (Pachinko) 2006 (published by Newgin)
• Kachō Shima Kōsaku DS: Dekiru Otoko no Love & Success (Nintendo DS) 2008 (published by Konami)

References

External links

• Kachō Kōsaku Shima (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• A question of character, The Economist, 7 August 2008
• "Sharp, Bandai to launch calculators with anime, cartoon characters", Mainichi Daily News (can be found at the Free Library)