The Story Behind Ashita no Joe’s Showa-Era Menko Cards

Ashita no Joe Vintage Round Menko Card, Showa Period

This is a menko — a flat, thick-cardboard game piece — themed around Ashita no Joe, the manga and anime series known internationally as Tomorrow’s Joe. The card is round in shape, a common format for character menko produced during Japan’s Showa period.

The Series That Became a Showa Social Phenomenon

Ashita no Joe ran in Weekly Shonen Magazine (Kodansha) from January 1968 to May 1973, written by Asao Takamori (a pen name of Ikki Kajiwara) and illustrated by Tetsuya Chiba. The story follows Yabuki Joe, a rebellious street kid from the slums of Tokyo who discovers boxing and fights his way toward a world title. The series generated a cultural moment unlike anything else in Japanese publishing at the time: when the rival character Rikiishi Tetsuo died in the story, fans organized an actual public funeral in his memory. The manga was adapted into anime twice — a first series of 79 episodes aired from 1970 to 1971, and a follow-up, Ashita no Joe 2, ran from 1980 to 1981.

This card shows Yabuki Joe in a pointing pose — one of his most recognizable visual signatures — alongside Danpei Tange, his coach and mentor, who is immediately identifiable by his eyepatch. Two additional youth characters appear on the card as well; they may be figures from Joe’s reform-school arc, but a precise identification from the image alone is not possible.

Menko: A Showa Childhood Game Turned Collectible

Menko have roots in Japan going back to the Edo period, but character-themed menko reached their peak in the 1950s through 1970s — exactly when Ashita no Joe was at its cultural height. Toy makers and print shops, from major brands to small regional producers, mass-produced these cards for a few yen each, sold at dagashiya: the tiny neighborhood candy-and-toy shops that defined Showa childhood. The game itself involved slapping cards against the ground to flip an opponent’s, which is why surviving pieces often show wear consistent with actual gameplay.

No manufacturer can be confirmed for this card. Identifying the maker of individual Showa character menko is often not possible, as dozens of producers operated at every scale. Numbers printed on the card (12356411 and 8) appear to follow production numbering conventions of the period but are not sufficient on their own to identify the source. Menko belong to the same recognized category of Showa collectibles as sofubi figures, bromide photo cards, and gachapon capsule toys — all formats that document a specific moment in Japanese popular culture.

A Franchise with Fans on Three Continents

Tomorrow’s Joe found audiences well outside Japan. In Italy the series aired as Rocky Joe; it also reached France and Spanish-speaking countries, building fan communities across generations. Among researchers of manga and anime history, it holds a foundational position in the gekiga tradition — the dramatic, socially engaged comics style — particularly in sports storytelling. Danpei’s eyepatch silhouette and Joe’s pointing pose are among the most immediately recognized visual signatures in the franchise’s long history.

Round Showa menko also carry the bold graphic character of their era, an aspect that has drawn interest from collectors focused on mid-century Japanese print and design culture alongside fans of the series itself.