Dai-Tokyo Binbo Seikatsu Manual - 'Binbo' As A Philosophy

'Binbo' As A Philosophy

The very first page of the manga declares its philosophy: an army of characters from the manga holding up miniature Japanese flags yelling, "Extravagance is the enemy!" (ゼイタクは敵だ!! Zeitaku wa teki da!!). Two banners are held up in the background exclaiming, "Poverty is fashion" (ビンボーはファションだ Binbou wa fashon da) and, "Poverty is an ideology, it is life itself" (ビンボーは思想だ 人生そのものだ Binbou wa shisou da / Jinsei sono mono da).

Maekawa's use of the Japanese flag is to show that the image most associated with Japan—that of the hardworking, self-sacrificing, upwardly mobile Japanese salaryman—is not all there is to life in Japan. It is at the same time a condemnation of the excessive luxury and rampant consumption of much of the Japanese dominant society, and a championing of those left out of mainstream Japanese society. (Indeed, the first chapter's title announces, "I'm an ally of the poor man" (私、ビンボー人の味方です Watashi, binbou-jin no mikata desu).) His message that you don't have to have a lot of money and material goods to make yourself happy is repeated again and again throughout the story.

The manga's binbō philosophy can be seen as similar to the voluntary simplicity movement, despite Maekawa's somewhat different reasons for rejection of a consumerist lifestyle.