To celebrate Weekly Shonen Jump‘s 25th anniversary, Shueisha decided to create a new style event to promote it’s history for the fans. The name of the event was called “Weekly Jump Multi World” and was a exhibition that was held in the Tokyo Dome Prism Hall between July 28th through August 15th, 1993. The event cost 700 yen for admission and guests were able to receive as special booklet which highlighted some of the items on display. The booklet was never available for sale directly.
Within this booklet is a deep history of the first 25 years of Weekly Shonen Jump and the series that ran in the magazine. Over 48 authors provided new illustrations and congratulatory messages for this anniversary and are documented in this booklet. It helps capture the the particular height in popularity for the magazine in 1993. It was running at the time some of the strongest line-up of series with the on-going Dragon Ball, Slam Dunk, Yu Yu Hakusho, Jojo’s Bizzarre Adventure, and Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai manga series.
With this all-star line-up from Shueisha, the introduction to the booklet is presented by the president of company at the time, Tadashi Wakana (若菜正). Prior to becoming president he was the editor-in-chief for the creation of the Margaret and Seventeen magazines at Shueisha. He later then was promoted to higher level leadership in 1964 and continued to expand the number of magazines and diversifying the publishers reach to different demographics. After these numerous successes. he became president of Shueisha in 1988 and continued through until 1996.
Below is a transcription and a rough English translation of his opening comments in the “Weekly Jump Multi World” booklet from 1993.
『週刊少年ジャンプ』は、本年で創刊25周年を迎えることになりました。昭和43年7月の創刊以来『週刊少年ジャンプ』は、おかげさまで順調な発展を遂げ、現在では発行部数約600万部という日本出版史上未曾有の読者数をもつ、大きな雑誌に成長することができました。その間、『週刊少年ジャンプ』を発進基地として、日本中の子供たちや若者たちから愛され、熱狂的に支持される数多くのキャラクターや作品が生み出されました。また、才能あふれる優れたマンガ作家たちも多く育っていきました。今や『週刊少年ジャンプ』は単に一マンガ雑誌というにとどまらず、日本の少年少女文化、若者文化、ひいては娯楽文化を代表する一つのメディアであるといっても過言ではないでしょう。また、これらの作品は国内のみならず海外からも熱い注目を浴び、世界的な広がりをみせております。
もちろんこれは、長年にわたる愛読者の多大なご支援と、数多くの関係者の方々のご尽力の賜物であることは言うまでもありません。
そこで、このたび集英社ではこれを機会に、愛読者の皆様への感謝の気持ちとさらなる飛躍への決意を表するため、週刊少年ジャンプ創刊25周年記念イベントとして『ジャンプマルチワールド』を開催することにいたしました。
『ジャンプマルチワールド』では、まず25年間にわたる『週刊少年ジャンプ』の歴史を振り返り、次に現在活躍中の48名の先生方の原画イラスト約450点を展示し、また、マンガのみならずアニメーション、ゲームソフト、キャラクターグッズなど多彩に展開するジャンプの現在を概観して、さらには最先端機器を駆使したジャンプワールドの未来が展望できるようになっております。
コンセプトは、宇宙の海の中に点在する《宝島》としての『ジャンプ』。ご来場の皆様方が、驚きと興奮に満ちたジャンプワールドのマルチな冒険行をお楽しみくだされば幸いです。
最後に、本イベントの実現にご尽力いただいた関係各位に深く感謝申し上げます。
1993年7月
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the publication of “Weekly Shonen Jump.” Since its launch in July 1968, Weekly Shonen Jump has grown and made steady progress into a major magazine with a circulation of approximately 6 million copies, an unprecedented number of readers in the history of Japanese publishing. During this time, “Weekly Shonen Jump” has been a launching pad for numerous characters and series that are loved and enthusiastically supported by children and young people all over Japan. It has nurtured many talented and outstanding manga creators as well. Now “Weekly Shonen Jump” is more than just a simple manga magazine, but a form of media that represents Japanese boys’ and girls’ culture, youth culture, and even into entertainment culture. These series are now also attracting a lot of attention not only in Japan, but worldwide as it spreads overseas.
Of course, this is only possible due to the tremendous support our loyal readers over the years and the all of the work that has been applied.
Therefore, Shueisha has decided to take take this opportunity to express our gratitude to our loyal readers and our commitment to the future by holding this “Jump Multi World” event to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the founding of Weekly Shonen Jump.
“Jump Multi World” is a first-hand look back at the 25 year history of “Weekly Shonen Jump” by displaying around 450 original illustrations from 48 of our currently active artists. This event also has an overview of Jump’s expansion beyond just the manga page, but into animation, videogames, character goods, and more. Fans can also get a glimpse into the future with cutting-edge technology through the lens of the Jump World.
The concept is “Jump” is like a collection of “treasure islands” spread out across the vast ocean of space. We hope that all visitors can enjoy the multiple adventures that fill the Jump World with surprises and excitement.
Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone involved who made this event a reality.
July 1993
As referenced in the introductory statement, the booklet then covers various aspects of the event and the history of Weekly Shonen Jump. In future articles we will be diving into some of those items documented in the booklet, including the comments and profiles of the 48 mangaka that contributed to this event.
