Marvel Stories Set in Japan

Wolverine (1982) #1

Wolverine #1 (1982)

• Published: Sept 10, 1982
• Writer: Chris Claremont
• Penciller (Cover): Frank Miller

Wolverine hunts for a bear in the Canadian Rockies which had an arrow stuck in its back, making it turn crazy and kill at least fifteen people. With the bear taken care of, Wolverine tracks the scent of the arrow back to its tracker and puts him on trial.

Wolverine tries calling Mariko Yashida, but her family hangs up on him. Wolverine flies to the Yashida Ancestral Stronghold in Japan and finds Mariko in the gardens beneath a statue of Buddha, concealing her face. At Wolverine's insistence, she reveals her bruised face, which Wolverine deduces came from her husband, Noburu-Hideki. Mariko explains that she had to change commitments upon her father's return. Mariko's husband shows up and Wolverine intends upon killing him until Mariko averts the bloodshed.

Wolverine prepares to fly to New York, but he gets ambushed by poisoned shurikens. Wolverine wakes up to find himself in the captivity of Lord Shingen, who challenges Wolverine to a duel with him to prove his worthiness to Mariko. They fight with wooden swords, and Lord Shingen cheats during the battle by kicking Wolverine, who retaliates by withdrawing his claws. Due to his recent poisoning, though, Wolverine has trouble making contact with the elder, who ultimately wins the battle.

Wolverine finds himself abandoned in Tokyo surrounded by a mob. Yukio kills them all and picks Wolverine off the ground.

Daredevil #197-199 (1983)

Daredevil Vol 1 #197 (1983)

• Published: April 5, 1983
• Writer: Denny O'Neil

Daredevil is on his way to Japan when he runs across Dark Wind's daughter in chains and frees her. The pair make it to Japan and prepare to get Bullseye away from Yuriko's father before he can fix the crippled villain.

Punisher War Journal (1988) #8

Published: Aug 32, 1989 Writer: Carl Potts Inker: Jim Lee Colorist: Gregory Wright Letterer: Jim Novak

Back in 1989, Carl Potts and Jim Lee introduced The Punisher to a group called the Shadowmasters, who graduated from Punisher War Journal into their own series. This ancient clan of martial arts masters protected the province of Iga, and Punisher came into contact with one of them, Katherine Yakamoto, who helped him infiltrate a ninja camp run by a shady American corporation. Later Frank Castle and Black Widow teamed up with them again against the Sunrise Society, a Japanese business used as a cover for a crime syndicate.

Sunfire & Big Hero 6 (1998) #1

TBA

Fantastic Four/Iron Man: Big in Japan (2005) #1

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• Published: Oct 5, 2005
• Writer: Zeb Wells
• Penciller (Cover): Seth Fisher

In Tokyo Japan there are celebrations over the last monster attack on the country. With the mecha, Otetsukun standing as a monument over the Giant Monster Museum & Expo Center which is now opening to the public. Special guests to appear at the museum are the American heroes known as the Fantastic Four who spent a better part of their earlier career fighting giant monsters. After the ribbon cutting ceremony the Fantastic Four are brought to the museum's curator Dr. Yamane who shows them around. He explains that the museum is a storehouse of Japans history dealing with giant monsters and displays the various creatures as well as the technology created to stop them. As they go on the tour, Dr. Yamane and Reed theorise that the emergence of super-heroes happened at the same time that the frequent monster attacks began to stop and suspect the two are closely related.

The doctor takes them into another section of the museum where he displays various creatures that were created by the Japanese military as bio-weapons. This is fascinating to Mister Fantastic, but he also expresses his concerns over the ethics of doing such things. While Dr. Yamane assures them that everything is safe there is commotion in the other room. They go and see that it is women fawning over the arrival of Tony Stark, who has come to consider partnering Stark Enterprises with the museum.

Big Hero 6 (2008) #1

• Published: Sept 10, 2008
• Writer: Chris Claremont
• Inker: David Nakayama/Terry Pallot
• Colorist: Emily Warren
• Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
• Other: Anthony Flamini

Before jumping to the big screen, Hiro, Baymax and the rest of the team starred in two different series: one by Scott Lobdell and Gus Vasquez in 1998, and another by Chris Claremont and David Nakayama in 2008. When the Japanese government decides they need their own team of heroes, they recruit Silver Samurai, Honey Lemon, and the rest of the crew, who battle the likes of Everwraith and Yandroth.

5 Ronin (2010) #1

Published: Mar 2, 2011 Writer: Peter Milligan Penciller (Cover): David Aja Inker: Tomm Coker Colorist: Daniel Freedman Letterer: Joe Caramagna

The 2011 series 5 RONIN recast Hulk, Wolverine, Deadpool, Punisher, and Psylocke as master-less samurai living in 17th century Japan. Featuring the work of Peter Milligan and a variety of artists, including covers by David Aja, each issue told the story of one of the five characters, whose destiny became interlinked as they sought revenge against the dreaded Damiyo.