After hearing a lecture in his history class, Minoru decides that if the same policies are continued Japan will have a severe famine within the next 50 years. While eating his lunch he tells his fellow chemisty club members that they need to design a fermentation chemical that will increase the amount of nutrients absorbed by the body. But eating and mixing chemicals is never a good combination, and Minoru causes a large explosion.
When the smoke clears, a group of rugged men are standing in the classroom. Once they smell food they go crazy and raid the cafeteria of all it's food. Once the principal finds out, he takes the men and the chemisty club into his office to find out what all this is about. From what the men say, they appear to be from Tenmei Era Famine. The principal doesn't believe any of this, and threatens to call the police. The Villagers beg the principal, and tell him they're going home to return the food they've found to their starving families. Once through the portal, it's revealed that they aren't from the 18th century, but from the year 2053 when another extreme famine has wrecked Japan.
Published In:
Big Goro 1978 August
Rumic World Vol. 2
Publication Date: August 1, 1978
Pages: 19 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation:
None
Notes:
The Japanese title of the manga is Hara Hara Horu (腹はらホール) or Belly Hole, however ホール (Hooru) can be "hole" or "hall" in Japanese which leads to the pun with the name of the high school name, Bellyfull High (which was "Hall" in the more literal translation from Japanese). "Harahara" (ハラハラ) in Japanese means "to feel anxious or thrilled", however the first "hara" is written with the kanji for "stomach" (腹/hara). So there are a number of ways they title could be translated into English. "The Thrilling Hole", "The Anxious Hall", "The Belly Hole", "The Belly Hall".
Keen eyed readers may notice that the art style of the title page seems different than the rest of the manga. This is because the original story had no title page and had the title on the first page of the story's right side. The title page was drawn years later when the story was collected in its tankobon.
The Kuwa is a Japanese weapon based on the garden hoe. It was developed in Okinawa, Japan. In Japan, where peasants were banned from traditional weapons like katana, they had to use common farming tools in order to defend themselves. This use of farming tools as weapons is known as Ryu Kyu Kubudo. Over time, these “gardening” tools developed into formidable weapons. Kuwa was used like a staff as well as for its slashing/chopping capability. However, the kuma is not as well known as other Kobudo weapons such as the bo, nunchaku, sai, kama and tonfa.
The Great Tenmei famine (天明の大飢饉, Tenmei no daikikin) was a famine which affected Japan during the Edo period. It is considered to have begun in 1782, and lasted until 1788. It was named after the Tenmei era (1781–1789), during the reign of Emperor Kōkaku. The ruling shoguns during the famine were Ieharu Tokugawa and Ienari Tokugawa. The famine was the deadliest one during the early modern period in Japan. An estimated 20,000 people starved to death in the Tohoku region, however this estimate is thought to be low and could be more than ten times this number.
Mount Asama’s eruption was one of three volcanic eruptions that contributed to the Great Tenmei famine. Before Asama’s eruption on July 6, 1783, Mount Iwaki erupted on April 13, 1783, followed by Mount Laki in Iceland, whose massive eruption played havoc on weather patterns all over the northern hemisphere.
