Kosaku Shima is just an average guy, the kind of office worker you'd find in any large company. He's doing well for himself with a wife, a daughter, a house and a stable career. He's on track to be promoted to section chief and being rather unambitious himself and not desiring to join any of the various factions, he sees that as a good way to ride out the rest of his career. So long as nothing crops up which could potentially disrupt things it should be a rather easy, if uneventful, road to retirement. Unfortunately, this just so happens to be the moment he begins a love affair with a pretty coworker.
So starts Kenshi Hirokane's long-running story about the life and times of Kosaku Shima. Beginning in 1983 as a series of oneshots in the seinen magazine Morning and drawing on his own experiences as a salaryman, it was quickly turned into an ongoing series and has been going strong. It follows the life and career of the eponymous character as he rises up the ranks of the fictional Hatsushiba corporation, based on the author's one time employer, Matsushita (now known as Panasonic); though a simple story of office drudgery this is not as corporate politics, personal and professional drama, and romantic entaglements are ever-present. In addition, Shima's work has made him quite the globetrotter going everywhere from the hustle and bustle of New York to exotic locales such as Bali.
In addition, the series is known for a number of quirks. The first is that it completely averts Comic-Book Time. The series, both in real life and in the story, started in 1983 and more or less takes place when it's published. This means that as the series has run characters have aged in real time. Shima's daughter Nami, for instance, begins the series as a kindergartener and grows into an adult, while Shima himself is now a senior citizen. This also means that real world events are often times brought up in the story.
The second is that each time Shima's position changes, the current series ends and is restarted with his new position as part of the title.
The series, in order, consists of the following:
- Section Chief Shima Kosaku (1983-1992)
- Division Chief Shima Kosaku (1992-2002)
- Assistant Director Shima Kosaku (2002-2005)
- Director Shima Kosaku (2005-2006)
- Executive Director Shima Kosaku (2006-2008)
- President Shima Kosaku (2008-2013)
- Chairman Shima Kosaku (2013-2019)
- Senior Advisor Shima Kosaku (2019-2022)
- Outside Director Shima Kosaku (2022-Present)
In addition there are numerous prequel spinoffs ranging from his time in university all the way up to just before the start of the main series.
The series has become iconic in Japan, having been adapted into multiple TV dramas and video games and Shima himself was even the host for a while of a program on NHK World that focused on Asian entreprenuers. In addition, events that happen to the character can at times be given mainstream treatment. Shima's becoming president of the company, for instance, was given coverage in major newspapers. Hirokane himself, though not giving TV interviews, is often interviewed or asked to give lectures about business matters.
