#tarukane

T/N: In 1976, during a TV broadcast, they introduced the painting of "Watanabe Kinzaburou's namabuki", an official of the Edo period who was assassinated. After the assassination, Kinzaburou's head was exposed in Kyoto and the painting depicting his decapitated head is still at the Shodenji Temple. After the program was broadcast, the TV station received a large number of calls from the viewers claiming to have seen Kinzaburou's eyes opening and moving during the program. Although the truth afterwards was thought to be a fly that happened to rest on Kinzaburou's eye, the horror story is still circulating in Japan today. The moment remains in recorded video, but the truth is unknown. It is said to be the anger of Kinzaburou, who was exposed not only to many people in Kyoto at that time, but also in modern times.

"Namakubi" roughly translates to "freshly severed head". It has its origin in the warrior class of Feudal Japan. When a samurai lost a battle, it was a tradition for the opposing team to gather his severed head and present it to their ruler, considered an act of respect to a fellow warrior. The Namakubi tattoo, widely known worldwide, is exactly the image of a severed head.

➤  Shounen Jump Autumn Special (November 6, 1991)

*Not related to the the regular WSJ magazine, but a Yu Yu Hakusho poster was released in the appendix of the SJ Autumn Special. This illustration was later used as the cover of volume 5, released on March 10th 1992. Togashi didn't comment in the TOC of this seasonal special issue.

The chinese characters written on the wall means something like “All is vanity” and “To the end of time” (色即是空 & 尽未来際). They are Buddhist philosophies, so it's hard to accurately translate them. Even Togashi mentions in the Artbook (2005) having no idea what the writing by Yusuke means.*

➤ Weekly Shounen Jump N°48 (November 18, 1991)

★ Chapter 47. "The Black Book Club!!" (B・B・C！！, Burakku Bukku Kurabu!!)

Table of Contents:  

"There are villains that are fun to draw and villains that are fun to imagine. The former are the Toguro brothers and the latter is Tarukane." - Yoshihiro

🇯🇵 描いてて楽しい悪役と考えてて楽しい悪役がいる。前者は戸愚呂兄弟で後者は垂金だ。〈義博〉

➤ Weekly Shounen Jump N°49 (November 25, 1991)

★ Chapter 48. "Next Up: The Ogre Triad!!" (三鬼衆登場！！, Sanki Shū Ttōjō!!)

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"The workplace and my private room are finally separated. I'm happy to be able to sleep on a futon for the first time in about half a year." - Yoshihiro

🇯🇵 仕事場と私生活の部屋とが、ようやく別れた。半年ぶり位に布団で寝れそうでうれしい。〈義博〉

➤ Weekly Shounen Jump N°50 (December 2, 1991)

★ Chapter 49. "The Last Gamble!!" (最後の賭け！！, Saigo no Kake!!)

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"The new workplace is very close to the station. Just the thought of more variety in food cheers me up." - Yoshihiro

🇯🇵 新しい仕事場は駅にすごく近い。食い物のバラエティが増えると思うだけで元気が出る。〈義博〉

T/N: Kunio Ajino mentions in "Sensei Hakusho" that Omori and he only moved in with their things on April 1992. Probably, Togashi moved first with all the work supplies and the assistants only brought their stuff later, when the new workplace was ready for use. Ajino also says that when they arrived in the new studio, everything had already been settled and arranged.

➤ Weekly Shounen Jump N°51 (December 9, 1991)

★ Chapter 50. "The Final Battle: Two on Two!!" (決戦・２対２！！, Kessen - Ni Tai Ni!!)

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"As the weather gets colder, last year's nightmare comes back. Low back pain is really painful. Let's all pay attention to the posture." - Yoshihiro

🇯🇵 寒さが厳しくなってくると去年の悪夢が蘇る。腰痛は本当に辛い。皆も姿勢に注意しよう〈義博〉

➤ Weekly Shounen Jump N°52 (December 16, 1991)

★ Chapter 51. "I Must Get Stronger!!" (強くなりたい！！, Tsuyoku Naritai!!)

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"A powerful alarm clock is bad for your heart, so I switched to a soft-sounding one. As a result, when it rings, I don't notice it." - Yoshihiro

🇯🇵  強力な目ざまし時計は心臓に悪いのでソフトな音のやつに変えたら、鳴っても気づかない〈義博〉

1992

➤Weekly Shounen Jump N°1・2 (January 1, 1992)  

★ Chapter 52 (Colored). "The Dark Tournament Begins!!" (暗黒武術会開幕！！, Ankoku Bujutsu Kai Kaimaku!!)

*Commemoration of the 1st Anniversary of the series! They were  announcing the voting for the 1st Yu Yu Hakusho Character Popularity Poll. 12 applicants were selected by lottery to win a Yu Yu Hakusho Walkman Aiwa Auto Reverse. The results and winners were announced in the WSJ N°11 1992, chapter 60.*

Yusuke: “I’ll win this contest”

Kuwabara: “I'm thinking of a comment for first place”

Hiei: “I don’t care”

Kurama: “Then, let’s get to the the main story”

*Part-color chapter with the lead pages in full color.*

*This issue also brings the results of the 80th H☆S Award. Togashi was the judge of this edition.*

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"Denki Groove's All Night Japan is interesting. The album "UFO" is also great. Recommended for those who want to perceive something peculiar." - Yoshihiro

🇯🇵 電気グルーヴのANN (オールナイトニッポン) が面白い。A『UFO』も最高。妙な臭いかぎたい人におすすめ。〈義博〉

T/N: Denki Groove is a Japanese techno/electro music group founded in 1989. One of their members, Pierre Taki, had his name written on Kuwabara's energetic drink, in Chapter 53. Read about: Kazuma Kuwabara and Pierre Taki Energy Drink.

Denki Groove's "All Night Japan" was a radio program they hosted from 1991-1994. The album UFO was released in November 1991.

➤Weekly Shounen Jump N°3・4 (January 13, 1992)

★ Chapter 53. "The First Opponents!!" (最初の敵！！, Saisho no Teki!!)

*Main heroes on the cover! Commemorative issue that celebrated 6.18 million copies in circulation. It also comes with a sports calendar. To know more about this edition and the Golden Age, check this post.*

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"The morning and evening skies are beautiful, it seems to be the influence of the volcanic ash. Is it just me who finds anomalies and destruction beautiful?" - Yoshihiro

🇯🇵  朝夕の空がきれいだ火山灰の影響らしい。異常や破滅が美しいと思うのは私だけか? 〈義博〉

➤Weekly Shounen Jump N°5 (January 20, 1992)

★ Chapter 54. "The Vanguard Battle Begins!!" (先鋒戦開始！！, Senpō-sen Kaishi!!)

*'92 New Year issue. All mangakas, including Togashi, as space pirates.*

*This issue also comes with a poster called “Where’s the hero?”. You have to find all jump heroes from that time. Yusuke is dresses as a matador.*

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"There are more and more electrical appliances in the workplace and not enough outlets. I don't know which one is which due to the octopus wiring." - Yoshihiro

🇯🇵 仕事場に電気製品が増えてコンセントが足りない。タコ足でどれがどれだか分らん。〈義博〉

➤Weekly Shounen Jump N°6 (January 27, 1992)  

★ Chapter 55. "The Secret of Devil Yo-Yos!!" (秘技・魔妖妖！！, Higi - Debiru Yōyō!!)

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"I'm late, but congratulations on the 1st anniversary. Thanks to everyone's support. Thank you." - Yoshihiro

🇯🇵 遅くなりましたが、めでたく1周年突破。皆さんの応援のおかげです。ありがとう。〈義博〉

T/N: Yu Yu Hakusho debuted in the Weekly Shounen Jump N°51, on November 20th 1990.

*On June 10, 1992, Volume 6 (Chapters 46 to 55) was published!*

▼ Togashi's comment from the dust jacket of volume 6. Translation by VIZ Media.