Peter Parker is a teenager making his way in the world, balancing the hardships of studying along with the harrowing weight of the world on his shoulders, whilst ensuring his identity is known to very few in order to keep the people he loves safe. In every way, Spider-Man is synonymous to most who live in this world, because he does not only deal with his superhero endeavours, he also has to live with the struggles of being a prepubescent male, without a father figure in his life and ridiculed for being different in his education — and these are all real world issues that all of us may have experienced one time or another. This is the Spider-Man Stan Lee created, but during the 70’s, the whole character was dramatically changed to fit an audience which even Stan the Man couldn’t reach — Japan.
Japan is in many ways, the furthest from America as you can get — and I don’t just mean geographically. The culture, the cuisine, the architecture — the language. Compare these to the very same you’d find in the States and it’s no surprise that when it came to entertainment, they varied massively. The typical American child at the time would have loved reading any comic put to them and were spoilt for choice, with the vast array of characters available — whereas the average Japanese child would stay clear of comics and instead opt for manga. Gene Pelc, a Marvel Representative from 1976–1985, noticed this and pitched to Stan Lee and co a way for them to enter this market — a television show catered specifically for the Japan audience.
“Marvel said limit the territory to Japan — this does not leave the country”
Gene Pelc on what Marvel said to him about his proposed idea
The show used the Spider-Man named, but in terms of relations to the Stan Lee’s character, this was as far as connections went. Toei Company, the producers of the show, decided that they would be true to their roots and instead of classic Spider-Man villains, they would create their own from Japanese folklore. Pelc makes note of the fact the city is hardly ever shown and this was because of the shoestring budget Toei had at their disposal. The man who pitched the initial idea to Marvel knew it was a massive gamble and understood the stakes when Stan Lee flew to Japan to watch the show. To everyone’s dismay, Stan Lee loved it and it subsequently became a hit in Japan, sweeping aside the competition and with it — Marvel had entered Japan.
