Usagi Yojimbo DojoBoard

How much time's passed in-universe since Usagi's wanderings began It has to have been years. The characters mention time's passed in the comic, but I never really get a sense of just how much of it has. Is there an official series timeline

That's something I've been working on and need to update... http://www.usagiyojimbo.com/forum3/view ... f=2&t=8883

I began calculating the timeline beginning with Saga Book 4. I know, I know, odd place to start, but that's just the way it turned out when I started thinking about it. I just finished Saga Book 8 and plan to go back to re-read the Fantagraphics books and up to Saga Book 4.

The short of it: While over 30 years have passed for us readers... much less time has passed for Usagi - only a few years for the main story arcs by my best guess.

I'm aware these types of "literary tools" (don't know what else to call them) weren't common in '80s comics, but it wouldn't hurt to have an official map and timeline

Us fans can work on it (with Stan's blessing of course and if he doesn't mind). I really like the thread you posted and it would be great to have us all hash it out.
I know Stan probably didn't have a roadmap in mind, or any fixed timeline for the events in these comics, or even an official date of how long it's been since Usagi started wondering, but I remember Tolkein went back and re-edited the Hobbit to fit it with LOTR and Usagi's Japan is clearly not the real Japan. It would be a fun excercise and it would make the world feel "real".

I'm aware that at worst a couple of years have passed in-universe. It would be wierd if it's only been a couple of months especially with all the friends he's made and people he's met. It's been 35 years, but the comic is nowhere near as gargantuan as a manga running for the same time since it's published monthly (manga is published weekly). I remember One Piece is around 900 chapters now and there's actually a proper map and timeline inspite of how cartoony it is. I think around 4 year in-univere have passed since the manga began 21 years ago (no spoiler. i haven't caught up in a long time)

TankPolice96 wrote:
I'm aware that at worst a couple of years have passed in-universe. It would be wierd if it's only been a couple of months especially with all the friends he's made and people he's met.

Well, we don't have to worry about it being weird. There have been at least a few complete cycles of seasons, so we're definitely talking about a timescale of years, not months.

jabba359 wrote:

TankPolice96 wrote:
I'm aware that at worst a couple of years have passed in-universe. It would be wierd if it's only been a couple of months especially with all the friends he's made and people he's met.

Well, we don't have to worry about it being weird. There have been at least a few complete cycles of seasons, so we're definitely talking about a timescale of years, not months.

Yes, it's certainly a few years at least.

It's not always easy to witness time passing, but there are clues to look for - planting and harvesting of rice, autumn leaves, the "rainy" season, availability of certain fruits and veggies... all these can help piece together the passage of time. Of course the dialog often tells us something too - most recently in my readings, where Usagi mentions his "arm is still weak from his injury" - several stories have taken place between the injury and the comment.

I'll try to update the results of my findings this weekend if time permits.

I feel like we're around a decade of time since Usagi became masterless, with Usagi in his early 20s when he became a ronin and in his early 30s now. I base this only on vague feelings when reading! No real specifics to my reasoning except how many books it took for one year to pass to get to The Duel at Kitanoji and I feel like he's been wandering at least a year or two when the series began.

There's the goblin of Adachi plane conundrum (sorry if I spelt it wrong). Where is it exactly on the timeline? I'm talking about the original and new version. Is the new just an alternative to the old? If so, does it take place back there?

For me, the main reference of how much time has passed is Jotaro's age.Considering that Usagi joined his master just before Jotaro's birth, and that Jotaro is now a teenager, I'd say the whole UY series covers between 10 and 15 years?

He's a teenager in Senso not in the mainlain story. I'm actually not sure how old he's supposed to be in the mainlain story. Wasn't him finding out about Jotaro (and Jotaro being a grown up kid) after he lost his master which is where the series starts. I thought anything before that is a flashback.