Forum - View topicHow Did Manga Become So Popular in Japan?
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mysterio21th
Posts: 4 |
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Hey guys,
So, I'm writing a paper on the development of manga and anime following WW2 to today. I also want to talk about why manga became so popular in Japan in the 1990s. However, I'm struggling to find good sources and info Do you guys know of any particular examples to answer my two questions? P.S. If possible include sources 
Thanks! |
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Tamaria
 Posts: 1512 Location: De Achterhoek |
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Have you tried Dreamland Japan - Writings on Modern Manga by Frederick L. Schodt? It covers the Japanese manga industry from the late eighties- early nineties.
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mysterio21th
Posts: 4 |
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Looks pretty good, just ordered it from amazon. Thanks! |
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Mushi-Man
 Posts: 1537 Location: KCMO |
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I always thought that the popularity of manga in Japan was primarily due to how cheap and easy it is to get. Unlike anime dvds, which are infamously expensive in Japan, manga is only a few dollars. So in the end reading manga is allot easier on the wallet than buying every single anime dvd. Also it seems like manga is just easier and more convenient than anime. The typical example that people give to show how common manga is in Japan is pointing out that it's very common to see people reading manga on the train of their way to school or work. In other words, manga is something that the average person can just crack open anytime they have nothing to do. But anime requires you to have a dvd player or a tv and is best enjoyed at home, so it's really just more cumbersome.
P.S.: This is all just based off what I've heard in the past and I have no first hand knowledge of this. |
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littlegreenwolf
 Posts: 4796 Location: Seattle, WA |
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In various art history (some of those are comic history classes as well) classes I've taken sometimes my books or professors try to address it.
From what I've gathered, personally, Japan has always been a visually, artistic culture compared to other countries. They developed their own methods of mass producing art much earlier than any other culture, so art (in this case ukiyo-e/or various woodblock prints prints) were available to the masses, even the poorest of class, at cheap prices. Those ukiyo-e prints have as subjects everything from court scenes, actors, to religious figures, but at some point some artist began to make sequential stories from some of them. One of the earliest examples of this is Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga, emakimono, or scrolls featuring various animals doing various play and ceremonies. And from then we can look at other art works in Japans history, from emakimono to back to woodblock prints, where the Japanese began adding poetry or written stories to those images. The evolution of illustrated stories to actual comics was only natural, and pushed some time before WW2 when Western comics began popping up in Japan. (Tezuka credits Popeye comics for his influence if I recall correcntly). The fact is, if you look at it, a culture going from visual poetry and other pictures telling stories, and having it not just be something for children (the West gave it up for children's books a could decades or so back) made the acceptance of comics for all ages in Japan an easy thing. But this is all pretty much pre-WW2 stuff. May I suggest though a good starting point for the manga industry at WW2 would be mentioning some of the propaghanda miltary manga they had. One of the books in my collection, Comic Art Propaganda by Fredrik Stromberg features some really cool examples of books that used to be handed out. Look up Norakuro for example. |
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FaytLein
 Posts: 1260 Location: Williamsburg, VA |
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You might want to also mention that Japan is a very travel oriented society, and back before Ipads and PSP and Gameboys, books and newspapers were the major source of entertainment while traveling. Definately could have helped propagate the fanbase of manga.
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TitanXL
 Posts: 4036 |
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And like books, there's a wide range of genres for people to choose from, and it's not limited to a single male adult demographic.. most manga readers are actually women last I checked. Manga also encompassed over half of all of Japan's printed media, last I checked. No real hard data on those two off hand I can provide, but maybe worth googling or whatever. You might also mention conventions like Comiket and doujinshi (fan manga) in general, as well as anthology magazines like Weekly Shounen Jump helping it become very accessible, and perhaps manga cafes.
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mysterio21th
Posts: 4 |
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thanks for all the help guys!
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vashna
Posts: 1313 |
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If it isn't rude to bring up an example prior to the 20th century, are you familiar with the historical magazine Puck? It was a comic book printed for a very long time in the United Kingdom. It featured dark humor and political satire.
In the 19th century, I understand that there was a version called 'The Japan Puck' that was sort of based on the British version. I've seen one image of it in a history book, and the cover featured a drawing of a man in a kimono. Said drawing almost reminded me of something that might have been associated with The Mikado by Gilbert & Sullivan. With the connection to a British product, that may have been intentional. |
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mimipon
Posts: 9 |
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Manga was already popular in Japan in 1960s. If you could have read Japanese, there were various books of manga history you could find though.
Anime become popular in Japan in late 1970s. It was only a kid's thing before that then become popular among teens in late 70s. Then there were Yaoi fangirl and loli fan boys in 80s already. You can easily find 70s anime openings on youtube and you would see how anime styles has changed since 60s there, but unlike anime, it is hard to find how manga styles has changed from 60s. Until 80s all shonen manga were very manly like Ashita no Joe and Ashta no Joe was a very popular shonen manga in Japan in late 60s to early 70s. Ashta no Joe manga http://matome.naver.jp/odai/2125290012536990627/2125290744649710425 Ai to Makoto- another big hit shonen manga in 70s http://decadeview.ocnk.net/zoom/4863 Compare to those days more less shonem manga are manly now adays, especilally after Adachi Mituru become popular in 80s. Some how many boys loved his style and he also had female fans since he was a former male shojo manga artist who moved to shonen manga magazine . Well,if I was really good at writting English,I could have told you how manga become popular in Japan though. Since English is not my language I feel lazy to do so..I still don't know where to put punctuatins correctly.. |
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GeminiDS85
Posts: 391 |
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Are you still in the process of conducting your research? I would rather not write a whole explanation if it would be useless at this point. Nevertheless, I can certainly guide you in the right direction if you still need assistance. For starters, has you research led you to kamishibai yet? |
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mysterio21th
Posts: 4 |
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I finished my paper 10 days ago, thanks for all the help everyone! GeminiDS85 sorry I didn't post a reply earlier, but I have been very busy studying for exams. Yeah I found some stuff about kamishibai, and talked about in my paper.
Thanks to everyone who helped me out! |
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