Manga ga suki desu ka? Do you like Japanese comics?

If you’re not too familiar with this word, well you should be. Especially if you’re a parent and you want to keep up with what kids today are reading. When I did a google search on “manga,” over 11 million sites popped up. So, I’ve had a hard time picking and choosing what’s best, so I’ll have something useful for you.

When I lived in Japan, I was swept away by the cultural phenomenon of reading manga. These comic books were everywhere. Since I commuted by train, I was fascinated to see so many fellow passengers deeply engrossed in a comic book. People of all ages, even men in business suits. And every train station had at least one kiosk that sold snacks, electronic gadgets, and comic books.

Since over 99% of Japan’s population is literate, most people are avid readers (unlike America — I read that 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year! See this for statistics.) I feel like much of comic’s popularity (among older readers) has to do with the transportation system in Japan — I mean, you have to do something while you ride a train! In America, we’re in cars most of the time, so we listen to the radio more. Here’s a quick statistic on sales of manga:

The total sales of published material in Japan (including magazines and books but excluding newspapers) is two trillion five-hundred billion yen, of which manga sales account for nearly one quarter. Given a total Japanese population of 120 million, we can calculate that the average Japanese spends approximately 2,000 yen per year on manga in one form or another.

I was curious to see what my Japanese students were reading, so I flipped through a few — but I had no idea which ones were popular, and to be honest, there were some that were violent and vulgar, much the same as an R-rated movie would appear in print. Here’s a great series of articles about manga that shows you what a Tokyo comics store looks like. Shelves and shelves and SHELVES! And here’s an even more in-depth set of articles from Wikipedia.

When I discovered the university I was attending offered a course called “Manga” I jumped at the chance to take it. My professor was an expert on this topic, and we studied the most popular comics and anime (cartoons). It was an amazing way for me to study Japanese pop culture because it was as up-to-date as possible. Since our class was composed of both American and Japanese students, I learned so much from my Japanese peers. It was also a GREAT way for me to connect with the children I taught because I could use some of the characters in my English lessons, and they thought I was a pretty cool teacher (it made them laugh!). Here’s a site that shows some popular anime, including one of my favorites, Totoro.

I did some temp work at one point at a Japanese comics magazine called Mangajin. It’s funny — my husband still wears my Mangajin T-shirt a lot. If you go to their site, you can read several great articles about Japanese culture.

Now here is the most interesting news: Christian publisher Barbour is releasing the first of a new series of comics for girls. The genre: inspirational manga. The title is Serenity. I’ve sent a request to review this comic, so I’ll be sure to tell you what I think about it here if they send me a copy. Here’s a source for articles on Christian comic books.

INSPIRATIONAL MANGA!!! Can you believe it?

Now this is something I can get really excited about. Japanese culture, tween girls who are reading instead of watching TV, and Christianity! Personally, I think kids learn more from reading fiction than non-fiction. It’s showing instead of telling. If a manga can be used to capture kids’ attention and deepen their faith, THAT’s a wonderful thing. Thank you, Barbour. If I were from California, I would say you ROCK!

P.S. [11/11/05 — Since posting this, I’ve gotten two emails from Barbour’s marketing dept. My review copy of Serenity is on the way. Can’t wait!]

So…what do you think?