Nihon Sun » manga

Kyoto International Manga Museum

Shane Sakata — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 06:00:55 +0000

Since the latter half of the 1980s, Japanese manga and animation have been increasing popular around the world. More and more works are translated into other languages, manga is used in advertising materials and in the creation of public relations campaigns and has even made it’s way into Japanese textbooks. Manga is even being used by many students trying to improve their Japanese reading comprehension.

Since 2006, the Kyoto International Manga Museum, in cooperation with Kyoto City and Kyoto Seika University, has taken on the role as conservator and archivist for the vast amount of manga material created every year as well as historical works of the genre.

In 2009, the museum is holding two special

Sugiura Manga Festa

Active in the world of children’s manga from the 1930s through until the 1950s, Sugiura Shigeru was an influential manga artist. To celebrate 100 yeasrs since his birth the Kyoto International Manga Museum will hold a commemorative exhibition from March 20th – May 24, 2009.

“His well rounded works were known for a cheerful painting style and original fantastic ideas as well as contrary elements such as the depiction of an otherwise classical world through the use of puns and comic stories, and a surreal literary style reminiscent of the Spanish painter Salvador Dali.”

The exhibit includes original artwork, publications, supplementary volumes and books introducing the works of Shigeru Sugiura and you can even become on of his characters in “Photography Corner” where disguises and faceless cardboard cutouts can be tried on for size.

Kyoto Manga Festa 2009

Running simultaneously with the Sugiura Manga Festa, the Kyoto Manga Festa 2009 offers visitors a number of different events that bring the art of manga together with caligraphy and music through a number of special events.

Manga concerts

On Saturday April 11, 2009 from 2-4PM, experience the music of Nodame Cantabile from the animated television series performed on the piano by Iku Miwa. (Nodame Video – YouTube Link)

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On Sunday, May 3, 2009 hear anime songs perfromed by the Kyoto Northern Hills Wind Instrument Orchestra at 2 & 4PM.

Manga Club

Monday, May 4, 2009 finds the Kyoto International Manga Museum transformed into a club space when a painter and a DJ collaborate to create a fusion of art and sound inspired by manga.

For more information on these events, admission and access information, visit the Kyoto International Manga Museum website.

Image Credit: Flickr, Kyoto Manga Museum

Astro Boy at the Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum

Shane Sakata — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 11:00:41 +0000

Osamu Tezuku created one of the world’s best know manga and anime characters in Astro Boy during the 1950′s. In Japan Astro Boy is better know as Tetsuwan Atomu, or Mighty Atom in English. Astro Boy was serialized in Japan from 1952-1968 and was the first domestically-produced animated program on Japanese television when it debuted in 1963. Astro Boy also became the first Japanese animation to be shown on US television with 104 of the 193 episodes shown between 1963 and 1966 on NBC.

Today you can visit the Osamu Tezuku Manga Museum in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture (about an hour by train from Kyoto – Osamu Tezuku Manga Museum Access Map ) to learn more about Osamu Tezuku, the artist, and his creations including Astro Boy, Black Jack, Kimba the White Lion Princess Night and Phoenix, his life’s work.

Known as the “Father of Anime” or “Japan’s Walt Disney”, Osamu Tezuku lived and worked in Takarazuka for 20 years – he was born in 1926 in Osaka and died at the age of 1989 in Tokyo. The museum was inaugurated in 1994 to honor his life and work.

The Osamu Tezuku Manga Museum is open Thursday through Tuesday from 9:30AM to 5PM (last admission at 4:30PM). Admission is Y500 for adults, Y300 for Junior and senior high school students and Y100 for elementary school students. Those over the age of 60 or with disabilities are admitted free.

For those of you that love Astro Boy who can’t get to the Osamu Tezuku Manga Museum in Japan you will be sure to look forward to an animated feature film titled Astro Boy that is slated for release by Imagi Studios in October of 2009 starring Academy Award®-winning actor Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell, Nathan Lane, Bill Nighy, Eugene Levy and Donald Sutherland, with Freddie Highmore in the title role.

Enjoy the Astro Boy move trailer below and learn more about companion Astro Boy video games slated for release around the same time.

Image Credit: Flickr, Astro Boy, Kyoto Video: YouTube, Astro Boy (2009) HD Teaser Trailer

Nihon on the Net – 12/7/08

Shane Sakata — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 06:00:54 +0000

If you are planning a trip to Tokyo for the holidays take note: Tsukuji Fish Market will ban spectators at the morning auctions from December 15th to January 17th.

Oscar winning animator, Hayao Miyazaki, of “Ponyo On the Cliff by the Sea” fame, spoke at a rare press conference in Tokyo at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Japan on November 20th. Tony McNicol took some great photos and The Japan Times reports on the event in an article titled “An audience with Miyazaki, Japan’s animation king”

Japanese is home to 4 of the top 10 spots in a survey by London-based ECA International ranking the most expensive places for expatriates to live. Tokyo comes in at #2 followed by Yokohama, Nagoya and Kobe.

Visit the Universal Citywalk Osaka, the shopping and entertainment complex adjacent to Universal Studios Japan to check out Japanese robot guides in action.

The Japanese are fascinated by blood types – what does your blood type say about you? I’m apparently a strong-willed samurai.

An American chef, Ivan Orkin from New York, served delicious homemade Ramen out of his restaurant, Ivan Ramen, in Tokyo’s Setagaya ward. I wonder if he will ever make and serve Ramen burgers? Enjoy this video from Reuters:

To find more great articles about Japan consider joining me at JapanSoc. If it’s about Japan and it’s being read or talked about on the internet you will find it at JapanSoc.

Nihon on the Net – 11/30/08

Shane Sakata — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 06:00:27 +0000

Mitsubishi, the world’s biggest tuna trader, imports the bulk of bluefin tuna caught in the Mediterranean to Japan. As stocks of this staple of the sushi platter become scarcer some groups believe that there is a need to impose a partial moratorium on bluefin tuna fishing and to drastically reduce catch quotas.

Is Harajuku in peril? International brand-name chain stores like H&M and Gap are stating to take over the streets of Harajuku and even Elvis is being forced to relocate due to increased rental rates in the area.

If you look at historical maps of Tokyo you would learn that Roppongi Hills is where the warriors of the Ako clan committed ritual suicide and that the Odaiba area was part of the ocean. Historical maps of old Edo help people find find pockets of old Edo in the streets of modern Tokyo (found via Japan Probe).

Looking for Christmas gifts in Tokyo? The Japan Times offers a guide to the shops of Asakusabashi, part Tokyo’s Shitamachi (old downtown). Also do some research on Japan inspired gifts for foodies that can be put together with a quick trip to the local supermarket or department store.

A Japanese salary man recently published a poem stating that “The only warmth in my life is the toilet seat.” Check out some of the cool features that today’s Japanese toilets have to offer.

Makoto Yoshitani is the creator of a popular manga “Otaryman”. The comic book title is a apt combination of two words: “salaryman,” the internationally known word for a loyal, hardworking company employee, and “otaku,” a word often used to describe a socially inept young man obsessed with comics, computers, or anime. In “Otaryman”, Yoshitani chronicles the existence of an office-bound young man who has zero social skills.

Do you ever wonder what it’s really like to live in Japan? In mid-December The Nihon Sun will feature the views that many residents have from there office or residence. Find out how you have your view feature in the article Looking Out My Window in Japan and join us – it’ won’t be all temples and shrines, that’s for sure!

To find more great articles about Japan consider joining me at JapanSoc. If it’s about Japan and it’s being read or talked about on the internet you will find it at JapanSoc.

Image Credit: Flickr, Priceless & JapanSoc logo used with permission