Passage V

Japanese Comic Books

When Americans think of comic books, they often think of children's magazines starring Donald Duck and Superman. In Japan, however, comic books are among the most popular art forms, which are being read by almost the entire population.

Japanese comic books, called manga, look in appearance very different then American comics. Whereas most American comics are small magazines. Japanese comics often resemble big-city telephone books, sometimes 600 pages long. They are often published weekly一there are also Korean and Chinese comics—and contain many serialized stories. The most popular stories are collected into permanent books.

Usually, American comic books are mostly about superheroes, a wide variety of stories appear in Japanese comics. There are adventure stories as in the U.S., but they are drawn in a very unique style, unlike anything done in the American stories.

(68) In the U.S., comic books have traditionally been geared to either children or teenage boys, and circulations rarely exceed 300,000. In Japan, therefore, males and females of all ages read comics regularly, and there are comics produced for distinct interests and age groups. Manga can be found in waiting rooms, barber shops, bus stations—almost anywhere. We read on the train by businesspeople on the way to work and by children coming home from school. Circulations can easily soar into the millions. In fact, 27 percent of all books and magazines produced in Japan are comic books. Comic book creators in Japan are superstars comparable to America's most famous music and television stars.

The comics industry is changing in the U.S., becoming much more like that of Japanese comics. New kinds of stories for adults, as well as, children are now being written, and some series are being collected into permanent book format. However, American comics have a long way to go before they reach the level of artistic and cultural acceptance that comics have achieved in Japan.