Manga A Brief History

Copyrighted image used under Fair Use in education to teach historical artists and art of Japanese Manga

The word manga translates to “whimsical sketches.” In Japan it represents about 40% of everything published in the country each year.

Manga is read by people of all ages. Some manga is created for specific audiences such as for boys or girls, men or women. It is created in the genre of sports, action-adventure, romance, games, fantasy, history, humor and much more.

Generally, a manga comic is printed in black and white with a color cover and the first 10 pages being in color as well.

The image to the left shows a good book by Paul Gravett on the history of manga.

Shōjo manga was manga produced for females between the ages of 10-17. About 1903 these began to appear in magazines for girls in Japan.

The image to the left is an example of one of these from 1910. The English translations you see are from and American, Matt Thorn, who owns a copy of the original magazine. The image is in the Public Domain. The magazine was called “Shojo” which means “girl.”

Remember, manga reads from right to left, top to bottom, very different from how we read in the United States. Follow the Roman numerals for the correct order.

Although manga most frequently refers to the comics created in Japan, there is also a large production in Taiwan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, France and America.

The influence of Japanese manga has been strong throughout much of the world.

In Taiwan, actors often act out plays based on manga characters. Puppets are made of the characters in manga as well. In Japan, the manga characters are often made into anime and played on television or in theaters. Anime is basically an animation.

Contemporary Taiwanese Manga made into TV drama series. Copyrighted image used under Fair Use in education to teach historical artists and art of Manga

Actors in Taiwan portraying manga characters

In 12th century Japan there was a set of four scrolls made called Chōjū-giga

scrolls. Some consider these

scrolls to be the forerunner to manga

comics. The four scrolls told a story, much like a comic book does today.

Oddly, these whimsical pictures

were owned by a temple in Kyoto,

Japan. This image is in the public domain. It is one of the four scrolls called Choju-giga from the 12th century

Credited as being one of the first “manga” artists, Santo

Kyoden lived in the 18th century. Below is the cover

of one of his books published in 1790. To the right is a

drawing of Santo Kyoden.

Both of the images shown here are Public Domain images

This is an early manga by the artist/writer Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) Public domain image

In the Edo period of Japan (Tokyugawa – 1603-1868), the

city now called Tokyo had a subculture called “The Floating

World.” The Floating World existed in a pleasure seeking

and unregulated (by restrictions in other parts of the country) urban area of the city

(as well as in a few other cities in Japan).

Ukiyo-e (woodblock pictures of the Floating World) became popular and are famous today.

Woodblock prints allow more than one copy of the art to be

produced. This is also a forerunner to manga.

Public domain image of a woodblock print from 1794. Artist: Tōshūsai Sharaku

Although the word manga (as we translate it from Japanese) has long been

used in Japan, it hasn’t always meant exactly the same thing we think of as manga. It simply meant whimsical or

impromptu sketches or pictures.

Now, we think of manga as a particular type of comic book originating from

Japan. The earliest manga appear to be from the 18th century.

It wasn’t until after World War II that manga began to take on the form it has

come to be in the late 20th century and on into the 21st century.

Historians disagree as to the origination of manga. The images in this

presentation help to allow you to see for yourself what these art prints looked like

decades and even centuries ago.

Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) Public domain image

1960Copyrighted images used under Fair Use in education to teach historical artists and art of Japanese Manga

During the US occupation of Japan, the US had censorship policies against military images, but Manga was not covered in that censorship. It was also around this time that Japan had a policy that prohibited censorship of all kinds.

Because of this, art, including Manga, began to flourish. Two Manga artists in particular rose to fame with the Manga series Astro Boy, (Mighty Atom in Japan) by Osamu Tezuka, and Machiko Hasegawa's Sazae-san.

Astro Boy came into

existence in 1952 and

continues to be popular in

Japan. The character

began as an icon of world

peace. He was a robot created

to replace a lost son.

Copyrighted image used under Fair Use in education to show historical artists and art of Japanese Manga

Sazae-san is a woman left homeless by the war, successfully struggling to

survive.

The character first appeared in 1946. Sazae was a liberated woman rejecting

traditional Japanese society, and later became a feminist.

The series was comical and continued until the artist, Machiko Hasegawa,

retired in 1974. Machiko was one of the first female manga artists.

Characters in the manga were named after sea life. Sazae means turban

shell, (a sea snail)

A television series of Sazae-san still runs in Japan in 2009

One of the first manga to be published in English and become popular in the United States (around 1980) was Keiji Nakazawa’s Barefoot Gen.

The story is about a young boy in Hiroshima who survived the bombing and went on to deal with the aftermath.

The author/artist who created Barefoot Gen based the story on his own experience as a survivor in the bombing of Hiroshima.

Another manga translated in

English in the 1980’s was Lone Wolf and Cub by

writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki

Kojima. It was released in North

America in 1987. It is a samurai tale.

Copyrighted images used under Fair Use in education to show historical artists and art of Japanese Manga

Copyrighted image used under Fair Use in education to show historical artists and art of Japanese Manga. This image is from an art exhibit at Urbis in the UK during 2008

At one time, manga and other forms of comics and comic strips were not considered art.

Around 1970, or perhaps a little earlier, debate began in the art world about considering comics as a true form of fine art.

Even today there are still many people who do not give credibility to manga and comics as fine art.

But generally speaking, manga and comics are gaining a reputation as being art and their value as art collector’s items increases.

In Japan, Kyoto Seika University, Faculty of Manga teaches artists the skill of manga.

In 2007 the enrollment was 565 students with 45 being from overseas.

169 of these students were male and 396 were female.

Students can earn bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees in this art.

The photograph to the left is from their website and shows students working on the creation of manga.

A career as a manga artist is a difficult one to enter because the competition is great.

Most of the universities that teach Manga are in Japan and classes are taught in Japanese.

Being a good artist is not enough. Character development and storyline are just as important.

To be a good manga artist takes hard work and determination.

It is certainly not impossible to become a manga artist in America, but if you are interested you can plan on a busy life and fast paced career.

Copyrighted image used under Fair Use in education to teach historical artists and art of Japanese Manga. Book by Nicole and Danielle Pelham