Manga: An Essential Part of Japanese Adult Life From foreign cultures to parenting issues, manga covers all topics
Would non-Japanese people be surprised if I said I always read a few manga when researching something as a writer?
Manga is an excellent source of essential knowledge and heartfelt compassion. Its topics are as wide-ranging as those of books and documentaries. You may have remembered that, in my articles, I introduced some manga, such as Keiji Nakazawa’s Barefoot Gen, which depicts the horrific experience of the atomic bombing, and Osamu Tezuka’s Buddha, which is about the life of Gautama Siddhārtha.
Of course, typical manga, such as Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball and Naoko Takeuchi’s Sailor Moon, are very popular both in Japan and abroad, but what I read as an adult is not that sort of comic. I usually read manga as a textbook about a lesser-known aspect of society.
In this article, we will explore some of manga’s unique strengths, with examples of actual titles. I have tried to give priority to those available in English as much as possible, but sadly, the selection was very limited. I hope that one day, all these masterpieces will be translated into foreign languages.
Foreign cultures are vividly portrayed
Different clothing and lifestyle are often easier to show as a picture than in words. Photographs and videos are also helpful, but manga has an advantage in that artists can focus on only the necessary parts and rely on memory to draw them.
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✅ An example is the ‘インド夫婦茶碗 (Indian Couple’s Rice Bowls)’, in which a Japanese manga artist exhibits her married life with an Indian man. The author, Rinko Nagami, was fascinated by Indian culture and often visited the country, where she met a man called Sashi, who worked at a hotel in Varanasi. They eventually got married and started to live together in Tokyo. This manga includes the lush scenery and lifestyle in Kerala, where Sashi’s family live, and how the couple bought (and lost) a house in Varanasi.
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