Nintendo family office invests in indie Japan film studio K2 Pictures
K2 Pictures said Tuesday that it entered into a capital partnership with the Yamauchi No. 10 Family Office.
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5 hours ago
Why Do Adults Read Comics in Japan? How Pioneering Weekly Magazines Transformed the Image of Manga
When visiting other parts of Asia or the United States during the mid-2000s, I was constantly asked the same question: 'Why do adults read comics in Japan?' Back then, there was growing interest in Japanese anime in the United States thanks to cable television, and in Asia and Europe manga and anime were gaining popularity among older teenagers. Nonetheless, in most countries comics were still deemed as being mainly for children. I would always explain that this had also been the case in Japan until the 1960s, but that the public perception of manga had changed dramatically with the launch of dedicated weekly magazines. Breaking the Teenage Wall Japan's first weekly magazines targeting older boys ( shōnen ) were Kōdansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine and Shōgakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday , both of which launched on March 17, 1959. The first editions of Weekly Shōnen Magazine (left), priced at ¥30, and Weekly Shōnen Sunday , which came with three supplements, at ¥40. (© Nakano Haruyuki) Sunday featured five manga series, including Tezuka Osamu's detective story Dr. Thrill , while Magazine carried eight, including the giant robot series Take Off, No. 13 by Takano Yoshiteru. The magazines also included fiction, baseball and sumō news, explanatory diagrams of trains and airplanes, and articles about amateur radio—all the rage among junior high school boys at the time—but their main focus was manga. With television regimenting entertainment into a set schedule of programs and adult weekly magazines already enjoying popularity, the stage was set at the end of the 1950s for Kōdansha and Shōgakukan to battle it out for the boys' magazine market. The two publishers' primary goal was to keep male members of the baby boom generation—those born from 1947 to 1949 and who had enjoyed monthly manga magazines through elementary school—as loyal readers into junior high school and beyond. In 1960, the older boomers turned 13 and entered junior high school, which up to then was considered the point when younger readers were expected to trade manga for more mature material. Japanese adults at the time considered comics as a distraction from studies, and an adolescent who persisted in reading manga ran the risk of being marked a problem student. A 1957 reading survey by major daily newspaper Mainichi Shimbun found that the three most popular magazines for sixth-grade boys were monthly magazines aimed at children, all of which prominently featured manga. By comparison, the three most popular magazines for boys in the third year of junior high school were education focused with almost no manga, while high schoolers favored magazines for adults. However, the launch of Magazine and Sunday were a fantastic success, with Kōdansha and Shōgakukan creating a new cohort of teenage manga readers as circulation of the publications grew over the subsequent years. Students read manga magazines in a convenience store in the early 2000s. (© Jiji) Magazines for older girls ( shōjo ) likewise changed to the weekly model. In 1962, Kōdansha launched the weekly Shōjo Friend as a successor to its monthly Shōjo Club , while Shūeisha started up Weekly Margaret in 1963 to replace its monthly Shōjo Book . Magazines for younger children also followed suit. Changing Manga Scene The shift toward weekly publication of magazines for teenagers helped transform the manga genre. Writers were influenced by Tezuka Osamu's championing of narrative-based 'story manga,' leading to a flourishing of wide-ranging settings and different worldviews. It also opened the way for the emergence of a new generation of manga creators as many veterans of the industry struggled to adapt to punishing weekly deadlines and left magazines to work on book-based educational manga. Among the new young stars were Ishinomori Shōtarō (known especially for Cyborg 009 ), Fujiko F. Fujio ( Doraemon ), Fujiko Fujio A. ( Ninja Hattori-kun ), Akatsuka Fujio ( Osomatsu-kun ), Yokoyama Mitsuteru ( Tetsujin 28 ), and Chiba Tetsuya ( Ashita no Joe ). Male creators were common for girls' monthly magazines, but the start of weeklies saw the rise of female mangaka like Mizuno Hideko ( White Troika ), Maki Miyako ( Maki's Whistle ), and Hosokawa Chieko ( Crest of the Royal Family ). A selection of postwar manga showing the influence of an emphasis on story. (© Manganight Books) Another transformation came with the establishment of production systems and their tight schedules. To meet rigid deadlines, many leading manga creators took to hiring assistants to help with various aspects of production, such as inking and creating backgrounds. A third change was the emergence of specialist writers. In the monthly age, almost all mangaka thought up the stories, as well as providing dialogue and art. With weeklies, however, the tight deadlines brought a need for people who could focus specifically on writing stories and dialogue. The Magazine editorial department went on the lookout for writers it could use, tapping young science fiction and mystery authors to handle complex stories. One notable example was Kajiwara Ikki, who would later go on to write the stories for megahits like the baseball manga Star of the Giants (illustrated by Kawasaki Noboru) and boxing comic Ashita no Joe (illustrated by Chiba Tetsuya). Working on manga was previously a side job for authors, but Kajiwara turned it into a profession. Star of the Giants , written by Kajiwara Ikki (left) and Ashita no Joe , written by Kajiwara under the name Takamori Asao. (© Kōdansha) Grittier Stories Manga publishers broke down age-related barriers for adolescents by making their comics more sophisticated, but with the baby boom generation still growing, there was the next wall at age 18 to contend with. To keep people reading manga at university or once they joined the workforce, new efforts were needed. The solution was gekiga , a more serious, cinematic style of manga that was already winning fans among older teenagers who made frequent use of comic rental services. Uchida Masaru, the editor-in-chief of Magazine asked popular creator Saitō Takao (known for Golgo 13 ) to come up with a new series to appeal to readers who were starting to outgrow the publication. Saitō responded with Muyōnosuke , a gritty historical story about a one-eyed rōnin that marked a turning point for the popularity of gekiga . An original picture from Golgo 13 that appeared at an exhibition marking the ninetieth anniversary of the creation held in Toshima, Tokyo. (© Manganight Books) The growing popularity of mangaka like yōkai specialist Mizuki Shigeru ( Gegege no Kitarō ), who made his name through rented gekiga works, and Shirato Sanpei (known for the ninja manga Sasuke ) helped establish gekiga as a social phenomenon. News and Manga In December 1966, Weekly Shōnen Magazine 's circulation hit 1 million and topped 1.5 million three years later. An image developed of university students holding ' Journal in the right hand and Magazine in the left'—in other words, enjoying both the hard news of Asahi Journal and the leading shōnen manga publication. While some adults raised their eyebrows at university students who read manga, without this development, Japan's manga culture would not have emerged as it did. Now that high schoolers and university students were reading Magazine and Sunday , in 1968 Shūeisha launched Weekly Shōnen Jump , targeting elementary and junior high school children. The content of these publications were almost entirely manga, marking the full recognition of the genre of weekly shōnen manga magazines. The previous year, Futabasha had started up Weekly Manga Action aimed at university students and young working adults. By finding teenage readers for manga, Magazine and Sunday laid the foundations for uptake among older generations, turning Japan into 'a strange country where adults read comics.' (Originally published in Japanese on July 10, 2025. Banner photo: Weekly manga magazines are a common sight on the shelves of Japan's bookstores and convenience stores. © Jiji.)
Yomiuri Shimbun
9 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Japanese Firms Set up Vocational Schools in Asia, as Competition Grows with China and South Korea over Workers
BANGKOK — Japanese businesses are increasingly moving to set up Japanese-style vocational schools in Asia in an effort to secure ready workers for their local factories. In recent years, Chinese and South Korean companies have pushed more quickly into Southeast Asia. Amid growing competition with these firms for staff, Japanese companies are rushing to try to retain workers. 'I love the sounds of Japanese car engines. I'd like to work for a Japanese automaker and help out on development,' said a 16-year-old student learning car maintenance at Politeknik Mitra Industri, a vocational school in an industrial park in the suburbs of Jakarta. The industrial park, which is run by Marubeni Corp. and other businesses, houses a total of 385 firms, including many Japanese companies, such as Honda Motor Co. and Denso Corp. About 3,400 students attend the school, which was founded in 2012. The school offers eight courses, including on machinery, the electronics industry and accounting. Of those who graduated between 2015 and 2024, more than 70% got jobs at Japanese companies. 'We want to make a place where students can acquire advanced knowledge and technical skills, so that local youth can become the management for manufacturers,' said Yoshihiro Kobi, an executive at the foundation that manages the school and a former Marubeni employee. The foundation plans to open a technical university in September and offer enrollment to working emerging countries, companies often need to teach new employees basic rules, such as that they must come to work by the start of working hours. Those who have received instruction are valuable resources for businesses, reducing the burdens of employee training. In 2018, Toyota Tsusho Corp. opened an educational institution at an industrial park in India's western state of Gujarat. Students learn manufacturing skills and business etiquette, among other subject matter, over three years. Of 61 graduates, 45 have taken jobs at the companies where they had hands-on training, some of which were Japanese firms. In Thailand, a technical college, which was established in 2019 with the help of a yen-based loan from the Japanese government, has provided staff to Japanese companies doing business there. In recent years, Chinese and South Korean businesses have increasingly moved to open plants in Southeast Asia. Some of these rival firms have poached staff from Japanese firms by offering attractive wages. In a job preference survey by Persol Research and Consulting Co. in 2022, the share of those saying they wanted to work for a Japanese company fell in many Southeast Asian countries compared to a 2019 survey. The trend could be even more pronounced now. 'Japanese firms are slow to raise wages and give promotions, which raises the odds that highly motivated workers will leave,' said Ryotaro Inoue, a senior researcher at Persol. 'To keep staff at Japanese firms, they will need to engage in education locally over the long term to help people feel attached to Japan. They should also make it clear that Japanese companies offer stable work style.'
The Mainichi
13 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Japanese film wins top award at Swiss Locarno film festival
LONDON (Kyodo) -- The Japanese film "Two Seasons, Two Strangers" directed by Sho Miyake won the top award Saturday at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland. The film became the fourth Japanese winner of the Golden Leopard after Masahiro Kobayashi's "The Rebirth" in 2007, according to the Locarno Film Festival website. The film, which follows the journey of a screenwriter who reflects on her life in an encounter with a stranger, stars South Korean actress Shim Eun Kyung with Japanese actors Shinichi Tsutsumi and Yuumi Kawai also appearing. Miyake said at the award ceremony that he hopes films can make a difference in a world where many horrible events are occurring.
