Frederik L. Schodt is the author of two highly respected books on Japanese comic art, Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics and Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga, as well as numerous articles. The following interview focuses on one of the subjects explored in these two books, the way in which the consumption of manga, or print comic books, provides insight into Japanese culture. It was conducted with him via e-mail in June 1997, during one of his frequent visits to Japan.

The Scope of Manga

Maureen Furniss: A press release for your recent book, Dreamland Japan, states the following statistics: "almost 2 billion manga books and magazines were sold in Japan in 1995, which means over 15 manga-related items for every person in Japan. The manga industry boasts $6 billion in annual revenues, which amounts to a staggering $50 spent on manga for every Japanese person." Your book makes it clear that, in this case, practically "every Japanese person" is actually a consumer of Manga. How would you account for the widespread popularity of manga in Japanese society?

Frederik L. Schodt: I don't think there's any single answer. Here are a few theories, though.

1) For hundreds of years Japanese people have loved art similar to modern manga, such as scrolls, woodblock prints, or sketches. Those art forms primarily are composed of line drawings, and often are fantastic, violent, erotic, humorous, and narrative in structure.

2) Manga are particularly suited to the crowded, fast-paced modern Japanese urban lifestyle: they are small, portable, and unobtrusive; they are quiet; and they don't take as much concentration as reading a book. They're perfect for reading on trains during a long commute to work or to school, and today a huge number of people in Japan spend a great deal of time on trains.

3) There may be aspects of the Japanese writing system that help people create manga, as well as enjoy them. The ideograms used in Japanese writing are a type of cartoon, and require a high level of hand-eye coordination to render; it may be one reason little children in Japan all seem to be so good at drawing manga. These ideograms also help foster a high level of pattern recognition skills at an early age.

4) The manga industry has not been subjected to the type of direct or indirect censorship that has existed in some other countries. For example, the manga industry in Japan never experienced the "witchhunt" that took place in the United States during the 1950s, when the Comics Code Authority was created. The Comics Code Authority was instituted by publishers in response to pressure by religious groups, educators, politicians, and those members of the general public who felt comics contributed to juvenile delinquency and general moral corruption. The Code helped the industry avoid some criticism, but stifled creators by strictly regulating the content of stories. The result was a glut of patriotic "superheros" fighting for good; comics became a creative ghetto and were stigmatized as something for children and immature adults. Publishers started going out of business, sales plummeted, and the industry has never recovered.

In Japan, however, despite periodic anti-manga movements, the industry has been able to ride out the rough periods, and retain a very free-wheeling creative environment. Comics are not regarded as something just for children, but read by nearly everyone. The industry also was very successful early on at establishing a symbiotic, rather than competitive relationship with television, through the animation of popular manga stories.

5) Most important, manga are fabulous entertainment!