One Thousand Years Of Manga

Talk to any comic book reader in the United States and they’ll tell you that Manga are Japanese comic books. And that’s true-in a way.

Manga was influenced by American comic books.

American troops brought comic books with them when the U.S.A. occupied Japan after World War II.

Like many things during the occupation the Japanese picked up on comic books and adapted them to their culture-very successfully.

But, to say that Manga were solely created because of the influence of American comic books would be a big disservice to the Japanese.

Ironically Manga is now hugely popular in the United States and has influenced American comic book art in a big way.

To discover how go back and read and look at comic books from the 1960s and 1970s and compare them with the comics books from the 1980s up until present day.  

Beginning with the 1980s comic book series such as Frank Miller's Ronin and Daredevil borrowed heavily from Manga story-telling techniques.

It is very evident that manga has transformed American comic book art.

Illustrated story-telling has been a part of Japanese culture for over 1,000 years.

It is/was drawn from Japanese culture and traditions.

In Japan illustrated graphic novels-comic books-Manga depict all areas of Japanese culture from sports, religion, domestic life, fantasy, science fiction, fashion, sex, transportation-practically anything and everything.

Reading Manga is accepted and is a common part of Japanese life.  Everywhere you go you see people reading Manga-on buses, trains, etc.

Popular Manga has not thousands, but millions of readers each month!

In author Brigitte Koyama-Richard’s new book from Thames & Hudson: One Thousand Years Of Manga, readers are given a visual and an extremely well researched and written history of Manga starting with temple paintings, scrolls, folding screens and other ancient objects.

Learn about the different forms of Manga and how it as an important and integral part of Japanese life.

This beautifully, designed and oversize softback book contains hundreds of illustrations in color and black and white and extensive information about Manga over the centuries.

1 Corinthians 14:33 - For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.