<< Comics Workshop RECOMMENDED READING
Titles & links related to Manga (& other comics forms) in Japanese culture & history*:
*(Actually, this page is mostly just a list of manga that I’ve read & liked & used in my teaching.)
Favorite Titles:

A Drifting Life (Tatsumi)

Barefoot Gen (Nakazawa)
Hiroshima, as told by a survivor…
Buddha (Tezuka)
by SHIGERU MIZUKE:
Showa series = Mizuki’s autobio manga history of modern Japan:
Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind (Miyazaki)
- www.nausicaa.net= A thorough fan site.
- The site’s Manga Page
- Interviews: Miyazaki
- “Money Can’t Buy Creativity”
- “After Nausicaa” (influences, themes, etc.)
- Nausicaa on Wikipedia
- …
General Manga Links
“Manga”on Wikipedia, including major styles…
- Shonen Manga
- Shojo Mangai
- “Chibi” (“cute, little” … a.k.a. “Super-Deformed”)
- Gekiga = “dramatic pictures” = more realism & mature material…
“A Beginner’s Guide to Reading Manga”
Manga Techniques from Deleter.com
Historical Connections
“Japanese painting” on wikipedia
Ukiyo-e = “floating world” woodblock prints ~ MIT Collection: Western Industry Russo-Japanese War Perry: Encounters
Perry: Demon Ships
Perry: Portraits Perry: The Black Ship Scroll ~
Kibyoshi= 18th-century Japanese storybooks, a.k.a. “Yellow-Covers” [on wikipedia]
Hokusai (1760-1849)
Complete works of Hokusai >>
Santo Kyoden (1761-1816) ~ Sample books @ Archive.Org = Kibyoshi jusshu + Mukashi gatari inazuma hyoshi
Kamishibai = 12th-20th century sequential storytelling, or “storycard theatre” [Kamishibai history]
Samurai = Pre-industrial Japanese warrior class
“Fart-War” (c. 1700?) = Sigh…. Well, you’d probably find out about this sooner or later.
Scholarly Articles & Review Sites
- Visual Cultural Research in Art Education= manga, anime, and more
“Cross-Cultural Analysis of Artistic Development: Drawing by Japanese and U.S. Children” = article on manga’s influence on the cognitive and artistic development of Japanese students.
- About Japan: A Teacher’s Resource
- manga4kids.com = A thorough & helpful index of titles, with recommendations and discussions of appropriate content, themes, etc.
Matt Thorn’s Manga-Gaku site
- History of Manga = Cultural roots of manga, including ancestors, direct & indirect
- “Selling Ice to Eskimos” = What do Japanese readers see in American comics?
- “The Grammar of Manga” = How manga affects the reader
- “What Shojo Manga Are and Are Not” = An overview of a popular manga subcategory
- Osamu Tezuka’s Museum Website
Manga (& Japanese Culture) in the News
- NPR on International Comics (with some Manga-oriented articles) (Can anyone explain why this series is called, “Men in Tights”?)
- “Japan’s Comic Book Export” (January 2003) = Anime and manga culture (via Shonen Jump magazine) in the USA
- “Librarians Harvest New Manga Titles at Comicon” (July 2008)
- “‘Soft Power’ part of balancing act” = Japanese culture (manga & anime, specifically) on the world stage, from CNN.com
- “What Your Global Neighbors are Buying” = a NYTimes.com interactive graphic on “discretionary income.” (Watch Japan across the categories…)
- “Manga for Girls” = from NYTimes.com
“The Bottom of a Bottomless Barrel: Introducing Akahon Manga”
(from The Comics Journal)