Masterpiece “Aizawa Riku”

　　 　I had a long conversation with a cartoonist Ms. Yoriko Hoshi in Gion, Kyoto. She is the creator of “Kyou no Nekomura-san” and my old friend, who is more than 10 years younger than I am. The original drawings of her debut work “Nekomura-san” and “Pork” were at my place, but they got out to the world and she became a very popular cartoonist who sells millions of copies. 　I received her new work, the first full-length manga “Aizawa Riku.”...

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Richard Florida “Who’s Your City?”

　“Who’s Your City?” by Richard Florida. According to the author, in addition doing “what” “with whom,” what is meaningful in life is “where” = place of residence. 　Here are the five points that I found convincing. à are my thoughts. 1)　The world is not becoming flat, but it is rather becoming integrated. Production elements of creativity and innovation are deviated and concentrated in specific regions. In advanced nations, 3/4 of the population lives in urban areas. In the United States, Large urban areas are responsible for more than 90%...

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World Digital Manga Tide Part Two

　My answers at the symposium “World Digital Manga Tide” are continued below. ●What about the popularization among children? 　There is the “Digital Ehon Museum (digital children’s book museum)” inside of this venue. Digital Ehon Inc. that I serve as the director and DNP built this museum. It has digital expression exhibitions and workshops. 　Digital children’s book is a coined word that is given as a generic name to new children’s books, which use digital technology and new publications that did not exist before. We develop new digital publications...

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World Digital Manga Tide Part One

　As a part of Tokyo International Comic Festival, we held a symposium called “World Digital Manga Tide.” I went on stage along with the big star of American comics Mr. Jim Lee, and Mr. Chris Butcher from Toronto Comic Arts Festival. Following are my answers to the questions. ●What is the charm of manga? 　Manga is an expression in which a single artist creates the world with story, pictures, and text. It is not a movie, a novel, nor a picture book, and there is something that can only be expressed in manga. When manga is turned into anime...

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