Manga-friendly Japan

Manga sales might be falling, but manga and anime as well as cute mascot characters permeate Japanese society. The new virtual koban "Keisatsucho Fureai Koban," launched this month by the National Police Agency, has its mascot character "K-ta-kun" answering common questions. On Oct. 28 the official character was announced for the Sky Tree tower (opening in spring 2012). "Sorakara-chan" has her ...

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Manga movement

Though the art of manga (Japanese comics) and anime (Japanese animation) reflects a contemporary aesthetic, artists immersed in the genre know it is directly related to the centuries-old Japanese medium of woodblock printing, or ukiyo-e.

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