Japanese Manga

One of my Japanese Pen-friend, Shingo-san, who is also an excellent dancer, suggested me to read and know more about Japanese Manga. I was little confused whether Manga is something similar to Mango in English, because in my native language - Malayalam, manga means mango. Then, I went on knowing more about Japanese Manga. As suggested by Shingo-san, I went to Akihabara. Akihabara is a sea of Manga and electronics and many other modern Japanese life styles.

Manga is Japanese word for comic, popularly known in Japan as komikku コミック. In their modern form, manga date from shortly after world war II, but have a long history in earlier Japanese art.

Manga are widely read by people of all ages, so that a broad range of subjects and topics includes in manga, ranging from action-adventure, romance, sports and games, historical drama, comedy, science fiction and fantasy, mystery, horror, sexuality, and business and commerce, among others.

It is said that a Managa have a claim of 481 billion Yen market in Japan in 2006. Manga are typically printed in black and white and people travelling in trains are often seen engaged themselves busy in reading Manga. In Japan, manga are usually serialized in telephone book-size manga magazines, often containing many stories each presented in a single episode to be continued in the next issue.