Manga
Manga or Comics are very popular in Japan. Manga is not only for children but also for adults. You will see many businessmen reading Manga in commuting trains. Manga is a major component of Japanese publishing market. Taro Aso, the prime minister of Japan is known as a big fan of Manga and he is planning to set up national Manga Museum to attract a lot of tourists from foreign countries. In fact, Japanese Manga has increasingly become popular in foreign countries. Shonen Jump, one of the most popular telephone book-size weekly magazines started to be published in the US in 2002.
Manga market is huge in Japan and the total sales of Manga exceeds 400 billion Yen or 4 billion USD. Like Shonen Jump in the US, Japanese Manga has made significant footprints in worldwide market by selling publishing license in their local language.Manga is usually read through weekly or month edition together with other Manga. After a series of approximately 10 stories, Manga publisher put together the particular Manga and sell them in one paperback called tankobon. The cost of regular tankobon is around 400 yen or 4 USD in Japan. Old tankobon are sold for around 100 Yen or 1 USD at the used book market. Book Off is the biggest used book market in Japan and its franchise covers wide area of Japan and some international markets in New York and Asia.
In addition to mainstream Manga market, independently published Manga by amateur creators know as Dojinshi is quite popular in Japan. The Dojinshi market has grown significantly and the market is said to be nearly 30 billion Yen or 300 million USD. There are many shops that sell Dojinshi in Akihabara, a home of Otaku. If you want to feel Moe about pretty character in Dojinshi, you may want to stop by Akihabara or go to Comiket, the largest Manga convention in the world.
