Japan at the World Book Fair, New Delhi

By Manjari Kaul

The Japan Foundation has put up a stall at the World Book Fair, New Delhi whose main focus is on promoting Manga comics. The Manga collection on display cover action, detective, dramas, romance and many more genres. A screen at the entrance of the stall shows anime films through the day.  

Machiko Yamamura

In an interview, Machiko Yamamura, the Assistant Director of Japan Foundation said that their aim was to introduce Manga, something that is hugely popular among the Japanese youth to the Indian youth. She added, “Everyone knows about Ikebana and Origami so we wanted to introduce those aspects of Japanese culture that are not that well known in India through the medium of this exhibition of books.” Talking about the reading habit among Japanese, she said that Japanese like to read a lot. They use it to unwind from their stressful work situations. Machiko Yamamura said she was curious to know the reactions of people, especially the youth visiting the book fair, to the Manga comics.

Alongside the comics there are small figurines of these Manga characters and their costumes on display at the Manga Cafe. The figurines exhibit the popularity of Manga in contemporary Japan and raise the interest of those who are gradually being ushered into the magical world of Manga through this exhibition.

For the uninitiated...

Manga is the Japanese word for 'comic' or 'cartoon'. In the west the word 'Manga' has come about to be used for cartoons or comics produced in Japan or by Japanese authors in Japanese language in a style that was developed in late 19th century.  

Photos courtesy: Safal Choudhary