Manga Workshop for Chinese Students in Japan

In August 2024, we held a manga workshop for international students from China.

The workshop is designed to provide an in-depth experience of Japanese pop culture manga, and the program allows students to learn directly from professional, active manga artists.

The workshop began with a lecture on character creation. From the basics of character creation to its application, all participants were challenged to design their own original characters.

We also talked about famous Japanese publishers and deepened their knowledge of the background and current state of the Japanese manga industry.

We also introduced the history of Tokiwa-so, a sacred place for Japanese manga, and the masterpieces created there.

Original Character Creation

After the lecture, participants actually created their own characters. Participants competed with each other to create their own characters, and everyone voted on whose character was the strongest. It was a fun and friendly competition among the participants, and the event was very exciting!

Learning about Japanese pop culture through hands-on manga creation

This workshop is an opportunity for international students to experience Japanese culture through the creation of manga.

By experiencing Japanese pop culture through manga, students can deepen their cross-cultural understanding.

This workshop was designed for short-term international students in Japan, and we are happy if it was an enjoyable and meaningful time for them.

Lesson by a professional working Manga artist

Mr. Kazuo Maekawa, a professional active manga artist, participated in this workshop as an instructor and gave direct instruction.

He is an active professional manga artist who drew the world famous manga Ace Attorney.

A lot of students were already familiar with Ace Attorney, so it was very exciting when he introduced himself!

He said it is very famous in China as well.

The advice and technical guidance from a professional’s point of view was an extremely valuable experience for the participants.

We will continue to actively offer Japanese cultural experience programs for international students. We can also dispatch professional manga artists to give lessons, so please feel free to contact us for more information.

We would like to continue to share manga, a representative of Japanese pop culture, with people around the world.