Japanese Culture

Comic books are popular worldwide, but in Japan, reading manga is, for many, something akin to an obsession. Everyone reads manga, from little kids to fully grown adults, but it wasn’t always this way. “Manga” literally translates to “whimsical pictures.” The term was first used in 1798 in a book called “Shiji no Yukikai” [Four Seasons]. Later, the acclaimed ukiyo-e (fleeting world art) artist Hokusai used the term for the title of his book “Hokusai Manga.” Nagoya, the Home of Manga Cafes Skip forward almost two centuries, and the first manga café – known locally as manga kissa [short for kissaten, meaning cafe] – opened in 1978 in Nagoya. Initially, they were just a place to sit and read. Nowadays, manga cafes are a blend of coffee shops, internet cafes, libraries, and capsule hotels all rolled into one, and they are nationwide. The general deal is that you stump up about ¥300 for the first 30 minutes, but should you so wish, you can stay for an entire 24-hour stretch for about ¥4,000. And I know what you’re thinking, “That’s a bit pricy just to read a few comics,” but believe me, you get much more bang for your buck…