Depth of Japanese Manga - Tabi manga on Bali

This is a part of my unauthorized translation for ISHIZAWA Takeshi's essays from his column titled Depth of Japanese Manga. Please do not consider this piece as my own.

Pea

In the past I wrote: "I sometimes wonder about how every year hundreds of thousands^[1] Japanese tourists visit Indonesia, but why traveling notes written in manga form are non-existent." Actually, they do exist, especially manga about Bali.

This picture^[2] is from Osanpo Daiou (The Emperor of Travelers), by SUDO Masumi^[3]. In this panel, Sudo-san is enjoying mie bakso^[4] in Denpasar. Osanpo Daiou's stories revolve around the manga-ka's trips to different places like Bali and Nepal, but mostly in places around Tokyo. Her site is Osanpo Okoku (in Japanese).

These are variations of her face. Very funny, isn't it?

This picture^[5] is from Muteki no Bali (The Invicible Bali!), by MANOTONOMA. It's a pen name of two female mangakas, namely MANO Kyo and NOMA Osamu. In this scene they are eating es campur^[6] in Ubud. They write many travel guides in manga form. Besides Bali, there's also guides for Turkey, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hongkong and Korea.

These two pictures came from Odoru shima no hiru to yoru (Days and nights in the dancing island) by FUKAYA Akira. This one is fiction, unlike the previous two which are based on the mangaka's experiences. This one tells a story of a shaman living in Bali using his magic. I personally disapprove to associate Bali with magic.^[7] Shaman and magic are not exclusive to Bali, but they are common throughout Indonesia. And most Balinese does not associate their daily life with magic. This work had a smell of orientalism and might arise misunderstanding in the readers' mind about Bali culture. FUKAYA Akira's website: Apa Kabar^[8] (in Japanese)

Pea's Notes

[1] Japanese are the number one tourist population for Indonesia and especially Bali.
[2] Warung Sate Gule = Satay Curry Food Stall
UNG = cropped form of the word "Warung" (food stall for commoners)
[3] This is first name first, last name second style a la Japanese. With surnames capitalized a la French.
[4] mie bakso is loosely translated to meatballs with noodles. It's delicious and can be found anywhere in Indonesia.
[5] Es Kelapa Muda = (Young) Coconut Ice
Pak Subur = Mr. Subur (Subur is a common Javanese name, means fertile. :D)
Pasar Sanumu = Sanumu Market (it might be that the mangaka didn't remember, it was suppose to be Pasar Sanur, or Sanur Market)
[6] es campur is a refreshing desert, ice topped with various refreshing things. es = ice, campur = mix. Mixed Ice.
[7] I have to disagree on his opinion here. When I went to Bali, I feel like I'm in the island of a different place on earth. It's so much different from places I have visited in Indonesia.
[8] What's up?