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Depth of Japanese Manga - Asia in Comics 2004: Comics by Asian Women

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

Pea

Asia in Comics 2004 Symposium: Asia Joryu Manga no Sekai (Comics by Asian Women)

This picture is Anzu Hizawa's [manga panel, presented in the
symposium]. [Panelists, sitting] from right hand side:
PARK So Hee, yellow hair (South Korea), Anzu Hizawa,
Watase Yuu, the one wearing kimono (Japan),
Tina Francisco (Phillipines), FOO Swee Chin (Singapore). On 21-22 February 2004, Japan Foundation held a symposium titled "Asia in Comics 2004: Asia Joryu Manga no Sekai (Comics by Asian Women)"^[1] in Tokyo. Japan Foundation has held the "Asia in Comics" Forum yearly since 2001, and this is its fourth year. While last year was focused on Chinese manhua, this year the focus was on women comics world in 5 countries: Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Philippines. It is the first time that an Indonesian speaker was invited for this forum.

The Discussions

First day panelists were the editors. From Indonesia, Ratna Sari (Chief Editor for Elex Media Komputindo), from Japan, YAMUCHI Yasuko (Vice Editor Chief for Shogakukan), from South Korea, KIM Young Joong (Chief Editor for Seoul Cultural Publisher), from the Philippines Terry Bagalso (Chief Editor for Atlas Publishing). There's also SAJIMA Akiko (Fukuoka Jogakuin University Professor) a researcher of South Korean comics.

Ratna Sari presented a brief history of Indonesian Comic Growth. The Korean editor, whose country has the most advanced internet connection in Asia, presented material about online comics. The Japanese editor explained Japanese comic production, which is by securing a tight relationship between the comic artist and editorial.

On the second day, it was time for the illustrators from 5 countries to speak. Anzu Hizawa from Indonesia, from Japan, Watase Yuu, from South Korea PARK So Hee, from the Philippines, Tina Francisco, and from Singapore: FOO Swee Chin.

PARK So Hee, the Korean comic artist (the one with yellow hair), created a very interesting comic titled "Kung" (King's Palace)^[2]. It tells a story about a girl who had a boyfriend, and he's the king from the Korean dynasty. Of course, it is all fiction, because there is no kingdom in Korea right now. The dynasty destroyed after the invasion of the Japanese. Her drawings are superb!

PARK graduated from the Kongju Culture College, majoring in Comic. She told us—in a very sweet voice—that South Korea has 39 universities with Comic as one of their majors. In Japan there are many comic academies, but universities with Comic major are rare, only 1 or 2.

In my opinion, Anzu Hizawa's presentation was quite interesting. She thinks around 80% of comic readers in Indonesia are girls, so most of the comics published in Indonesia are for girls. When she was asked "what are the boys in to, then?", she answered "[Playing games with the] Playstation [console]".

Anzu also reveals that most Indonesian readers had low appreciation for local comics, unlike in Japan.

SAJIMA Akiko—the South Korean comics researcher—noted that in South Korea, comic reader response to local comics, Japan's and Taiwan's are quite good. This has benefited the Korean comic [market]. Meanwhile in Japan, comic readers have few opportunities to read comics from abroad.

Unfortunately, due to the lack of time, the discussions were cut short and had not reached a deeper level.

Meanwhile, at the symposium venue, they showcased the comic books from these 5 countries. What has surprised me is how advanced the drawing quality of Indonesian comic artists had become. When I was still living in Jogja in 1995-1997, Indonesian comic quality at that time was so terrible and far from Japanese comic. But now, from the drawing quality alone, Anzu Hizawa, Shinju Arisa, and Dyotami Febriani^[3] works probably had raced up to Japanese and South Korean standards. Shinju Arisa's work is pretty similar to CLAMP, she might be able to join the team immediately.

To be able to reach their current standard, the Japanese took 40 years, Koreans took 20 years, but Indonesians only needed 5 years! WATASE Yuu, commented that "The works of manga artists from abroad that were displayed in this forum alone is of high quality, therefore we (Japanese mangaka) should not lose", and this is no crap talking.

Storyline Quality and Shoujo Manga Revolution

But judging from the story, how far has the Indonesian comics have come?

In the first day of the symposium, when asked about censorship, Ratna Sari answered, "Currently, there is no censor from the government, but Elex Media has our own standards to prevent moral decadencies."

In the second day, during Q&A session, I asked Ratna Sari, "Yesterday you said 'Let us prevent moral decadency', but Japanese shojo manga march as the leader in destroying the barriers of morality. The shojo manga industry reached its momentum during 1970s because they tear down this kind of 'morality' issue which has imprisoned their creativity for a long time. For the future of comic growth wouldn't the editorial support this movement?"

Ratna Sari answered with the following statement, "Comic in Indonesia are viewed by parents as non-educational influences that don't contribute to their children's growth, so the editor and artist are told to hold back by keeping the morality checked in their published works to avoid critics."

I understand what Ratna Sari was trying to imply, but the opinion of how comics are not a source of education by parents is the same in Japan. Prior to 1960s, comics were considered children's books in Japan. At that time, basically no parents liked to see their children reading comics.

In the beginning, comics were for boys. On 1959, two weekly comic magazines are published for boys: Shonen Magazine and Shonen Sunday. At that time, cultural entertainments for kids are purely comic books. Anime was non-existent and of course there were no computer games.

Almost 10 years later, comic magazines for teens started to be published, like Manga Action (1967), Young Comic (1967), Play Comic (1968), and Big Comic (1967). Comic readers who were 10 in 1959, would be more or less in their 20s, and therefore they want to read comic that suited their maturing taste.

A special attribute of this new genre is realism. This realistic style is called "gegiga" (Geki means drama, Ga means picture) and dominated Japanese comic scene. Stories also became much more realistic and serious. Of course the stories tend to clash with sustained morality at that time. It also happens that during 1960s, student movements are pretty intensive.

Younger generations also bring forward a new movement in culture and arts, including in the comic world. MIYAYA Kazuhiko, ASAKI Mori and KAWAGUCHI Kaiji works feature the radical politics movement theme. Meanwhile the alternative comic magazine COM (since 1967, no longer published) and GARO (since 1964, in 2003 turns into an online magazine) feature creative works.

MIYAYA Kazuhiko's Taiyo heno sogeki (Targeting Sun), 1969. A political fiction, it tells a story about a comunist terrorist. They kill and revolt against government figures.

MASAKI Mori's Kyohan gensou (Gang of Illusions), 1971. This is a story about 4 high school students that occupy their school to protest. High school occupation by the students is very common in late 1960s.

KAWAGUCHI Kaiji's Terror no keifu (Pedigree Terror), 1975. The comic retells the story about the murder of an anarchist OOSUGI Sakae, by the military police in 1922.

This new wave in the world of teen comics in Japan soon influenced girls comic several years later. Shoujo comic stories are often limited by the editor, with moral standards checked. No blantant love stories, more over about sex. In short, shoujo comics should be sterilized. But, in early 1970s that situation changed slightly.

In 1970, OOSHIMA Yumiko's work called "Tanjo!" (Birth) began serialization in "Margaret". It tells the story about a pregnant high school student. A year later, HAGIO Moto's work, "11 Gatsu no Gymasium" (Gymnasium in November) was published. It's about two twin siblings that were separately raised due to their mother's adultery.

In 1976, TAKEMIYA Keiko's work, "Kaze to ki no uta" (The Poem (Song) of Wind and Trees) was released. This controversial story is about a homosexual relationship between students in a junior high. 30 years later, there has been no such revolution in the shoujo manga department. Compared to the 1970s, in terms of quality, now Japanese shoujo comics are stagnant.

OSHIMA Yumiko's "Tanjo!" (The Birth), 1970

HAGIO Moto's "11 gatsu no gymnasium" (Gymnasium in November), 1971.

TAKEMIYA Keiko's "Kaze to ki no uta" (The Poem (Song) of the Wind and the Trees), 1976.

They, those comic artists, who bear the title "24-nen-gumi" (Batch of 1949, they were born during the 24th Showa year, which is 1949) had overthrown any shoujo comic stereotypes. Their challenge was to open a new era for shojo manga and to make the shoujo comic culture as a mature and interesting culture in the eyes of adults. If there was no moral resistance like they did, even though the drawing quality improved, the Indonesian comic will still be for childrens consumption. Of course, with no censor and taboo limitation, the quality will be hard to forsee. But it is undeniable that it needs a breakthrough for the advancement of Indonesian local comic scene.

Two Strategies to Push the Envelope

In the Indonesian comic scene nowadays, there are two strategies for a creative Indonesian comic artist.

The first one is the underground comic, the uncensored ones. In Japan, this market is huge. Underground comics in Japan are often called "doujinshi"—literally, magazine for the limited group.

The underground comic market is called "komike" (from Comic Market), held twice a year, in summer and winter. The first Komike was held in 1975, so it has been around for almost 30 years. The Komike Comittee has their own website in English: http://www.inter-g7.or.jp/g2/manga/HTML/MARKET.html^[4]

Komike is visited by hundreds of thousands every time it was held. Most underground comics that are sold in the Komike are porn parody comics, but of course, there are some that are much more serious. For those serious underground comic, there's a historical magazine called Garo and Ax that were discussed previously.

The second strategy is promoting abroad. Anzu Hizawa clarified that her work "Wing of Desire" will be published in Singapore and Malaysia[⁵]. "Indonesian readers underestimate local comics. If Indonesian comics are highly valued overseas, then the Indonesian readers will start to appreciate local comics", she concluded. This strategy is very effective. In the movie world, this strategy was used by Japanese movies in 1950s and Iranian and Chinese in 1980s. The result was wonderful, after most of the movies won many film festivals abroad, the directors became very well known in their own country.

A long time ago, a French director, Jean-Luc Godard quoted Mao Ze Dong, "Fight in two fronts--art and economy." Great ways for Indonesian comic artists to fight for these fronts is through the underground channel and comic market abroad. If anybody wants to promote his/her work to a Japanese publisher, I'll help you and translate it to Japanese. If there is a unique and widely-known Indonesian comic in Japan, Japanese comic artists will also be encouraged to be creative. Let's fight for The Republic of Comic, where we will live without limitation!

(Tuesday, 9 March 2004)

Pea's Note

There is more informations about this event elsewhere.

1. FOO Swee Chin, one of the symposium panelist, wrote her days at this event here. Complete with pictures and videos.
2. Nakayoshi Indonesia #7 has 12-pages article written by the editor (Ratna Sari). I'm planning to translate this, but most likely without the pictures, because the article was printed black and white. Give me your opinion.
3. AnimeTourist article
4. Additional info in Indonesian

The Asia in Comics 2005 event

1. An article in DigitalStrips.com about the 2005 event
2. Asahi Shimbun article on the 2005 event.

Translation Notes

[1] ISHIZAWA-san wrote "Dunia komik wanita di Asia" in Indonesian that literally translates to The World of Female Comic Illustrators in Asia. I used the latest Japan Foundation translation instead.

[2] This manhwa is currently very popular. The correct title is Goong, or The Palace. Its Korean drama is also popular, titled Goong or Princess Hours. I was excited to learn about this while translating. ^o^ I agree whole-heartedly with him about the comic being great, but unfortunately he (or the forum interpreter) made a mistake, because the said boyfriend is actually a prince.

[3] These three people mentioned are among the earliest comic illustrators that made manga-style comics in Indonesia.

[4] It is a broken link, but was in the original essay.

[5] The said comic is published by Chuang Yi in Singapore, I do not have any info about the Malaysian publisher.