Large-Scale Manga Exhibition Opens in San Francisco

San Francisco, Sept. 27 (Jiji Press)–A large-scale manga exhibition opened at the de Young Museum in San Francisco on Saturday to convey the charm of Japanese manga as works of art. The exhibition, “The Art of Manga,” features more than 600 works, including original drawings by eight manga artists, such as Eiichiro Oda, creator of “One Piece,” and Mari Yamazaki, author of “Thermae Romae,” all of whom are known for their high drawing skills and storytelling. The largest manga exhibition ever held in North America places an emphasis on making people understand the artistry of manga through the powerful and delicate descriptions of original drawings that cannot be expressed in printed or electronic media, according to its organizers. The exhibition ends on Jan. 25 next year. The venue has an exhibition room focusing on each of the eight manga artists. In the exhibition room of Rumiko Takahashi, author of “Inuyasha” and “MAO,” visitors can experience the writing process of manga by comparing the actual draft with the completed original drawing. Hand-drawn panels depicting main characters and pens used in drawings are on display in the exhibition room of Hirohiko Araki, creator of “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.” “It is an exhibition that shows what manga is received well by foreign audiences,” Yamazaki said in an interview with Jiji Press. “In Japan, manga is just a subculture, while in the United States and Europe, it is viewed as art,” she said. “We need to consider how our work will be perceived abroad.” Exhibition curator Nicole Coolidge Rousmaniere is such a manga fan that she actually visits restaurants that the main character of “Kodoku no Gourmet” (The Solitary Gourmet) by Jiro Taniguchi visited in the work. She was asked by the de Young Museum to plan the exhibition in recognition of her achievements as a curator of a Japanese manga exhibition at the British Museum in London in 2019. Rousmaniere said that she wanted to shed light on the original drawings hand-drawn by manga artists and the production process. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]