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Manga

Explorer · ages 7 and underAdapted from Wikipedia
A bookstore in Japan with shelves full of manga comic books.

What Is Manga?

Manga are comics that come from Japan. Some people call them graphic novels, too. Manga has a long history that goes back to earlier Japanese art.

In Japan, the word manga means comics and cartooning. Outside Japan, it usually means comics that were first published in Japan. Comics from China are called manhua, and comics from Korea are called manhwa.

Stories for Everyone

In Japan, people of all ages enjoy reading manga. There are many kinds of stories, such as adventure, comedy, mystery, romance, and sports.

Manga is usually printed in black-and-white. In Japan, it is often first published in large manga magazines. Later, the chapters are collected into tankōbon books. Many manga have also been translated into other languages, so people around the world can read them.

Manga Around the World

Since the 1950s, manga has become a bigger and bigger part of Japan's publishing business. By the late 2010s, manga was selling more copies than American comics.

Women have also played a big part in manga. Machiko Hasegawa created Sazae-san, and she is the only manga artist to have won the People's Honour Award.

Quiz time!

3 questions about Manga

Question 1 of 3

Where do manga come from?

Pictures

Delegates of the 3rd Asian Cartoon Exhibition, held in Tokyo in July 1997 and organized by The Japan Foundation Asia Center. They come from countries across Asia, including China, Japan, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, India, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
An illustrated page from the Meiji era in Japan, printed in 1874. It is an example of the picture-filled newspapers that were becoming popular at that time.
A shelf of manga comic books at a bookstore in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The Sakura Eldorado comic book and manga shop on Heußweg in Hamburg, Germany.
A bookshelf filled with manga, the Japanese comic books and graphic novels, at a Barnes & Noble bookstore in San Bruno, California.
A page from Hokusai Manga, a sketchbook by the Japanese artist Hokusai, showing figures demonstrating martial arts self-defense techniques.
The kanji for "manga" from the preface to Shiji no yukikai (1798)
The reading direction in a traditional manga

Keep exploring

Anime
Japan

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Manga, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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