Niigata promotes itself as 'Manga City'

Niigata Prefecture - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

- [ 翻譯此頁 ]Niigata Prefecture (新潟県, Niigata-ken) is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Honshū on the coast of the Sea of Japan. The capital is the city ...

ANIME NEWS: Niigata promotes itself as 'Manga City'

BY YUSUKE FUJII STAFF WRITER

2011/01/13

Characters from baseball manga "Dokaben" are lined up along the Mizushima Shinji Manga Street in the Furumachi Mall shopping area of Niigata city. (Yusuke Fujii)

Niigata city has joined the long line of municipalities using manga and anime for economic revitalization. But Niigata officials say they intend to make the prefectural capital the true "Manga City" of Japan.

A key highlight of the push will be the Niigata Anime and Manga Festival 2011 on Feb. 26-27, which combines three events, officials said.

The three events are: the Niigata Manga Competition, which solicits entries from a wide scope of manga artist-wannabes ranging from elementary school children to adults; the Niigata Comic Market (Gataket), which features displays and sales of "dojinshi" (comic magazines drawn by fans, or fanzines) and photo sessions of "cosplayers"; and the Niigata International Anime Manga Festival, organized by the Japan Animation and Manga College.

The Niigata Anime and Manga Festival 2011 will be held at several venues, including Niigata City Culture and Music Hall (Ryutopia), the Niigata Prefectural Civic Center and the Furumachi Mall shopping area.

Events will include an exhibition of original manga illustrations, a prize-giving ceremony of the manga competition and a cosplay photo session, according to the officials.

"We'd like to show Niigata's strength in anime and manga, and attract visitors to the event from outside Niigata Prefecture and from across the world," Tomoaki Kojima, head of the festival organizing committee, said.

Kojima, who is also the principal of the vocational animation college, said the plan is to attract at least 10,000 visitors for the two-day festival.

Many communities across Japan have come up with local revitalization measures involving anime and manga, including Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, where Shigeru Mizuki, the creator of popular horror manga series "Gegege no Kitaro," hails from.

"Niigata (city) has produced many famous manga artists, and I think that the number of these artists whose manga titles are currently serialized is the largest (among all municipalities) in the country," Kojima said. "We'd like to differentiate the festival from other events by making full use of industry-leading human resources."

Niigata city is known as the hometown of Shinji Mizushima and many other renowned manga artists, as well as the anime vocational school.

In 2010, the Niigata city government established a panel to come up with community revitalization measures using manga and anime. With an eye on promoting Niigata as "Manga City, attracting visitors and creating new jobs, the panel will compile a report in as early as August.

So far, panel members have suggested using theme songs of animated TV series by local manga artists as melodies to signal the departure and arrival of trains at JR Niigata and other stations.

Other ideas include collecting original manga illustrations and displaying them at vacant stores.

"There is an increasing number of cities that pay attention to manga, but it doesn't mean they intend to promote it as a form of culture in a straightforward manner," Yoshiyuki Oshita, chair of the panel, said.

Oshita also serves as head of Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting Co.'s Center for Arts Policy and Management.

"I think if the Niigata city government goes ahead and hammers out a set of comprehensive measures for education, industry growth and sightseeing, such as fostering manga artists, the city can attract visitors from all over the world," Oshita added.