By Isabel Ovalle
Japan-Qatar relations go beyond economic ties in unexpected ways. They have become deep in other areas, including pop culture. In this exchange, Japan has played a big part, with a growing number of aficionados of Japan’s manga graphic novels and fashion in Qatar in particular and the region in general.
The increasing number of readers of manga and followers of Japanese fashion trends has seen many people flocking to the Japanese booth at the Doha International Book Fair, which is taking place in the Doha Exhibition Center until December 22.
To cater to the demand, Books Kinokuniya, Japanese bookstore chain operated by Kinokuniya Company Ltd, has shipped more than 4,000 volumes of manga novels to Doha, of which 1,000 have already been sold in the first few days of the fair, a salesperson at the booth said.
A devil and her love song, Romeo and Juliet, Black Butler or Flower storm. These are some of the titles of the manga books on sale in Doha. These novels cover various topics and approach everyday issues to reach a wide audience of different ages.
In Qatar, these novels are especially popular among the youth. At the book fair, a local teacher bought a cartful. “Graphic novels are very popular, the kids I tutor are crazy about them,” she explained.
Many Qatari students stop by and take a couple of novels each. “They are popular among youth; because they approach numerous topics we enjoy, like adventure,” stated a young customer.
Japanese anime (animation) and manga (comics) have gained wide popularity all over the world, and costume play in which people dress up like anime and manga characters is spreading among young people in many countries.
Takamasa Sakurai, an expert in Japanese pop culture (‘J pop’), gives two daily lectures at the fair on this subject. His audience varies from morning to evening. Yesterday morning, the audience was a group of young schoolgirls, and the topic addressed was fashion.
“I also give talks about Japanese food and, at the evening session, I talk more about anime and manga. Today the main audience was little girls and we spoke about clothing. Other popular issues are Japanese cartoons, such as Conan and Hello Kitty,” he said.
For Sakurai, “Japanese pop culture is, in a contemporary society, what young people are interested in at the moment. That is pop culture, and my definition of youth does not depend on the biological age, but on what the person feels or is interested in,” he added.
Japan has a very long history of manga, the most prevalent graphic novel genre in the country. “You might think that manga is only for the children, but in Japan, you can address any genre or particular topic, so these stories actually help people understand the world better”, added the author of two books about Japanese pop culture.
“One of the characteristics of Japanese people is that they are good at drawing and they want to express themselves through it. Some people choose to write and others choose to draw or paint, there
is not much difference, I couldn’t say which one is better or which one is clearer,” he added.
Every manga painter tries to focus on human emotions and feelings. On this basis, Sakurai added that “Japanese manga tries to describe deep human emotion, that is why a lot of people all over the world can appreciate it and enjoy it.”
Sakurai also participated as a keynote speaker in a symposium in Jordan about the future of Japan and Islam. In this event, he talked about anime and manga and was “very surprised by the understanding of it in the Middle East.”
To learn more about Japanese culture, visitors can stop by Japan’s booth and attend Sakurai’s lectures every day except Friday at 10.30am for kids, and today and tomorrow at 7.30pm for a more mature audience.
In addition, there will be a cultural diplomacy lecture by the Japanese ambassador on December 20 at 7.30pm and two fashion shows at the same time on December 21 and 22.
The Peninsula
