A Brief View Into Manga history

Manga is a Japanese comic, read from right to left, opposite of an American book. Manga has helped Japan become the leader of comics in the world. Like anime, manga started in the early 1960's. Manga has been made known all over the world by television and newspapers. Some manga that are really popular have been introduced in other countries by legal and pirate translations. There are also many Japanese magazines that are about manga. The major publishers of manga publish 13 weekly manga magazines, 10 biweeklies, and twenty monthlies. This is the core of the manga industry. There are at least ten magazines that have sold over one million copies. Sales of manga yearly in the 1990's are around 600 billion yen. The total Japanese population is 120 million, so the average Japanese spends exactly 2,000 yen a year on manga. The biggest companies producing manga are Kodansha, Shogakkan, and Shueisha. There are about 3,000 professional manga artists in Japan. 300 of these people can make an above-average living out of selling manga alone. Some manga artists also make small magazines for private circulaton. The magazines are called dojinshi. Now you know a little bit about the history of manga. If this interests you, look at my anime history page, too! :D