Comic relief

JAPAN: Comic-book characters often save the world from disaster — think of Superman, Spiderman and Batman. But that’s fiction. In Japan, comic books are seen as a way of rescuing the country from real-life economic disaster.

Prime Minister Taro Aso has announced a new programme to increase exports of the country’s famous manga comic books, animated films, video games and pop music. These cultural exports now account for 2 per cent of Japan’s exports. Over the next 10 years, the government hopes to raise that figure to 18 per cent, thus creating 500,000 jobs.

“Japanese content, such as anime and video games, and fashion, draw attention from consumers around the world,” Aso told The Guardian. “Unfortunately, this soft power is not being linked to business overseas.”

Manga is no longer just for children, according to manga expert Haruyuki Nakano.

Among the popular comic programmes is Sazae-san , a story about a Tokyo family that has been on Japanese TV since 1969. It is the longest-running animated TV show ever. Sazae-san, which airs weekly, started out as a comic strip in 1946.

“Manga used to be regarded as something for children until they were around 15,” says manga critic Haruyuki Nakano. “But baby boomers in postwar Japan kept reading their favourite manga even after they entered college and became adults. That helped make manga widespread in Japanese culture,” Nakano told the English-language Kyodo News .