Entering the Japanese manga industry — Part 12 “Love Your Readers” Several years ago, at the request of a studio, I met with several artists who had come to Japan from overseas. I was asked to give them some advice, so I began by saying: “If you are going to make manga in Japan, you should first try to understand Japanese readers—and love them.” But at that point, one of them objected. “I don't need to.” I replied that an artist is someone who thinks for themselves and accepts the consequences of those choices, so I respected his opinion. Looking back, I think I handled it rather well. If it had been ten years earlier, I probably would have gotten angry and told him to get lost. Later, the head of the company that had brought those artists to Japan apologized to me. He said he was deeply embarrassed by what had happened. He was someone who understood very well how manga is made and what responsibilities an artist has. If you have no intention of loving your readers, then no one should take money and support from them. I believe that loving your readers is a responsibility of the creator. Otherwise, you are not loving people. You are loving money. And someone who loves money rather than people should never create. If we want to prevent the world from becoming hell, and if we want the value of human creativity to survive in every era, then creation must be a connection between human beings. That connection is LOVE. Among foreign mangaka and aspiring manga artists, there are some who want to work in the Japanese manga industry and sell their work to Japanese people, yet surprisingly have little love for—or even interest in—Japan or the Japanese people. I have seen quite a lot of this. Do you think it only happens with Koreans? No. It happens in many parts of the world. If there are Japanese manga fans who feel betrayed by what I am saying, perhaps you have had this thought before: Japanese manga is now sold all over the world. Many Japanese mangaka probably want to sell their manga overseas. But do the Japanese manga industry and Japanese mangaka love readers around the world? Do they make an effort to understand them? Do they read history books, try to understand different cultures, and, when possible, visit those places so they can experience the lives of the people there? I imagine that many people in the Japanese manga industry do these things. But Japanese manga fans probably also understand that there are others who do not. If you think, “That's too much. Is all of that really necessary?” then the reverse is true as well. If you are working in the Japanese manga industry, why should you have to read history books? Isn't it enough to simply work hard at making manga? Do you really have to love Japan and its readers, too? But you do. This post is not about expanding Japanese manga overseas. I am simply trying to say that even rudeness can sometimes be understood. If there are people who want to work in Japan and enjoy all the benefits that come with it, while neither loving Japan nor trying to understand Japanese readers, then that is rude. But there is room for understanding. And that room for understanding comes from recognizing that a person may simply never have thought deeply about something. Yes. In most cases, they simply had never thought about it. They had never thought that loving your readers and making an effort to understand them are responsibilities. That these things are part of what makes you worthy of being a creator. That you should not have run away during the March 11, Great East Japan Earthquake. They simply never thought about it, and no one had ever told them. That is why I am writing this. Of course, there are also people who reject it even after they are told. There is nothing you can do about that. An artist is someone who thinks for themselves and accepts responsibility for those choices. As for me, just for a moment, let me say this: As I keep saying, I do not know Japan, Japanese readers, or Japanese manga all that well. I only keep trying to understand them. And I certainly love them deeply. I think love is not the amount of knowledge you possess, but the desire to know. Having a great deal of knowledge means you are intelligent. Wanting to know and wanting to understand—that is love. People do not ask me how much I love Japan. Thankfully, perhaps they simply assume that I must. I am deeply, deeply grateful for that. I suppose that love comes through in my work. Thank you. But if someone were to ask me just how much I love Japan, I would answer: “As much as I love my homeland, South Korea.” I love Japan as much as I love my homeland. And just as I love Japan, I will continue to love my homeland—now and in the future. To be continued...