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Meiji University's School of Global Japanese Studies holds overseas lecture in China's prestigious Peking University - Kunihiko Ikuhara, the director of the anime series Sailor Moon, and Meiji academic staff take part

May 31, 2010

Japan proudly tells the world about its manga and anime

Meiji University’s School of Global Japanese Studies held its first overseas lecture at China’s prestigious Peking University on May 31st. The lecture was entitled ‘A Lecture on Japan’s Avant-Garde Manga and Anime Culture’.

At the lecture, Kunihiko Ikuhara, who is the director of the popular children’s anime Sailor Moon, talked about producing anime. In addition to this, Assoc. Prof. Yukari Fujimoto, who has previously worked as an editor, and Assoc. Prof. Kaichiro Morikawa of the School of Global Japanese Studies commented generally about Japanese manga and anime, while giving a detailed introduction to Japan’s subcultures – known throughout the world as ‘Cool Japan’ – to the Chinese students who had gathered for the lecture.

In April of this year, the School of Global Japanese Studies and Peking University’s Department of Japanese Language and Culture, part of the School of Foreign Languages, concluded a memorandum which led to this lecture. Meiji University is a major center of research on Japan’s subcultures and is aiming to complete construction of the Tokyo International Manga Library – the world’s biggest repository of manga and anime – in 2014.

About the School of Global Japanese Studies

The School of Global Japanese Studies was established in April of 2008, with the idea of a ‘Global Japan’ in mind, in order to nurture true international individuals who can actively tell the world about Japan. There are two programs offered at the school: a Japanese Culture Program and a Japanese Social Systems Program. In the Japanese Culture Program students learn about facets of Japan’s contemporary culture such as contemporary art, anime, manga and fashion, as well as the traditional culture which forms the roots of this modern culture such as the performing arts, fine arts and martial arts, in a structured manner. In the Japanese Social Systems Program students learn broadly about contemporary Japanese business, industry and social systems and how these spread Japanese culture, in the form of areas such as manufacturing culture, advertising culture and the mass media, throughout the world. The school is also involved in projects such as sending students to Walt Disney World in Florida to work as interns.

About the Tokyo International Manga Library

Meiji University plans to complete construction of the Tokyo International Manga Library, the world’s biggest archive of manga, anime and computer games, in 2014. It is forecast that the museum will house some two million exhibits. In anticipation of the new library, the Yoshihiro Yonezawa Memorial Library of Manga and Subcultures was established in October of 2009.