An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan's comic culture opened on Saturday in Kyoto, Japan, with more than 300 historically important pieces on display.
"A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan's Youth" held its opening ceremony at the Kyoto International Manga Museum, featuring a glove puppet show performed by two puppetry troupes from Pingtung County.
Photo: CNA
Among the exhibition items were Wang Tzu Magazine, or Prince Magazine, by late Taiwanese comic book publisher Tsai Kun-lin (蔡焜霖), and Shin Takarajima Magazine from 1947 by Japan's "god of manga" Osamu Tezuka and Shichima Sakai, another Japanese comic giant.
The show centers around Tsai and Tezuka, both iconic figures in the comic book industry, through the lens of two works: The Boy from Clearwater, a comic book series based on Tsai's life, and The Osamu Tezuka Story, a biography of Tezuka.
At the opening ceremony, Deputy Minister of Culture Sue Wang (王時思) highlighted the historical connections between Taiwan and Japan's comic book culture, and remembered Tsai as not only an icon in the industry, but also a leading figure in Taiwan's early human rights movements, after being imprisoned on Green Island (綠島) as a political prisoner for 10 years during the White Terror era.
"He would be overjoyed to see an exhibition like this," she said, adding that Japanese can come and learn about Taiwan through the exhibition.
Aramata Hiroshi, executive director of the Kyoto International Manga Museum, also expressed amazement at the power of Japanese and Taiwanese comic book culture.
"It is incredible how an old Japanese person like me can chat about comics with a young Taiwanese girl," he said.
Hiroshi said an exhibition like this is "very special," and called the exhibition "a must-see."
He highlighted one aspect of the exhibition, which looks at a time when Japanese society rejected comic books and blamed them for making children misbehave, similar to how Taiwan's government and military restricted comic books and criticized them as being bad for education.
Before the opening ceremony, Hiroshi received a gift from Sue Wang — a poster featuring "a-We," Taiwan's official comic-style mascot at the Expo 2025, which is being held in Osaka, Japan.
"I think Taiwan may be even better at using comics than Japan," he said.
The exhibition is organized by the Preparatory Office of the National Taiwan Museum of Comics and the Kyoto International Manga Museum, with support from Taiwan's Ministry of Culture, and runs until June 24.
The exhibition is to also be shown at the National Taiwan Museum of Comics in Taichung this summer.
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