New Manga School Opens in Ehime!

Manga is a fun way to spend an afternoon or evening. It’s perfect for relaxing at home or passing the time on a long train ride. As Japan’s top form of serialized comics, manga is a vast global industry. Fans worldwide enjoy the many new stories released each year.

But Japan’s comics are far more than the adventures of Goku and Sailor Moon for one Japanese town. For the island town of Takaikamishima, it may be the last chance for the town even to exist. A brand-new school dedicated to educating people on the art and production of manga is Takaikamishima’s last real chance at staying afloat.

What is Takaikamishima?

Takaikamishima, or “High God Island,” is a small island situated in the western shores of Japan in Ehime Prefecture in the Seto Inland Sea. It is far from the bustling metropolises of Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. The island is so small that its population is only eleven.

Many of the town’s older residents have left the island to find work or live in busier places, making the island’s future uncertain. Unfortunately, Takaikamishima has stunning natural beauty, fantastic ocean views, and lots of small-town charm.

What does the Takaikamishima Manga School offer students?

The Takaikamishima Manga School offers students the means to learn about every facet of manga production. This includes courses on becoming better artists, constructing sequential comic panels and pages, formulating effective scripts, becoming effective writers, and how the books are produced once the art is finalized. 

The school aims to train students in every way possible, regardless of where their interests or talents in manga lie. The school is still relatively small, and each training course offers only thirty spots. Even so, the school is a great way to revitalize the island town. Kimura and Hesebe hope it will bring attention to the island, spark interest in its activities, and inspire people to return.

This is a lofty ambition, as opening a single school may not be enough to convince people to uproot their lives and make the journey to the small town, but it’s a first step. If the school succeeds and produces positive results, the possibilities for Takaikamishima are endless. Students need to eat, so local eateries and restaurants can open. 

People need places to live so that housing may be constructed. If more people come to the island, it will have more chances to grow. Of course, the idea isn’t to transform Takaikamishima from a scenic, tranquil seaside town to an overpopulated, over-constructed city. However, injecting life back into it is a necessity.

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Why is the manga school a big deal?

Sadamu Kimura and his friend, Osamu Hesebe, are older men who have taken up the mission to revive Takaikamishima because they love the island. When tasked with decorating an outer wall for the town community hall, they covered it in manga illustrations. Both men thought the art would appeal to children and adults and bring much-needed vitality to the ailing town.

Takatoshi Yamada, an artist known for his work on Dr. Joto’s Clinic series, was consulted by Kimura and Hesebe. He became very interested in the passion project as an artist himself. Soon, many other similar artists also lent their talents to Takaikamishima, with the island now having over thirty murals across its buildings.

What was a simple decision to put a smile on the town’s residents’ faces suddenly became a grand idea for Kimura and Hesebe, as they saw how positively people reacted to the sudden influx of art. Capitalizing on the success of the murals, Kimura and Hesebe decided to open an entire school dedicated to the production of manga, aptly named The Takaikamishima Manga School.

Why should you be interested in this new manga school?

The manga industry is one of Japan’s largest and most profitable industries, alongside anime and video games. Creating a school that formally trains artists and writers is ingenious and incredibly helpful for the industry. Better-trained creators result in higher-quality products and higher profits for every company involved with the art. 

This may not make Takaikamishima the world’s central manga hub right away. However, it is a significant first step for the small community. Himura and Hesebe’s project will take time to show results. Still, there is hope that their efforts will succeed.

A trip to visit the school and the manga-themed town sounds like an excellent way to travel and explore Japan beyond the limits of Tokyo. Are you interested in becoming a manga artist? Please let us know in the comments below! We’d love to hear what you hope this new school offers.