For some people, manga may not stack up as a high-brow subject like Chinese classics or nuclear physics, but universities in Japan are increasingly offering courses on comic culture as part of their curriculum.
The first attempts to set up manga departments were greeted skeptically because universities were considered unsuited to fostering manga artists who needed creative ideas and drawing ability to be successful.
Despite the doubts, a few graduates of manga departments have moved on to professional careers.
The universities offer various courses to help prospective manga artists.
At Kobe Design University, a special class held in February offered students the opportunity to present their work to editors of manga magazines.
The one-on-one sessions often involved direct criticism of a student's work.
One editor said, "You have to make your story understandable to everyone."
Another student was told, "Your idea is a good one, but the story kind of fizzles out part of the way through."
Some students got teary-eyed during the session.
The special class was for sophomores majoring in manga in the Department of Media Arts of the School of Progressive Arts.
Since January, editors from at least 10 manga magazines have visited the campus for sessions with the students.
One traditional way manga artists have gotten a break has been to visit publishing companies and show their work to editors.
Those considered talented by the editors have had their work published, and others are often given advice on how to improve their work.
The special class was designed to train the students in selling their works to editors.
Not only do the students become accustomed to dealing with editors, they also receive advice from professionals.
Naoto Hashimoto, 20, appreciated the feedback he got by attending the special class.
"We are shown where we are weak and other things are pointed out that we may never have considered. I really appreciated being able to meet an editor."
Such practical help has benefited the first class of manga majors who graduated this spring. Of the 20 in that first cohort, 16 have won some kind of award for newcomers or have been in regular contact with an editor.
Eiji Otsuka, the professor in charge of the manga program, said, "While it is like a bonus, it is the result of thoroughly thinking about how a manga story develops and also about movie-like story lines and the relationship between a plot and characters."
The curriculum for a manga major is not easy.
Students have to produce the equivalent of about 400 pages of storyboard over a year. In every class, students are trained to create stories and characters.
There are also projects to create anime and movies.
Even students who entered as freshmen without ever having written a manga develop a certain level of skill after four years.
Some students have made their debut while still in university.
Masato Yamaguchi, 21, a junior in the Department of Manga of the Faculty of Arts at Tokyo Polytechnic University, had his work, "Uchu rescue" (Outer space rescue) published in the Shukan Shonen Magazine (Weekly youth magazine) Special by Kodansha Ltd.
It is the second time Yamaguchi's work has appeared in the magazine and he now is seeking serial publication.
A professor at the manga department, Jun Hatanaka, himself has published manga works.
"There are some people who say manga artists cannot be developed at a university," Hatanaka said. "However, if a classmate is published, others in the class will be motivated to also make a start. It is important to provide such a forum for students."
Yamaguchi spends time in a drawing room on campus to create his manga. He and other regulars of the drawing room share their opinions of each other's work.
Department head Masaru Kikuchi said, "The world of manga artists is one in which not even 10 percent of those who want to become one actually do so. For that reason, we also try to expose our students to other jobs related to the manga industry, such as editors and original authors."
In a course on manga and business, students are asked to come up with ideas for using manga in new business ventures.
A 2009 graduate of the Character Creative Arts Department of Osaka University of Arts who goes by the pen name of Toko Yurikawa knows that the path to becoming a manga artist is not easy.
After graduation, the 23-year-old moved to Tokyo to try and break into the business.
She visited publishing houses with her portfolio, having learned in university how to set up appointments and greet editors.
Her current creative style of depicting subjects from her daily life in essay form was also established after receiving advice in university.
"I was taught everything I needed to know," Yurikawa said. "The rest is up to me."
The university also offers courses on passing the certification test for color coordinators as well as classes in data processing and English.
Support in finding a job is also provided. The Character Creative Arts Department also has programs in anime and video games and related courses in those programs.
Some manga majors have a change of heart and enter different fields.
At least 10 universities offer majors or courses on manga and animation.
The pioneer was Kyoto Seika University, which established what is the only manga faculty in Japan in 2006. The faculty is fairly large. It has a capacity of 200 students per year.
When the predecessor to Kyoto Seika University began as a junior college in 1968, it was already offering classes on manga.
They were upgraded to manga courses in 1973 and a manga department was established in 2000.
The central government's white paper on education took notice of the university's endeavor "as one doing research on manga as a scholarly field."
In the 2010 school year, a master's program in manga studies starts at Kyoto Seika.
"As a university, we want to provide a path that will allow graduates to become connected to society," said Keiko Takemiya, head of the manga faculty.
One example is more practical manga that covers everything from company histories to pamphlets provided by hospitals to patients to help explain certain diseases to educational materials that explain traditional arts and crafts.
The university creates such manga after receiving orders and has set up a business operation for that purpose. Graduates are recruited to draw the manga and between 50 and 60 orders are received a year.
Last spring, Kentaro Takekuma, a manga editor, joined the faculty as a professor.
Takekuma had been teaching manga at Tama Art University since 2003. Since 2008, he has been regularly self-publishing a magazine to provide his students with a forum for their work.
"Universities are different from publishing houses because they do not have a medium," Takekuma said. "Beginners can be developed if they have a forum for expression."
Universities offering manga courses are using different methods to widen their appeal.
Manga majors at Bunsei University of Art have Tetsuya Chiba as their professor. He is famed for his "Ashita no Joe" (Tomorrow's Joe) boxing manga.
Chiba's motto is to work up a sweat at least once a day, instead of being cooped up in a room. He often takes his students outdoors to play catch. The parents of his students, many of whom are his fans, appear more happy about such efforts than the students.
Editors have their own opinion about how effective universities are.
Shoji Maruyama, a deputy managing editor of the monthly magazine "Comic Zero-Sum," has helped with university courses and accepted submissions from graduates.
"Universities are a place where it is possible to come into contact with talent so I will happily go if asked," Maruyama said. "People who have studied manga in university create works based on their own thinking. That is attractive. I think more graduates will become professionals."
However, Yukitoshi Sakaguchi, who is in charge of university entrance information at the Yoyogi Seminar cram school, believes only those programs with true value will survive.
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201004050323.html
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