Off-campus UMass Amherst users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your UMass Amherst user name and password.
Non-UMass Amherst users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.
Dissertations that have an embargo placed on them will not be available to anyone until the embargo expires.
ORCID
N/A
Access Type
Open Access Thesis
Document Type
thesis
Degree Program
Japanese
Degree Type
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Year Degree Awarded
2018
Month Degree Awarded
May
Abstract
This thesis addresses the phenomenon of the recent success of foreign-born mangaka in the Japanese comic industry. One in a long line of foreigners who have written about Japan, Swedish mangaka Åsa Ekström is a representative example whose success has been facilitated by a set of circumstances brought on by the influence of the international manga market, socio-economic policies stemming from the unique challenges presented by Japan’s declining birthrate and rapidly aging population, and changes in the landscape of the Japanese publishing industry. Drawing upon themes and excerpts from Ekström’s popular comic essay series, Nordic Girl Åsa discovers the Mysteries of Japan (Hokuō joshi Ōsa ga mitsuketa Nihon no fushigi 北欧女子オーサが見つけた日本の不思議), this thesis explores those facets of her skilled background in conjunction with the aforementioned circumstances that have contributed to her success, including the influence of internationalization, effects of an increasingly digitized publishing industry, and proliferation of vocational manga schools encouraging overseas student enrollment. By doing so, this thesis attempts to answer the question of whether foreign participation in what has been traditionally considered a closed market is reflective of a globalizing Japan, and determine the future of the market for comic essays by foreign-born mangaka.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/12101955
First Advisor
Amanda C. Seaman
Second Advisor
Sharon Domier
Recommended Citation
Fujii, Michele, "Strangers in a Strange Land: Foreign-born Mangaka and the Future of the ‘Japanese’ Comic Industry" (2018). Masters Theses. 642.
https://doi.org/10.7275/12101955
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2/642
Included in
Communication Technology and New Media Commons, Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, International and Intercultural Communication Commons, International Relations Commons, Japanese Studies Commons, Publishing Commons, Social Media Commons