My name is Kimura and I live in the northern part of Tokyo. I do not currently own any manga. I neither like nor dislike manga. If I read one for some reason, of course I am interested in the rest. I am an ordinary man with that level of manga. Even though I am such a person, I have had many opportunities to become familiar with manga since I was a child. When I think about it again, manga is surprisingly close to me even if I am not looking for it. I wondered if that in itself is “Japaneseness”. Today, I would like to reflect on my experience so far, in what kind of places manga can be found.

When it comes to where manga is read, the simplest answer is “bought and read,” but there are many other patterns. But there are many other ways to buy manga, including bookstores, used bookstores, and the Internet. In today’s blog, I will introduce you to other situations.

A friend’s house
First of all, this is the situation in which I have read the most manga in my lifetime. This is not the case now, but when I was a child, the overwhelming pattern was to go to my friend’s house and read the comics in my friend’s collection. I think I read the most manga in my lifetime. I remember the sight of a complete collection of Dragon Ball back then was a sight to behold. I think many people today have books in data format like the kindle. I wonder what kind of manga situation kids are in today.

Convenience stores for meeting up.
This is also strictly enforced now, but in the past, I often browsed in the book section of the convenience store where we used to meet. Even back then, it was not permitted, but kids used to browse through the weekly manga called Jump. Standing and reading is the act of reading a store’s products without buying them. Nowadays, it is not allowed. Even today, there are used bookstores that allow browsing with good manners.

Restaurants
There are many ramen shops, Chinese restaurants, and teishoku-ya (set meal restaurants) that seem to be run by individuals rather than major chain restaurants that carry manga. If you look around the restaurant, you may find a small bookshelf. Of course, the lineup of manga there is probably the owner’s hobby, but strangely enough, there seems to be a lot of “Golgo 13” on the shelves. I ordered the ramen + dumpling set. I was about to read a story about a top-notch sniper before it was ready, but the food came out right away. I am sure many of you must have had such an experience. The speed of ramen at Chinese restaurants is also top-notch.

Internet cafes (manga cafes)
This service allows you to rent a space equipped with many comic books and computers by the hour. Many stores offer drink bars and snacks. In recent years, services have become more extensive, and some even offer showers and other services like simple accommodations. They are also popular among travelers for napping purposes.

Although this is more of a personal opinion, writing this blog has reminded me that manga can be found in many different situations. I was going to end my blog here, but then I remembered that there are also comic books in the waiting rooms of hospitals and barbershops. It seems that there are still places where you can find manga.

When I was a child, I was of the Dragon Ball generation. Looking back now, I read the latest story in Weekly Shonen Jump, the book was released after that, I saw the animated version on TV shows, and talked about Dragon Ball at school. This shows the importance of manga in the lives of Japanese children at that time.

Is it only in Japan that there are so many opportunities to become familiar with manga?