What would Japan be without the konbini, or convenience stores? They're everywhere, and people flock to them no matter what their socio-economic status, it seems to me. I see business men, students, housewives, office clerks, and "salarymen" using them to buy everything from bottled water, to take-out dinners, to the ever-present manga, or comic books. Manga are read everywhere by almost every age group. For an example of what manga look like, click here.
They're a huge business in Japan and even business men sit on trains openly reading manga without any embarrassment at all. Their themes range from science fiction to super heroes (for men and women), to violence and sex, and dozens of other themes. They're designed for all age groups, including very young children, teenagers, college students, and "for adults only."
The konbini has flocks of customers standing around the magazine rack where they peruse the latest catalog-thick isues before slapping down as little as 200 yen (roughly $2) or so for their reading pleasure. How can books compete at that price?
Capturing worldwide attention is the spinoff of manga, anime , the animated version of manga. Its market in the U.S. is over $2 billion annually and growing by leaps and bounds. Along with the TV anime market and the fast-growing video and DVD rental segment, is the anime toy shops that are popping up all across the U.S. Girls seem to prefer Sailor Moon, Fushigi Yuugi or Revolutionary Girl Utena. Men prefer such anime as Inuyasha, Dragon Ball, Yu Yu Hakusho, Tokyo Pig, and Hamtaro.
This Japanese export is a hot ticket in the American economy and I'm sure manga and anime will become as big in the U.S. as they are now in Japan. What an interesting phenomenon.
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