Ask John: How Would a Foreigner Become a Manga Artist in Japan?

Question:
If I am a foreigner, how do I start if I want to accomplish my goal of becoming an official manga artist in Japan?

Answer:
There are a two aspects of your question that I feel obligated to respond to. I’ll address them in order of priority. There’s not really any such thing as an “official” Japanese manga artist. Japan has no licensing board or specific qualifications for being a manga artist apart from actually creating manga. I presume you’re asking how a foreigner would become a published, professional manga artist in Japan. Before I address that question I want to explain that there are countless thousands of comic artists in Japan that are self published and well known among fans, but who are not professional manga artists. Many doujinshi artists have international fan followings but no works published by established, professional publishing companies. So in one sense, the only requirements for being a Japanese manga artist are being Japanese and creating comic art in Japan.

If you’re a foreigner that hopes to become a professionally published comic artist in Japan, my practical advice is to seek a different career. I don’t mean to be discouraging, but the odds of any foreigner actually being able to achieve success in Japan’s manga industry are infinitesimally small. Tokyo’s annual Comic Market convention draws half a million attendees. If even one percent of that attendance hopes to turn pro, that would be 4,999 native Japanese artists competing against you, and naturally native Japanese artists would have massive advantages over a foreign artist because native Japanese artists are more familiar with the language and culture, and more familiar with what types of genres and stories Japanese manga readers are most interested in reading. Native Japanese artists may also face less discrimination from professional editors and publishers that may be understandably reluctant to work with a foreigner. With the tight deadlines and pressures of the manga publishing industry, it’s probably far easier and more efficient to work with someone you’re comfortable with than work with a foreigner. There are thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of native Japanese amateur artists that all want to be professional manga artists as much, or more than foreign artists. That’s a lot of competition to face. An American artist, for example, may believe he or she has an innate advantage over Japanese manga artists because he or she offers Japanese readers something unique and different from the art of native Japanese artists. However, that’s not actually the case. American comics are not particularly popular in Japan, and I’m not aware of any foreigners working in Japan’s manga industry. Japanese readers are far more interested in manga that’s specifically composed to address their tastes than manga written or drawn by a foreigner. Unique and foreign can be good, but comfortable and familiar will always be more popular and marketable.

The second major obstacle to a foreigner becoming a recognized manga artist in Japan is the fact that it’s extremely difficult for a foreigner to obtain residence in Japan with the goal of working in the manga industry. Since Japan is a small island country with limited space, Japan’s customs board is notoriously reticent to approve long term residence permits for foreigners, especially to foreigners seeking work in non-essential Japanese industries. Unless you can convince a Japanese publishing company to sponsor your residence and employment in Japan in advance, which may be nearly impossible to do, it may be nearly impossible for you to live and work in Japan as a manga artist. It’s not difficult to predict that a Japanese publisher will be hesitant to work with an employee that they can’t meet in person on a daily basis and can’t promote in Japanese public appearances. You may have better luck in producing a domestic comic and having it translated and re-published in Japan, but in that case you would be a foreign comic artist whose work was available in Japan, not a recognized Japanese manga artist.

There is definitely a noticeable increase in Japanese animation and manga being exported to other countries. And there are now several native Japanese artists being requested to work in foreign countries. But there is still seemingly little significant demand in Japan for the work of foreign artists. Any foreigner hoping to become a manga artist in Japan faces major cultural, linguistic, social, and governmental obstacles that aren’t insurmountable, but are daunting. It’s not impossible for you to become a recognized manga artist in Japan, but the odds are against you, and even if you manage to break into the industry, the chances of being paid well enough to support yourself for an extended residence in Japan may be very slim. If you’re artistically inclined and simply feel a burning desire to share your visual art, your chances of success by remaining in your native country are probably significantly higher than your chances of becoming a graphic artist in Japan. In your native country you have native advantages. When you’re trying to break into the Japanese industry, you really are an outsider facing every possible opposition. If you’re determined to become a manga artist in Japan, I wish you the best of luck and success. But I recommend that you carefully consider all of your alternatives and weigh your relative chances for success in each before deciding a career goal.