Manga library in Tokyo on the drawing board

'Solid archive for serious study'

Last Updated: Friday, October 23, 2009 | 12:27 PM ET

CBC News

Japanese officials have revealed details of a plan to open a library dedicated to manga at a private Tokyo university.

The facility, tentatively named the Tokyo International Manga Library, is being planned for the campus of Meiji University. It is to be open to scholars, researchers and enthusiasts of the animated form, from Japan and abroad.

The estimated opening date is early 2015.

"Manga has been taken lightly in the past and there has been no solid archive for serious study," library official Susumi Shibao told Agence France-Presse.

"We want to help academic studies on manga as part of Japanese culture."

Japan's previous conservative government had planned on building a museum in Tokyo dedicated to manga and, in 2007, introduced an award to honour an international manga artist. However, the new centre-left government has dismissed that museum plan.

Japan's multibillion-dollar manga industry annually produces a wealth of graphic-heavy publications exploring a wide variety of topics for many audiences, from children eager for cartoony tales to adults seeking complex romance, crime, science fiction or fantasy stories.

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