(英会話リスニングスクリプト)
Foreigners for the first time in Japan are
always amazed at how much manga there is.
If you walk into any bookstore or pass any
train station kiosk, there it is.
Get onto a train and there are both old
and young passengers totally absorbed in it.
It is as popular among college students
and businesspeople as it is among teenagers.
Foreigners are also often shocked to see
how much sex and violence there is in manga, and frequently
write letters of complaint to newspapers.
As all aspects of Japanese life adapt to
Western values, manga continues to increase in popularity
as a purely Japanese phenomenon.
It is an important aspect of present day
Japanese culture.
What many foreigners fail to understand
is that manga has the same range of expression as modern
fiction, from deep intellectual work to shallow love stories.
In the 1960s the salaryman began to be found
in manga stories, then a new type of business manga began
to appear, featuring salarymen who were less concerned with
their jobs and companies than with their hobbies or families.
Now, there is an even newer style, which
features rich elite businessmen.
Right now, with the birth rate falling and
the population aging, we can be sure that these changes
will be reflected in newer forms of manga.
|