How are Japanese manga (comic books) and anime (animated shows) different than American-style cartoons?
A. It’s a different drawing style. The Japanese work is very intricate, they’re very artistic people. The storylines and humor are different, too. Q. The themes and plots of these stories are heavily tied into Japanese culture and history. Yet, anime and manga found a following in America, especially Hawai’i. What has the industry done in Japan to make itself more marketable to an American audience? A. Because it’s such a large industry in Japan, now the trend is to make the themes a little more universal. They have the audience in mind more. Q. Is it difficult to find people who know enough about the details of the Japanese culture and language to make accurate translations into English? A. We always laugh about that. It’s hard to find people (who can do this). Most of my translators have been with me for more than 20 years. Now it’s more difficult to find good translators. Most of ours are local- or Mainland-born but who have a background in the Japanese language, have lived in Japan
