Giga Town: The Guide to Manga Iconography

Giga Town: The Guide to Manga Iconography

Manga symbols – “manpu” in Japanese – are iconic or symbolic expressions used uniquely in manga, such as sweat drops, popping veins, and smoke puffs.

Giga Town: A Guide to Manga Iconography! is (probably) Japan’s first guide to this manga iconography, collecting and explaining these symbols, with a short manga featuring the frolicking animals of the famous Japanese scroll Choju-jinbutsu-giga to explain each one!

Giga Town: A guide to Manga Iconography includes an informative afterward that teaches the flow of manga reading, a great addition for beginning manga readers!

Biographical Notes:

Her manga Yunagi no Machi Sakura no Kuni won Grand Prize at the 8th Japan Media Arts Festival (2004), and the New Life Award at the 9th Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prizes (2005).

Former assistant of TODA Katsuyuki & TANIKAWA Fumiko.

Friends with TOKUSHIMA Sanae.

Title Notes:

• a guide to manga iconography, using comics strips featuring cute animals
• originally released through Substack by MSX: Mangasplaining Extra
• includes a foreword by Matt Alt, author of “Pure Invention: How Japan Made the Modern World”

Quotes / Reviews:

“A fresh and intriguing manual of tremendous use for English-language manga fans.” – Kirkus

More details on Fumiyo Kouno:

More works by Fumiyo Kouno

Publisher’s Twitter account