MINT: Promoting Diversity in Manga
From May 29 to June 2, a series of public events on Japanese manga will be held across New York City, organized by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan Arts Council, and the Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture (JPIC) as part of the MINT (Manga International Network Team) project.
NYC Manga Event Series
Friday, May 29 through Tuesday, June 2
Various Locations
Admission: Free
From May 29 to June 2, a series of public events on Japanese manga will be held across New York City, organized by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan Arts Council, and the Japan Publishing Industry Foundation for Culture (JPIC) as part of the MINT (Manga International Network Team) project.
About MINT
Manga International Network Team (MINT) aims to support early career manga artists and their editors in Japan, who are working to achieve a global presence, and to increase the recognition and value of manga’s diversity overseas.
What makes this series distinctive is its focus on the breadth of manga beyond the mainstream, anime-linked shōnen titles that often dominate international visibility. The program highlights alternative manga, graphic medicine, and manga as a literary and artistic practice, offering points of engagement not only for established manga readers but also for those interested in graphic novels and visual storytelling more broadly. For more information, please visit MINT’s website.
Book Launch & Signing with Tokushige Kawakatsu
Friday, May 29 from 7:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.
Desert Island Comics – 490 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn
Desert Island welcomes Kawakatsu Tokushige for an author signing of his new book The Cursed Body from Glacier Bay Books. Meet this talented indie Japanese artist, selected by MINT manga to represent Japan’s modern manga culture.
Kawakatsu served as editor of the Kakù doujinshi alternative manga magazine and periodically self-releases the magazine Kagyu (The Snail), from which both stories in The Cursed Body are drawn. Both stories draw heavily on traditional Japanese ghost stories (kaiki) and historical rental manga (kashihon) to deliver deep, surreal, and spooky reads.
Illness in Illustration: Graphic Medicine in Japan and North America
Monday, June 1 from 6:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m.
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library – 455 5th Avenue (Rooftop)
With manga artist Moka Onmae, editor Tsubasa Kosaka, and comic artist Gianna Paniagua
Moderated by Kriota Willberg
Alternative Manga: Yesterday and Today
Tuesday, June 2 from 6:00 p.m. until 7:30 p.m.
School of Visual Arts – 133 W. 21st Street, Room 101C
With manga artists Tokushige Kawakatsu and Akino Kondoh and editor Emily Yoshimoto
Moderated by translator and manga historian Ryan Holmberg
A preview of the MINT catalog, featuring works by all participating artists in English translation, is available. Click here to download a free PDF.
After the events in New York, the manga artists and editors will travel to Toronto, Canada, to participate in TCAF (Toronto Comic Arts Festival). They will be joining other MINT participants—both manga artists and editors—for the event there. This year’s TCAF poster was created by Battan. Learn more at TCAF’s website.
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