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GIRLSundPANZER(¯OaraiTown,IbarakiPrefecture)bThisanimehometownhasmadethemostofitspopularity,sovisitorsmakingapilgrimageherewillfindplentytodiscover.©GIRLSundPANZERProjectHISTORY&CULTUREMangaHouse(NiigataCity,NiigataPrefecture)aVisitorscansnapsomegreatshotsatthemanyphotospots,ortheycansimplyreadoneofthehundredsofraremangaonoffer.Thislonghistoryhascreatedarichsourceofinspirationforaspiringartists.AlthoughtheseartistscomefromalloverJapan,Niiga-tainnorthwesternJapanhasfosteredmanymangagreats,suchasTakahashiRumikoandObataTakeshi.Visitorstotheregionwillfindinformationaboutmangaandanimeinseveralplaces,includingtheNiigataMangaAnimationMuseumwithitsinteractiveexhi-bitions,andtheNiigataCityMangaHouse,afreemangalibraryandmini-museum.37NiigataMangaAnimationMuseum(NiigataCity,NiigataPrefecture)aEnjoyinteractiveexhibitsthatarefunforallages.Visitorscantrytheirhandatbecomingavoiceactorordesignamangapagelayout.Japan’sLongHistoryofProducingAnimeandMangaAlthoughmangamayseemlikeamodernphenomenon,theartformhasbeenaroundsincethetwelfthcentury!Modernmangalooksverydifferent,butthecultureofcreatingimage-centrictextsonalmostanytopicforavastaudiencehasprevailedforcenturies.Becauseofitsuniquehistoricalcontext,mangamaybeonanytopicandforreadersofanyage—it’snotjustforkids!Anime(shortforanimation)camelater.ItsbreakthroughoccurredafterWorldWarIIwhenthetelevisionbecamemainstream,andthegodfatherofanime,TezukaOsamu,brokethemoldwithhiscinematicdrawingstyle.Now,animeisahugeindustrywithover600animestudios,includinghouseholdnameslikeStudioGhibli.aabPopCultureManga(Manga)漫画