Posted on

Japan Travel: Studio Ghibli Museum November 2011 & July 2009

It’s been over a year since my last Japan Travelogue, and that was from 2010. I’ve been to Japan three times since then, and taken thousands of photos during that time. My busy life (the reason I’ve been three times…) has kept me from updating as much as I’d like, and while I can’t promise that’s going to change any time soon, I’ve got about an hour right now (at 3am on Friday night) and I figured, what the heck!

Two things before we dive in.

1. Sincerely, the Ghibli Museum is a wonderful, surprising, lovely space, and if you plan on going don’t read this post. Experience it for yourself.

2. I’ve actually already blogged about the Ghibli Museum before, following my 2007 trip. You can see that one–which is much more in-depth–at https://comics212.net/2007/12/12/japan-2007-mitaka-ghibli-museum/.

The Ghibli Museum
Mitaka (just west of Tokyo), Japan
Website: http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/

Adjacent to a huge and lovely park, and specifically designed to blend into the surrounding parkland and neighbourhood, The Ghibli Museum sits as a wondrous and somewhat understated tribute to the genius of Animator Hayao Miyzaki. It is, in effect, the opposite of Walt Disney’s ‘World’ and ‘Land”, a themed attraction in observance of a particular animator’s creativity, but one the discourages abandon in favour of consideration, appreciation, and harmony. It’s as perfectly integrated into the fabric, the seemingly shared world of Miyazaki’s works, as any of his films.

I’ve been 3 times and I’d go back any time anyone asked me. I’m planning a trip in November 2012, and I’ll be going then as well.

When my friend Kimi (pictured) and I arrived, it was a warm autumn morning  just before the museum opened for the day and the line of folks waiting to get in was formidable! Like many attractions in Japan, The Ghibli Museum is on a timed-admittance policy, where your ticket (which must be purchased in advance) says not just what day you can visit, but what time you can enter as well. This is to keep the swell of the crowds manageable, but since they never kick anyone out, the earlier in the day you go the easier it will be to get around and see things, and the more fun you’re likely to have.

Fun fact: If you buy your ticket from overseas, there’s no timed admission! Just show up whenever!

Kimi is from Hokkaido, Sapporo specifically, and I met him a few years back on my first visit to the city. He’s an interesting guy, traveling all the time, and was willing to come down to Tokyo to meet me on my trip. He’s actually a bit of a closet nerd too, so we get along great. He’d never been to The Ghibli Museum before and his enthusiasm was pretty infectious. 🙂

There are a lot of lovely little details like this to discover on your trip.

Tickets in hand, we approach the entrance archway.

The Ghibli Museum has a very strict rule about photography, where you’re not allowed to snap any photos inside the building, but you can take as many as you like outside of it. Or as they put it on the Museum’s web page:

*Photography and video recording are not allowed inside the Museum.

-The Ghibli Museum is a portal to a storybook world. As the main character in a story, we ask that you experience the Museum space with your own eyes and senses, instead of through a camera’s viewfinder. We ask that you make what you experienced in the Museum the special memory that you take home with you.

The first few times I visited the museum my opinion of this ranged from contemptuous to simply disdainful, but having experienced so many attractions in Japan and elsewhere through other people’s viewfinders, for example going to the Moma and having there be a crowd of people 10-deep taking pictures of “Starry Night” with their cameraphone, I think maybe I appreciate this policy now…

Which isn’t to say that I didn’t try to sneak a few photos. 😉

Back outside and on the roof of the building, we see one of the most amazing pieces of the museum, the Robot Soldier from Lupin: Castle in the Sky (one of the cubes is there too). It’s just perfect. I hope if we ever get robots, they’re Miyzaki robots.

Wrapping around the back half of the museum (not visible from the front road) is a large deck/patio, a gorgeous outdoor space amongst the trees and looking onto the park. It’s an additional exit from the museum, if you’ve decided your visit has come to an end, but it’s also a lovely place to sit and rest, and maybe grab a hot dog, ice cream, or beer.

Nausicaa beer. Er, rather, “Valley of the Wind” Beer. Recommended. 🙂

The deck is also where you can enter The Straw Hat Cafe. This is different than the little food-service window serving snacks, this is a full-service, sit-down restaurant that there is always (in my visits) a 40 person line for. But Kimi didn’t travel down from Sapporo to not go to the cafe, and so we got in that line.

I got some sort of blueberry pop with ice cream in it (delicious) and Kimi got, I believe, home-made ginger ale. Both were excellent! Oh, and? Real straws made of straw.

From the website:

The Cafe serves both cold and hot meals, snacks and desserts. The menu is simple and the variety is limited, but almost everything comes from organic farms, is very fresh and nutritious, and we cook them with loving care and patience. We specially recommend the jumbo fried pork cutlet sandwich, the fruit sandwich, and the strawberry short cake.

Kimi had some sort of curry vegetable/rice dish that was delicious, and they were sold out of the pork cutlet sandwich that day, and so I ordered a chicken club. This is a chicken club, perhaps the most immaculately prepared I have ever had, or ever will have. It had avocado too. It was pretty seriously delicious.

Oh, and the dishes! The food is served on Ghibli-themed dishes, which are, conveniently, available for sale in the gift shop. 🙂

I’m not much of a dessert person, but after how good my sandwich and drink were, I had to see what they’d do with it. Kimi got vanilla ice cream with some sort of compote, and I got strawberry shortcake, that again, was immaculate and light and airy and delicious. Gigi the cat on my plate probably helped make it even more delicious.

Hi Kimi!

The outdoor spaces are fascinating and detailed and beautifully appointed, and the interiors I would say are even moreso. It really is wonderful just being here.

So that was my 2011 trip to The Ghibli Museum. I’m sure my 2012 (and 2013, 2014, 2015…) visit will be just as enjoyable. I’ll see if I can find a few more things to take photos of for you. 🙂

– Chris

BONUS: As I was digging through my archives for this post, I realized I never posted my photos from the 2009 trip to Ghibli. My husband Andrew and I went on my birthday in July of that year, with my friends Dave & Kiko, and their kids Noa and Hana. Here’s the photos from that trip that don’t duplicate what’s above too badly. 🙂

David, Kiko, and Hana.

Noa really liked the Ice Cream.

Representing TCAF in Tokyo. 😉

Thanks for reading!

– Chris

Posted on

Letting It Go

I was very fortunate to meet graphic novelist Miriam Katin on the tour for her first major work, We Are On Our Own, a few years back. I greatly enjoyed talking with her about the book, and the book itself was a very strong, personal recounting of tragic events surrounding The Second World War. I’m delighted that, according to an e-mail that just landed in my inbox, Katin’s follow-up graphic novel Letting It Go is due from Drawn and Quarterly in February. I’ve reposted the cover and solicitation information below, I hope you’ll look for it when it comes out.

Letting It Go
By Miriam Katin 
Hardcover / 7.5″ x 9.75“ / 160 pages, full color
$ 24.95
978-1770461031

Miriam Katin has the light hand of a master storyteller in this flowing, expressive, full-color masterpiece. The world of Holocaust survivor and mother is turned upside down by the news that her adult son is moving to Berlin, a city Katin has villainized for the past forty years. As she struggles to accept her son’s decision, she visits the city twice, first to see her son and then to attend a Museum gala featuring her own artwork. What she witnesses firsthand is a city coming to terms with its traumatic past, much as Katin herself is. Letting It Go is a deft and careful balance: wry, self-deprecating anecdotes counterpoint a serious account of the myriad ways trauma inflects daily existence, both for survivors and for their families. Katin’s first book, We Are On Our Own, was a memoir of her childhood, detailing how she and her mother hid in the Hungarian countryside, disguising themselves as a peasant woman and her illegitimate child in order to escape the Nazis. The stunning story, along with Katin’s gorgeous pencil work, immediately garnered acclaim in the comics world and beyond. With Letting It Go, Katin’s storytelling and artistic skills allow her to explore a voice and perspective like no other found in the medium.

—

– Chris

Posted on

Register now for ICv2 Conference prior to NYCC

Just got a reminder e-mail from the good folks at ICv2, reminding NYCC-goers to register to attend their conference. The expert panels, not to mention Milton’s very informative white paper, are really excellent looks at the comic industry, deeper and more nuanced than the general blog chatter that passes for same. Seriously, it’s smart stuff, and if you’re looking to ‘figure out’ comics and graphic novels, and maybe try to glean where the industry is headed, I recommend them.

http://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1014166

Hopefully I’ll see you there!

– Christopher

Posted on

NYCC and Tokyo-bound

Hey folks.

A busy summer has given way to a very busy fall, and I’ve got a bunch of travel on the horizon. I’m still writing about comics, but usually those thoughts are expressed on Twitter or through one of my other jobs. I actually have a post written about the nature of comic book stores, that I’m going to post this week for Little Island’s first anniversary, once I give it another pass. Oh, and I took on a small comics writing job that will be announced at some point too, which I’m having fun with.

Anyway, in case you’re looking for me, you can find me at the following events and place. Let me know if you want to hang out.

New York

October 10: ICv2 Conference, Javits Center
October 11-14: New York Comic Con, Javits Center

Tokyo

November 11: Design Festa (Just attending!)
November 18: Kaigai Manga Festa, Exhibiting for TCAF
November 25: Flying back to Toronto

Toronto Comics Events:

October 18: ZANTA Book Launch, The Central
October 21: Canzine (Day) Triple Threat Launch (Night)

Thanks for continuing to check out this blog! I personally feel that one day I will be back up to posting daily, I’m just not there yet.

Best,

– Chris

Posted on

Consider applying for or donating to the Queer Press Grant

Hey folks!

I got a note from Justin Hall, Editor of the excellent new queer comics compendium No Straight Lines, letting me know that the application deadline for Prism Comics’ Queer Press Grant is coming up fast–October 1st!

With the recent cessation of Peter Laird’s excellent Xeric grant, the Queer Press Grant has become the last indy publishing grant, and one that I feel is entirely necessary and has supported some excellent projects. If you’re eligible for the grant (see the complete PR below) apply now at http://prismcomics.org/grant.

Indy publishing is pretty easy to marginalize to start with, and in my experience queer voices trying to compete in the larger marketplace tend to have an especially tough go of it. Authors talking about gay/lesbian/bi/trans/queer experiences tend to only find audiences within those communities, with a few notable exceptions (I’m thrilled for Alison Bechdel’s success as a queer graphic novelist and memoirist, but it’s not like she has a lot of contemporaries). Again, my experience has been that even well-meaning readers tend to assume a queer experience isn’t a universal one until proven otherwise… and nothing could be further from truth. This grant has helped to fund some great projects, and bring some important voices to the fore.

If you’ve got it in you to support great queer creators and projects and help grow the QPG, Prism Comics accepts donations year-round at http://prismcomics.org/donate.php.

Full press release for the QPG follows:

—

Prism Comics’ Queer Press Grant 2012: Application Deadline is Oct. 1st!

Both Applications and Donations for the Grant Are Being Accepted Now

There’s only one month left to apply for this year’s Prism Comics Queer Press Grant (QPG)! The QPG, the only grant today specifically awarded to independent comic book creators, was established by Prism to assist in the publication and promotion of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) comics. The submission deadline for the QPG is October 1st, 2012, with the recipient announced during San Francisco’s Alternative Press Expo (APE) taking place from October 13-14th. Applicants can submit online now at prismcomics.org/grant.

The Queer Press Grant is awarded to a comics writer/artist or team working on a project with significant LGBT characters and themes, to assist them in publishing a new project or expanding an existing one. Comic books, comic strips, webcomics, and graphic novel projects are all eligible. Entries are judged first and foremost by artistic merit, followed by concerns such as financial need, proposal presentation, and the project’s contribution to the LGBT community. Creators do not need to be LGBT themselves to apply for the QPG. Submissions are reviewed by the Prism Board and past recipients of the Grant, with the larger advisory board brought in when tiebreakers are needed. Grant guidelines can be found at prismcomics.org/grant. Questions about the grant can be directed to Justin Hall at justin@prismcomics.org.

The Queer Press Grant is funded entirely by donations, generally from comic book professionals and readers plus fundraising efforts from Prism members. To donate to the Queer Press Grant, go to prismcomics.org/donate. From these contributions, the standard amount of the Grant in the past few years has been $2,000.

Since its inception, the Queer Press Grant has been awarded to Robert Kirby (2011, for Three), Tana Ford (2010, for Duck), Jon Macy (2010, for Fearful Hunter). Ed Luce (2009, for Wuvable Oaf), Eric Orner (2009 for Storybox), Pam Harrison (2008, for House of the Muses), Justin Hall (2007, for Glamazonia), Tommy Roddy (2007, for Pride High), Megan Gedris (2006, forYU+ME), and Steve MacIsaac (2005, for Shiftlifter).

###

Website Links:
Prism Comics: http://prismcomics.org 
Prism Comics Queer Press Grant: http://prismcomics.org/grant
Prism Comics Donation Page: http://prismcomics.org/donate

Posted on

TCAF to exhibit in Japan, November 18th

So if you follow my online happenings more deeply than just this blog, you might have heard that a thing that I’m helping to make happen is TCAF’s first international exhibition on November 18th. What this means is that TCAF as a festival is going to go and exhibit at a comics event in Japan, in furtherance of its mandate to promote Canadian cartoonists and graphic novels. We’re inviting a bunch of Canadian cartoonists to come with us as well. I go more in-depth about the event and what we’re planning here: http://torontocomics.com/japan/.

Anyway, I just wanted to drop a note here on my blog in case any Canadian TCAF Exhibitors didn’t get our e-mail or otherwise missed the news, and really just to let people know that we’re doing that I think is a cool thing. Maybe it will inspire all y’all to keep doing cool things too?

Best,

– Chris

Posted on

A very cool Malinky Robot item arrived in the mail…

Just before the San Diego Comic Con (hopefully explaining the delay!) I got a pretty amazing item in the mail, The Malinky Robot “Box of Things”, a limited edition box set of cool items from author Sonny Liew’s Malinky Robot, recently published by Image Comics. This was a lovely gift from Sonny and I’m quite happy to have received it. So in the spirit of sharing, I thought I’d photograph the unboxing for you.

Ooo… opening the box!

Oh, and the back of the box because I forgot to photograph it. You can click on everything to see a larger version…! The blurbs from Mike Carey, Gail Simone, and Mike Mignola are quite nice, but my fav bit is the ingredients list on the back. “DISCLAIMER: Not for comics allergy sufferers. Igredients: PICTURES, WORDS, SEQUENTIAL PANELS, WORD BALLOONS, CPATION BOXES, GUTTERS, MOTION LINES, ENEMATA…” very cool.

Here’s the complete box, unpacked. Clockwise from top: The box, “The San’ya Times” newspaper, a copy of the book (available now from Image Comics!), a mystery bag, a CD!

The inside of the CD booklet is cool, and the CD contains all sorts of neat bonus stuff like reviews, interviews, a digital copy of the newspaper, and a gallery including image like the French Edition cover, as shown here:

Inside the paper package was a fake pack of cigarettes, and a fake 500 yen note, both from the series. Really lovely looking too!

…and inside the cigarette pack are these trading cards from the series, one for each of the main characters and one for each of the stories. Heh! Super cute.

The newspaper is also cool, with some extra comics, blurbs, pointers to Sonny Liew’s other work, and a bunch more stuff. Plus there’s that nifty PDF version on the CD.

And finally, a copy of the book itself… signed and sketched-in by Sonny with a special little bookplate.

All in all this is an amazing little package, and I’m really grateful to Sonny for putting it together and sending it my way. I’ve been a fan of Malinky Robot since its very first appearance, and I’m happy to see it collected, and to see that it’s still something that the creator clearly loves.

You can visit Sonny Liew’s site online at http://sonnyliew.wordpress.com/ and you can buy Malinky Robot wherever better Image Comics trade paperbacks are sold.

– Chris @ The Beguiling

 

Posted on

Comics & Medicine

Hey there,

On the Twitters last weekend I was talking about this comics and medicine conference taking place in Toronto, a really important one (that I missed almost all of as I was on vacation). The Beguiling sponsored a reception on the Monday evening as well, which was apparently a nice time.

Anyhow, my friend Jamie saw this article on the event and sent it my way, and since I’d original missed it as well I figured I’d post it here for you to check out.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1231183–comic-books-have-something-to-teach-future-doctors

Comic books have something to teach future doctors

In addition to the stalwart Manual of Clinical Oncology, medical students may soon see the comic book Cancer Vixen: A True Story on their required reading list.

Researchers at the University of Toronto are using graphic novels as a teaching tool to communicate the ethical and emotional complexities of illness, disease and trauma to medical students…

More in the link!

– Chris

Posted on

No more gatekeepers

I feel pretty good about comics right now. This thought was spurred by the news that, the week after the Batman movie opened, the bestselling graphic novel in the country was Raina Telegemeier’s Smile, a semi-autobiographical account of a young girl finding her way through middlegrade. It’s a full-colour graphic novel for kids, girls in particular, and it’s been on-and-off the top of the bestseller lists for the better part of the two years since it was released. Telegemeier’s next book, Drama, arrives at the end of next month and is likely going to do just as well.

Smile started out as mini-comics, and as web-comics, quite a while back. Raina has been making comics and putting them out there for people since before there was a ‘professional’ avenue for her to do so. She was like hundreds of other creators out there in that way, doing work that is (by every other measure) in a popular genre or mode, but where a professional delivery system for that work did not exist in the comics industry.

It does now.

I don’t mean to suggest that there isn’t work to be done of course, but we’ve hit a point where the lie espoused by the industry gatekeepers, that “there isn’t an audience for kids comics” or “there isn’t an audience for girls or womens comics” has finally been put to rest. Oh, the gatekeepers hung onto it as long as they could, “webcomics aren’t comic books” or “manga aren’t comics” or whatever nonsense they dug up. They’re still espousing it to some degree or another–I particularly liked this article by Heidi MacDonald on why superhero publishers will never “get” women–but it’s demonstrably false. Comics for kids sell now, the Lego Ninjago comic has a 425,000 copy first printing, a number that dwarfs most others in comics… and DC had that license at one point btw. Comics for girls (and boys) like Smile continue to sell very well. Despite the gleeful hand rubbing over the demise of manga, it still sells quite well, thanks. And the internet…? The internet is home to a fantastically diverse array of cartoonists either making their living or a significant chunk of it from the online serialization of their work–and they’re coming for print too.  They are COMING FOR PRINT.

Basically, the gates are down. There are smart publishers, and they aren’t turning down projects by rote anymore. Projects with queer characters, for girls, for women, for kids, for people of colour. And where there aren’t publishers, there are now distribution systems for creators to put their work directly in the hands of readers. If your sole desire is to write/draw Spider-Man or Superman (or god help you Batgirl) then, yeah, the gates are tighter than ever. They probably aren’t going to loosen, either. But if your goal is to do comics, and tell stories that reach people, then that’s at least possible now. There is an industry now, where there wasn’t 10 years ago.

It’s bogus to be denied access to the market do to age or gender or ethnicity or sexuality, and those are the gates that I feel have fallen. Now the challenges of these creators are the same, legitimate challenges that established creators have been facing for years–finding and connecting with your audience, digital, piracy, contracts, publishers, distribution, all of that. It’s not easy, and I doubt it ever will be, but I do finally feel that everyone can finally face those challenges together.

– Chris