Kumamoto University established the International Manga Studies Education and Research Center in the Faculty of Letters.In addition to collecting manga as materials, the policy is to make it a base for full-scale research, and the idea is to use it for regional development using manga.Manga research is being pursued at private universities such as Kyoto Seika University, but it is rare at national and public universities.
According to Kumamoto University, the International Manga Studies Education and Research Center will promote the archiving of manga, develop human resources for research and development, and play a central role in the "Manga Prefecture Kumamoto" promoted by industry, academia, and government.The graduate school plans to open a master's course in 2023 and a doctoral course in 2025.Since there are few courses and books that study manga from an academic perspective in earnest, manga studies will be created as an academic discipline.
Archiving will be done in collaboration with Kyoto Seika University's International Manga Museum, Kitakyushu Manga Museum, Meiji University Yonezawa Yoshihiro Memorial Library, etc., and building a nationwide network.
In Kumamoto Prefecture, Eiichiro Oda, a manga artist known for "ONE PIECE", is from Kumamoto City, so as a recovery measure from the Kumamoto earthquake, statues of the Straw Hat Pirates, the companions of the main characters of ONE PIECE, are set up in various parts of the prefecture. is doing.
Furthermore, in connection with the setting that Misae, the mother of "Crayon Shin-chan", is from Kumamoto Prefecture, we will focus on regional development through manga, such as signing a family city agreement with Saitama Prefecture and Akita Prefecture, which are related to the characters. ing.
