Story

Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga! was first published in 1996 by the intrepid Stone Bridge Press, in Berkeley, California. I created it as a sequel of sorts to Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics, which had first appeared thirteen years previously, in 1983. By this time, many people had been asking me to write some sort of update, but updating what was already a popular "classic" somehow didn't seem right, so I decided to take a very different approach. Instead of doing a vast, general survey of the manga scene, I incorporated essays on what to me were interesting manga-related subjects and artists and trends. By 1996, translated manga had finally become visible in the English-language publishing world. Translated manga were still a very niche market, but there were already legions of devoted fans and a several publishers that catered to them. In my opinion, however, the filter at the time was far too narrow; in other words, the titles being imported tended to fall into very limited categories--mainly genres of comics that were somewhat familiar to Americans, such as male-oriented science fiction, action/adventure, and an occasional samurai story. I wanted to draw reader's attention to the more exotic manga available in Japan, to issues facing the industry, and to some of the more provocative artists pushing the envelope. Sales of manga in Japan peaked right around the time I was working on the book, so it was the perfect opportunity to also show how vibrant Japan's manga culture had become. 

Since finishing Manga! Manga! I had also written a lot about manga in various magazines and in a column for the English-language Mainichi Daily News. I had also brainstormed several ideas for another manga book with a friend, Leonard Koren, on the avant-garde manga magazine, Garo (a project that melted down around 1990 when the New York publisher, Pantheon, temporarily melted down).  As part of all this work, I had been able to concentrate on what I personally found  fascinating, to do interviews with interesting artists, and to study unusual trends that were emerging. I could explore what was happening in a nation where, perhaps for the first time in history, comics had become a true mass-media on par with films and novels.

I was lucky in that Stone Bridge Press agreed to publish the work. My old friend, Peter Goodman, the president, had previously worked at Kodansha International where Manga! Manga! had been published. He was fully on board with the project and gave me basically free-reign to work on the book, but brought his honed editing and design skills to the process. Linda Ronan, who has worked on several of my other books at Stone Bridge, did a wonderful job as the designer. We were extremely luck to have my dear (now late) friend, Raymond Larrett, work on the cover. He was a brilliant cartoonist himself, with something of an obsession with Japanese popular culture at the time, and he brought a spot-on sensibility to the project.

Like most of my books, Dreamland Japan didn't sell millions of copies, but it worked well in a niche market. It caught the imagination of enough readers that in 2011 Stone Bridge Press brought out a special hardcover "Collectors's Edition." It included a new preface and some updates but the cover and most of the content remained the same as the original.  That people wanted a hardcover "Collector's Edition" showed that the book, like Manga! Manga!,  had lasting impact and value to many people. 

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Cover Text

"Manga— or Japanese comics— have become a certified cultural megaforce. Born in the Japanese collective unconscious, their dreamlike visions and epic, cinematic qualities have launched a multibillion industry and inspired
pictorial storytellers throughout the world.

In this long-awaited sequel to his award-winning Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics, Japanese culture expert Frederik L. Schodt looks at the current state of the manga universe, both in and outside Japan. In brief essays he introduces dozens of artists, magazines, and individual works, and he goes —beyond manga— to look at manga's impact on society and on the evolution of animation, film, and graphic design. An entire chapter is devoted to the work of Osamu Tezuka, the "god of comics," and an up-to-date appendix lists manga resources and Internet connections for fans and conventiongoers.

With over 100 black-and-white illustrations and 8 pages in full color, Dreamland Japan showcases the astonishing variety of manga today, from Buddhist cosmology and gay romance to tales of atomic cats, pachinko experts, motorcycle girls, and hardboiled heroes. In manga, there is room for every fantasy--every dream. --From the back cover of the first 1996 edition.

Dreamland Japan was first published in 1996 as a successor to the author’s earlier, award-winning Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics. Examining the manga phenomenon then at its all-time peak of commercial success, it remains an expert’s guide to the underpinnings of the manga universe, both in and outside Japan.  Here, with over 100 black-and-white illustrations and 8 pages in full color, are dozens of artists, magazines, and individual works, plus a look at manga's impact on society and on the evolution of anime and animation, film, and graphic design.

This Collector’s Edition retains all the original content and adds important updates on just how the manga industry has evolved, covering new issues of piracy and censorship, internationalization, and changing fan demograhics. The result is an enduring work that deserves a permanent place on any bookshelf.--From the back cover of the 2011 edition

Praise

Here some comments from reviewers:

"Schodt gives readers a sense that manga is a vast ocean in Japan with genres undreamed ot in American comics. Dreamland Japan is recommended for all comic fans--not just the historical information, but because Japan has truly understood that comics are only limited by our imagination."

--Ed Sizemore, MangaWorthReading.com

"No one knows more about this world and converys it with greater warmth and unpretentious insight than Frederik L. Schodt, and the timing of this collector's edition is ideal: as Schodt notes in his new Afterword, manga, Japan, and those of us interested in both are undergoing radical transformations. Luckily, we have this kick-ass book to guide us."

--Roland Kelts, author of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culure Has Invaded the U.S.

"Fred Schodt's Dreamland Japan is the most encompassing and the best introduction to manga I have ever read. For anyone involved in graphic literature this book is necessary background reading."

--Will Eisner, graphic novelist, creator of The Spirit.

"For the last dozen years, comics enthusiasts have referred to Schodt's Manga! Manga! as 'the Bible on Japanese comics.' Now they will have to refer to Manga! Manga! as 'the Old Testament,' because Dreamland Japan is now available as 'the New Testament,' bringing Schodt's comprehensive scholarship on Japanese cartoon literature up to the present."

--Fred Patten, animation and comics historian

"The informally encyclopedic Dreamland Japan—the result of Schodt's 16-plus years of studying manga—not only makes it easier to understand the art form but also says a good deal about Japanese culture…this is an authoritative reference of the different categories of manga, popular titles and publishers..

--Publisher's Weekly

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Publishing Data (and editions)

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Get a Copy

Dreamland Japan is available from the publisher, Stone Bridge Press, or through finer bookstores, both real and web-virtual, including