N°144 [CULTURE] Taichung likes manga

The creation of the National Comic Book Museum in the former capital is a significant milestone.

Japanese manga is not only a collective memory for younger and older generations in Taiwan, but also has a great impact on the local comic industry and its cultural life.

Over half a century ago, when pirated and duplicated Japanese manga comics swarmed into Taiwan’s comic market, they were considered as a time-wasting “picture book”. Parents always tried to keep their children away from them, but in vain. Children would sneak into a comic book rental store after school and indulged themselves into shelves full of comic books, or hid under the blanket and read comics behind their parents after bedtime.

At present, the fervor for Japanese manga remains vibrant. According to the statistics, Taiwan is ranked the third biggest market for Japanese Comics, followed by the United States and South Korea. Furthermore, the global comic book market was worth $15.5 billion and is expected to reach $26.9 billion in the next decade. 

In light of the rising demand of the global comic market, Taiwanese government felt the urge to establish a comic hub for the local comic artists who have long been in trouble of finding a platform for their works.

In 2017, the former Taichung City mayor Lin Chia-Lung first brought up the idea of building a comic museum in Taichung City. The project remained idle for years until 2023.

On April 1, 2023, Shih Che of former Taiwan Minister of Culture announced the Taichung Prison as the new home for Taiwan’s first museum for comics. At the same time, he made a promise to public that the museum would be expected to open by the end of 2023. It’s not a “Fool’s Day” joke, he said with confidence.

Normally it takes up to ten years to build a new museum. It’s hard to imagine that a project like this can be done in eight months of time.  

“Precisely speaking, four months,” said Huang Shuo, the acting director of Preparatory Office of the National Taiwan Museum of Comics (NTMC), who took on the job in early August, 2023.

The designated comic museum is situated on a history site of former Taichung Prion. Built in 1937, the prison was used by the officers to practice Judo and Kendo during the Japanese colonial era. The compound, covering nearly three hectares, comprises over 15 Japanese-style wooden buildings including a warden’s residence, dormitories for lower-ranking officers, and a public bathhouse.

“It’s an ideal location for the comic-themed museum,” Huang said. “Thanks to the Taichung City Government, all the buildings have been well-kept and restored, and the old Japanese architecture adds to the perfect sense of Taiwanese comic history and connection with Japanese manga.”

However, it was not an easy task to transform an antique prison to a modern museum for comics, despite the fact that the preparations including site allocation and handover had been done beforehand.

“Other than those historical buildings, everything else needed to be reconstructed and retailored including the paved floor, outdoor landscape, safety instrument installation, etc.,” Huang said. 

Having no time to wonder or waste, Huang immediately threw herself into the project. She worked with her construction and curatorial teams from sunrise to the midnight every single day.

“Interestingly enough, I used to drive by many times to teach as a professor in a nearby university, and wondered what this site was. Who would have thought that I would end up working here?” Huang joked herself.   

As promised, the National Taiwan Museum of Comics was unveiled in late December, 2023, presenting itself as the most glamorous Christmas gift for the comic fans.

“Comics are a common memory across borders and generations. The museum will serve as an incubator for our comic artists to create their best works and also make Taichung City a magnet for the comic industry,” Shih Che said on the inauguration ceremony.

Many internationally well-known and respected comic artists were invited to witness the new milestone in the development of Taiwanese Comics, including Keisuke Katsushima, director of Kyoto International Manga Museum, Japanese manga artists Kahoru Fukaya and Keitarō Arima, and Isabelle Debekker, director of Belgian Comic Strip Center, and British comic curator Paul Gravett.

Satonaka Machiko(里中滿智子), President of the Japan Comic Artists Association, delivered her congrats from Japan. “Taiwan’s comic industry has shown a great development in the past ten years. Comics has no boundary between countries, and I’m looking forward to building more connections with Taiwanese Comic artists.”

Chiba Tetsuya, President of the Japan Comic Artists Association and the author of the popular comic books of Shimakko, also expressed his mixed feelings towards the opening of the museum. “When I first learned that the museum would be housed on the site of a former prison in Japanese colonial era, I felt a pinch of pain in my heart. Meanwhile, I’m thrilled to see the comic culture is highly valued on a national grade in Taiwan and will be properly preserved at this well-restored facility,” 

With its distinctive layout and free of admission, the National Taiwan Museum of Comics soon becomes one of the popular tourist attractions in Taichung City. 

It’s common to see people patiently wait in a long line outside the galleries to get a glimpse of the exhibitions as it is required to take shoes off when getting inside of these air-conditioned Japanese-style buildings. 

“I would like to see if I can find those comics I read when I was little, something from the good old days,” a young female visitor said.

“In the past, what we read most was Japanese manga. It’s exciting to see that now we have our own base for Taiwanese comics and I’m here to support the museum,” a man said. 

Unlike a traditional museum, the NTMC strategically opens its east side of the park for a trial run, mainly for showcasing comic-themed exhibitions and providing activities while the main building on the north side is still under construction. The entire museum is expected to officially open in 2029.

The museum boasts over 15,000 pieces of comic collection including original manuscripts from local comic artists, new and old Japanese manga, animations, and comic magazines.

One of the current highlights is the Taiwan’s first hero comic icon, Jhuge Shiro. The young hero, dressed in red and sporting a bun hairstyle, was created by the leading comic artist Yeh Hong-Chia. His serial hero comics took the streets by storm from 1958 to 1970. In celebration of the Yeh’s 100the anniversary, the exhibition features over 100 pieces of his original comic works donated by his son.

Despite the comic-themed gallery, there are lots of attractions for comic fans to explore on this historical site, whether they like to browse the nostalgic books in the comic book rental shop, soak in comics in the bathhouse, or simply take a walk around the park.

The outdoor courtyard is clean and tranquil, completed with a picturesque mirror lake and an array of shops and cafes, including Hanami Japanese teahouse, Jia casual ramen restaurant, and the popular Wu Tian Italian gelato shop under the beautiful bougainvillea tree.

The banyan trees of the park are also an eye-caching scenery. They were planted by the Japanese prison officers when they moved in. As decades went by, one particular banyan tree in the center of the park has grown thick and tall. Its prop roots dangle and wrap up the bricks and broken windows of a collapsed abandoned house, just like a living tree monster from a horror comic book.

It still remains undisclosed that there is an abandoned motor scooter tightly stocked within another banyan tree, if someone is curiously enough to find out.

Jo Chen

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