It can be said that Manga is one of the Japan’s significant cultural products.
　The Ministry of Foreign Affairs started “ The International MANGA Award “ in 2007 as part of the efforts to make manga one of the  primary tools for cultural diplomacy in addition to traditional culture and art.

　Entries from more than 50 countries were submitted by manga artists who have grown up with Pokemon, Saint Seiya, or Sailor Moon.
　The 2011 golden award went to ”Si Loin et Si Proche( So Far and So Close.　This is a story about a young lady living in Beijing. Xiao Bai, a young Chinese lady, wrote it in French and  it was published  in Belgium.
　The silver award was given to ”Face Cachée”（Hidden Face）This was written and drawn by a group of French manga artists. The main character is a Japanese businessman who chats with his wife online at an internet café and stays at a capsule hotel on weekdays, returning home to Kamakura only on weekends.

　Nobody can deny that manga has already become incredibly international. Manga is not only a type of entertainment, but a form of communication, ;a medium with a unique style different from language or film.
　Manga is originally a Japanese term literally meaning whimsical and humorous sketches,  and it is well known the first Manga sketch is "Animal-person Caricatures”from the 12^th  century.
　Around the 18^th century, one of the well-known Ukiyoe artists, Hokusai published “ Hokusai Manga”. Other Ukiyoe artists published manga before and after the Meiji Restoration.  As  time went on, manga kept on developing; mixing traditional methods and new ideas from overseas to become a box-office business in publishing.

　However, with the growth of new media, TV, animation film began to grab children’s attention.  Japanese animation films  were exported to other countries and they succeeded in winning favor among children in those countries.
Now, it is difficult to believe that parents and school teachers tried hard to get rid of manga in 1950s.

Nobody can deny manga has already become one of the greatest Japanese cultures that people of different ages and from different countries can share.  What will come next? How about the use of  manga in communications for industrial activities, community promotion projects, and personal friendship?