Manga Drawing for Wellbeing

If you are stuck at home, and have a little more time on your hands, perhaps you are thinking of developing or honing new skills. The Japan Society has many resources online for those interested in finding out more about manga, or hearing from artists.

As part of this programming, we’re delighted to be able to offer our first online manga workshop with UK-based manga artist, Fumio Obata, which will focus on the healing aspects of creativity and being mindful of your surroundings, something much needed in times like these.

The workshop also reflects on Fumio's recent work, The Garden, created in collaboration with writer Sean Michael Wilson and published in May this year by Liminal 11.

The Garden is a story of healing through mindfulness and gardening, in which a career-driven protagonist finds peace and a new sense of calm through nurturing her garden as part of the process of recovering from a nervous breakdown.

As well as being a manga artist, Fumio has had a career as an animator, working with Duran Duran, Channel4 and Redkite Animations. In 2010 he started tutoring as a visiting lecturer for BA courses in the UK to support young talents to develop their own/unique artistic voices in various sequential contexts such as animation, graphic novel and children’s book.

Fumio also previously worked with Japan Society giving a keynote lecture at Sixth Form Japan Day 2019.

Watch our interview with Fumio Obata, in which he talks about his highly acclaimed graphic novel Just So Happens, which has been translated into 7 languages and published in 8 different countries.

Website: http://www.fumioobata.co.uk/