日本語本はすごいですね？

I found much to my shock a national bestselling Cell Phone Novel, Light Novel (Japanese Young Adult Novel) and a book with a cover that really grabbed my attention (no idea what the genre or target reader age was). It came as a shock since, typically, the store refuses to stock YA or Cell Phone Novels. No idea why but I think they don’t sell as well to Japanese Americans, at least not in my area.

Just A Typical Adult…

This past Wednesday, author and blogger Donna Gambale wrote a refreshing and humorous piece on how unrealistic real life can be when presented within the pages of a typical Young Adult novel printed in America and Europe. Listing off ten scenarios, she gave two answers. The first was that which an adult knows to be true, and the latter that which a YA novel will seemingly support you doing. The idea was quite appealing and I realized that I myself could perhaps create my own small spin-off on the concept.

So without further ado, I will present the same idea, but using Japanese Young Adult literature (Light Novels) as my catalyst. I will also provide a “per courtesy” below each scenario to reveal which book it is drawn from.

Due to the fact that most readers here have probably never read most of these books, the jokes may not prove as familiar as the one’s presented by Gambale, but I hope that even with a different culture, the humor will still ring true.

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Actual Answer: Run… Run… RUN DAMN IT! 
YA Answer: You find her somewhat cute and decide to wash her panties for eternity.

Courtesy of: “Zero’s Familiar” by Noboru Yamaguchi

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Actual Answer: Report her, find her parents and curse the recklessness of youth.
YA Answer: You agree and ride off into the sunset together… on your wagon. She may be 570 years older than you, but love can overcome all obstacles!

Courtesy of: “Spice and Wolf” by Isuna Hasekura

Actual Answer: Dump her faster than Monday morning trash and quickly bend on knee to propose to the girl only few ever hope to find. 
YA Answer: Against all the odds, you’ll stick it out. After all, she’s kind of cute when she’s abusing you. Those scars on your back (and heart) are emblems of her love!

Courtesy of: “Zero’s Familiar” by Noboru Yamaguchi

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Actual Answer: Prepare to die. 
YA Answer: Psh! No worries! Just get your teenage friend, who is super weird and serious, but who also happens to be secretly working with the military, to use the experience he had in Afghanistan to save the plane, hijack a giant mechanized vehicle and cause havoc in South Korea.

Courtesy of: “Full Metal Panic!” by Shouji Gatou

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Actual Answer: Oh shi… 
YA Answer: Nothing to sweat over. He’s probably just killing vampires like all good priests know how to. Maybe I can help him! I’ll go ask.
Courtesy of: “Trinity Blood” by Sunao Yoshida

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Actual Answer: Report the missing slip of paper and continue life as planned. 
YA Answer: Take the invite and sneak onboard, masquerading as another. Theft is okay as long as it might lead to some exciting adventure! Besides, the ship is pretty cool. The guests are already playing a game. One’s pretending to be dea…
Courtesy of: GOSICK by Kazuki Sakuraba

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Actual Answer: Contact the poison control center ASAP. 
YA Answer: Give her some more paper. After all, you’re just happy she stopped chewing on the binding of Hemingway.
Courtesy of: “Book Girl and the Suicidal Mime” by Mizuki Nomura

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Actual Answer: Start looting their supplies before nightfall. 
YA Answer: Invite yourself into one of their homes. They seem friendly enou…
Courtesy of: “Kino no Tabi” by Keiichi Sigsawa

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Actual Answer: You’re dreams of having a child have finally broken you. The psychiatric ward is the next stop. 
YA Answer: Awesome! I’ve finally been granted my very own miracle grow baby.
Courtesy of: “Missing You” by Otsuichi

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Actual Answer: Get frustrated.
YA Answer: Get frust… oh, wait, this is actually the same for both. Ahem.

Courtesy of: All Japanese YA Romantic Comedies

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If you’re curious about Japanese YA and want to learn more: CLICK HERE

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It’s been six long months since my last article on Young Adult fiction in Japan, and with the recent explosion of YA in America this month due to the release of the highly anticipated “Hunger Games” movie, I thought there would probably be no better time than right now to jump back into the mix and discuss a topic that will have more than one head turning in curiosity.

In past discussions, I’ve noticed some random readers express disbelief in my claim that Japanese YA sales are not driven by trends. This, of course, for American readers (not to mention publishers), seems quite extraordinary. A good example can be seen from this month. When Suzanne Collins novel took off in sales and popularity, so did the number of “dystopian” genre books that attempted to ride the “next big wave”. You can see the effect of her book in every Barnes & Noble. Title after title of dystopian inspired works now replace much of the space that vampire lit used to retain.

With every new bestselling YA book in America comes a flurry of others attempting to cash in on the genre it represented, and often times, even the story itself. But in Japan, this scenario so many have become used to is far removed from reality. For a nation that loves trends, much of what it reads has none.

Volume 3 of the English Translation

Set in a creatively altered version of history shortly before the new millennium, the world of Full Metal Panic is a somewhat eerie picture of what our world could have looked like had certain historic and technological conditions existed prior to the Cold War. With the Soviet Union still standing resolved and the KGB active, this strange mirror of time is made even more seemingly unstable by the invention of humanoid fighting machines, or “Arm Slaves” as they’re called. Created under the Reagan administration, these tall mechanical robots, controlled by a single pilot inside, have devastatingly powerful weapons. Having been deployed by a number of governments as a part of their national security or wartime offenses, they represent a dynamic shift in control of the world’s power. But amongst this volatile landscape stands a single group that exists in order to prevent an all out war. Self dubbed as MITHRIL, a group that has no country affiliation or ties, it secretly monitors potential threats and independently acts to subdue them, breaking numerous international laws in the process.

When Sousuke Sagara, one of MITHRIL’s best and youngest Arm Slave pilots, is ordered to accept a new and highly hazardous mission in an effort to stop a possible soviet abduction, the seventeen year old is all ears. But when he soon realizes that his mission is to become a high school student in Japan to keep watch over a certain girl whose attention has caught the eyes of the KGB, his stamina is less than energized. The young Japanese native who was raised most of his life in the mountains of Afghanistan has next to no experience with civilization, let alone public school. Though Sousuke objects, MITHRIL places their faith in him and his team is assembled quickly for a departure for Tokyo.

However, what would seem to be the easiest military operation devised in recent memory quickly turns into a sizable culmination of mishaps, misunderstandings, confusion, partial nudity, girls’ locker rooms, and a Korean terrorist hijacking that proves to be anything but simple. With a secret buried deep within the recesses of a young girl’s mind, the socially awkward military high school student must find a way not only to save everyone’s lives, but also himself.

2. “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya”  by  Nagaru Tanigawa

Picture of Book 9 in the Ongoing Series

There are two main characters in this story. The first is Kyon, the sarcastic, levelheaded young man who wants nothing more than to live a normal life. The second is his classmate Haruhi Suzumiya, the bored, forceful girl who wants nothing but to seek out and discover the strange, weird and abnormal. They say that opposites attract, so then it naturally follows why she shows an interest in Kyon, recruiting him one day into her newly founded after-school club whose goal it is to seek out the paranormal. Less than thrilled at his prospects, he is introduced to three other recently inducted members, who each reveal a secret to Kyon as he slowly gets to know them: they are anything but random students. The book worm claims to be an alien, the klutz announces she is a time traveller, while the charming young man purports he is an esper. As if the insane propositions given weren’t enough to shatter his remaining sanity, when he learns the reason why these three have allowed themselves to be brought together by Haruhi, the answer changes his life in ways he never could have predicted.

A new goal is soon added in secret to the club by its four members: to keep Haruhi happy, because even if she doesn’t realize it yet, she possesses the ability to destroy the entire universe with a single thought.

3. “Book Girl and the Suicidal Mime”  by  Mizuki Nomura

The narrator and protagonist of this unique story, Konoha Inoue, is a high school student with a big secret. He wrote a bestselling novel in middle school under a female pen name,  but the popularity and secrecy that came as a result proved far too great for him to handle, driving him to the edge and ultimately causing him to never wish to write again. Now, ironically, he finds himself in a book club run by his classmate Tohko Amano, a girl one year his senior. And what task does President Tohko demand of Konoha? To write short stories. Why? Because Tohko has a bit of a secret herself. She eats books, literally, and she loves handwritten ones the best. However, one day, when a young first year student comes to the club seeking help with a relationship, things go from strange to the downright bizarre. As the truth is gradually unveiled, several characters will be forced to look deep inside of themselves, and what they find might prove deadly.

Filled with references to famous classic 20th century works such as “The Great Gatsby” and the work of Japanese author Osamu Dazai, details from these classis are intimately woven into the narrative, leaving a presence that lasts all the way until the very end with devastating results.

4. “Toradora!”  by  Yuyuko Takemiya

This story begins with the main character, Ryūji Takasu, frustrated at his failed attempts to improve his image before the second year of High School. In spite of his gentle demeanor, his eyes make him appear to others as if he were a threatening delinquent. As a result of this unfortunate genetic inheritance from his foregone father, who was in fact an actual Japanese gangster, he finds himself feeling utterly hopeless about his chances of ever finding a girlfriend. On top of all this, he doesn’t have many close friends. Having a mother who routinely comes home late each night drunk, Ryūji takes on more responsibilities than most at his age.

When the first day of school arrives, he is happy to discover that he gets to be in the same class as his only friend Yūsaku Kitamura and the girl he has a secret crush on, Minori Kushieda. But, when he happens to knock into “the palm fist Tiger”—Taiga Aisaka—his new classmate and personal friend of his crush, all hell is let loose.

Taiga is notorious for her negative attitude towards others, not to mention her lack of restraint at snapping at fellow classmates, let alone teachers. After meeting Ryūji, and realizing his cruch on her friend, she begins to concentrate her scorn on him alone. Hailing from a rich family, but living on her own due to numerous issues, she is much to Ryuji’s utter dismay, living in an apartment next to his. With tensions high and the risk of actual death quite possible, Ryuji will be forced to gain leverage on her, if, of course, that’s even possible.

5. “Spice and Wolf”  by  Isuna Hasekura

Book 12 of the 17 Volume Series

Set within Europe during the Medieval Ages, the story introduces readers to the laid back merchant Kraft Lawrence as he travels with his horse and wagon across the rolling country side. Moving from one town to another he sells and trades differing goods ranging from wheat to animal skins. The world in which we he lives is one under the strict and oppressive rule of the Roman Catholic Church, but one in which the seeds of descent are spreading as rumors of Church financial problems surface along with higher taxes on trade.

The novel begins with Lawrence’s startling discovery of a naked young girl in the back of his wagon one night after trading in a nearby rural town, and it quickly grows stranger. This young girl has a set of wolf ears atop her head and a large bushy tail protruding from her lower back. All of this is made even more beyond belief when she announces her identity as Holo. This name is recognizable to Lawrence. It’s the name of the nearby town’s local harvest deity. “Are you a God?” he asks incredulously. With these simple words, a heated discussion begins between the two. At the end, it comes down to a request from the girl. She has grown tired of helping the town’s crops and longs to return to her homeland in the North. She can’t do it on her own though as she would be crucified by the Church if discovered. So a deal is reached between the spice trader and wolf. As long as she repays all expenses, he will allow her to travel beside him on his way north. Agreeing, the two start out on their journey, unaware of the dangers that await them. Could the young merchant have made the best or worst deal of his short career? Only time will tell.

6. “Kino’s Journey”  by  Keiichi Sigsawa

Volume 12 of the Ongoing Series

The setting of Sigsawa’s novel is as foreign as it is similar to our own. Readers are quickly introduced to a world of vast diversity. Countries are the size of towns, and areas exist where, although robots roam, no considerable technological advances have been made. These are just a few of the strangely beautiful paradoxes that take up room in this imaginary creation. The main protagonist, a young teenage girl who goes by the name Kino, is accompanied by her companion, a talking motorcycle, as they visit each of these unique countries on their journey. The novel is told through a series of short stories, each one representing a stay in one of the countries that she visits and each one never lasting more than three days. At each stop she is confronted with the lives, hardships, and problems of people and sometimes entire cultures that she has never met, and at each one she questions whether to intervene. Though none of the stories are connected chronologically, they all share one thing in common: Kino has arrived, and with her, a new perspective.

Beautifully written, painfully poignant, and stunningly thought provoking, this collection of short stories chronicles the journey of one girl’s choices and the relationship between the beautiful and ugly.

7. “Mimizuku and the King of Night”  by  Kougyoku Izuki

When Mimizuku, a small girl with chains on her wrists and ankles and the numbers “332″ branded onto her forehead, wanders into the Forest of Night, she does so with the intention of being eaten by a monster. However, when the ruler of the monsters, the mysterious and beautiful “King of Night,” refuses to devour her, she is not deterred in the least and decides she will not leave his side until he does. A tale of lazy knights, scorning wives, crippled princes, bloody flowers, ancient magic and the cruelty of life, Mimizuku is forced to face her own humanity and what that ultimately means for her fate.

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8. “Idiots, Tests, and Summoned Beasts”  by  Kenji Inoue

The story in this instance centers around a boy named Akihisa Yoshii, also known by his peers as “the idiot”. He happens to attend Fumizuki Academy, where school staff rigidly divide their students based on the results of their academic scores. At the start of the school, the students are sorted according to their exam grades. The higher the grades, the higher the class, and the better the benefits. Get good grades and you’ll end up in the prestigious Class A, filled with air conditioners, laptops, a free snack bar, etc. Get bad grades and you’ll end up in Class F, filled with nothing more than mats and wooden tables.

In this academy, all the students are capable of calling forth Summoned Beings. These Beings are then subsequently used for battles between classes with the intention of capturing better classroom facilities. When an intelligent girl named Mizuki Himeji suffers from a fever and is incapable of finishing her test, she is sent automatically to Class F. It is then, when “the idiot” and main protagonist of the story, Akihisa Yoshii, comes up with a plan to rule over the other classes. But in order to do such a thing, and change the power structure forever, they’ll need to start a war.

9. “Song Messanger of the Color of Twilight”  by  Kei Sazane

In a world where colors are sung, and songs consist of colors, both prove valuable to the one who wishes for power. There are five colors; no more, no less. But until the emergence of one individual, nobody had learned how to master all five.

But with the discovery of the possibility, comes the question that haunts him. Are there really only five? One girl and her son hold the answer, but first he’ll have to find them.

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10. “Shakugan no Shana”  by  Yashichiro Takahashi

Yuji Sakai, a high school student, expected his very normal life to last forever. However, this expectation was quickly shattered the day the world suddenly froze in time. Or, to be more precise, a small section of the world in which he happened to be walking on. With disjointed horror, Yuji watches as blue flames begin to engulf the people around him. Eventually, a monster resembling a large doll becomes visible and begins to suck the flames into its mouth, that is, until it notices Yuji.

Just as it prepares to consume the boy though, a sword-wielding girl in black attire with flaming red eyes appears. With ease she cuts down the doll and only after a few more moments, noticed the frightened boy watching her. When Yuji notices a blue flame in his own chest, the girl, who calls herself a Flame Haze, informs him that the “real” Yuji has already died. He is, according to her words, a “Torch”, a temporary replacement for “erased” humans. His job is to live on until he fades from existence, which will be very soon.

Unsure of whether to believe the girl’s words, Yuji befriends her, with little knowledge that his life, though apparently almost over, has only just begun.

11. “Bakemonogatari”  by  NISIOISIN

The book concentrates around Koyomi Araragi, a third year high school student who is on the road to becoming human again after briefly having been transformed into a vampire. One day, a classmate named Hitagi Senjōgahara, a known introvert who spoke to no one, falls down the stairs into Koyomi’s arms. He discovers much to his shock that Hitagi weighs next to nothing. Despite threats from her to stay away, Koyomi offers her his help, and introduces her to the strange middle-aged man living in an abandoned building who cured him of his vampires-like tendencies.

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12. “Zero’s Familiar”  by  Noboru Yamaguchi

When high school student Saito Hiraga, while on his way back from picking up his laptop at the local repair shop, finds himself suddenly falling through a vortex into another world, he had no idea why minutes later he was being kissed by a strange girl dressed in a cape and holding a stick in her hand. But when he noticed all the other teenagers nearby them, levitating, he quickly realized that he wasn’t in Tokyo anymore.

Incredulously, he is informed that he is now the “familiar” of a Miss Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. Though confused at the word then, he soon realizes what it ultimately means: he is her personal slave.

Surrounded by a world where magic is common place and those who can’t use it are poor, he’ll have to find a way back home through some unusual circumstances. Of course, that’s if he can go home at all. Because though no one is sure why Louise managed to summon a human as a familiar (a feat never before known to have happened), they know nothing of his world. Perhaps more mysterious, since his arrival, he’s been branded with a strange set of foreign words on his hand that may hold more meaning than he thinks.

13. “BACCANO!”  by  Ryohgo Narita

Set deep in Manhattan, New York during the 1930’s, Baccano! is the story of mafia at the height of the Prohibition era. At the heart of the underworld, something foul is afoot, and it involves more than just liquor heists. With alchemists, homunculi and demons on the loose, each with their own goals and plans, a group of mafia hit men will find themselves locked in a plot that began all the way back in 1705.

With every man and woman fighting for the ultimate prize, a crate of bottles that hold immense value, no one is safe from death… unless of course, you aren’t human.

Love, immortality and blind stupidity run side by side in a tale that has all guns blazing and more than a few bombs rolling.  

14. “Mushi-Uta”  by  Kyouhei Iwai

This particular story takes place in the near future. Ten years before the story’s opening, strange insect-like creatures known as “Mushi” began appearing. The Mushi are able to consume people’s dreams and thoughts in return for supernatural powers. The protagonist Daisuke “Kakkō” Kusuriya encounters a young girl named Shiika Anmoto. The two, in time, become quite close. However, unbeknownst to Kakkō, Shiika is an escapee from a secret prison known as GARDEN where those possessed by the Mushi, known as the Mushitsuki, are held. GARDEN’s military force, the Special Environmental Conservation Executive Office, quickly dispatches its finest killer to track down Shiika and things begin to take some unexpected turns.

15. “A Certain Magical Index”  by  Kazuma Kamachi

Toma Kamijo is a student in Academy City, a technologically advanced city located in Western Tokyo which studies students with superhuman endowed powers. For Toma, it’s his right hand, called the Imagine Breaker, that has the ability to negate any supernatural powers, but in the process, his own luck as well. One day he finds a young girl hanging on his balcony who calls herself Index. He learns from her that she is a nun from Necessarius, a secret magic branch of the Church of England. Her mind, she tells him, has been implanted with 103,000 forbidden books that the Church has removed from circulation. His strange encounter with her leads him to meet others from this secret world and an adventure with his friends where science and magic collide.

So what we can see, from viewing just 15 of the bestsellers from 2008 is that… well… they don’t really share much in common. In fact, the diversity apparent is a bit overwhelming. Other than location (school), there really isn’t much to tie these books together. Though almost every single one of them is a book series, one even stretching back to the 1990′s, readers have continued to buy new books that have little connection to previous bestsellers. This same trend (ironic, no?) is seen nearly yearly in Japan and it doesn’t appear that it will change any time soon.

Something important to keep in mind is that this is only the top 15. If I had shown the next 15 bestsellers, things would have gotten quite interesting with the amount of mysteries, thrillers and paranormal fantasies that are selling. One of my favorites, ranking near 30th place, is a mystery book series titled GOSICK that takes place in Europe during the 1920′s.

So what, if anything, is the reason why the Japanese market appears to usually avoid the cycle of cloning that America seems to be plagued from? Although opinions will vary, my own theory centers on the fact that for Japan, there never truly was “one ultimate book series”. Unlike in America (where “Harry Potter” or “Twilight” had their time solely in the spotlight), in Japan, the biggest book series is just one of many other giant bestsellers. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that when the YA industry saw its proverbial boom in sales, it was as a result of numerous bestselling book series, and not one single holy grail.

Some may remember when parents and librarians were claiming that Harry Potter had saved reading. Of course, this quickly proved false when these same readers had no interest in reading any other books. The problem was, Harry Potter hadn’t made them fall in love with books (plural), but a single book. Whereas, in Japan, readers fell in love with numerous books at the same time and as a result, reading in general.

The bigger question though, one that is sure to float in many a mind, is whether this same ideal can be achieved in the West. The answer is, alas, yet unknown.

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(STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENT: PART 7 – The Fans 

In the next article, I’ll be focusing on one of the most important aspects of the industry, the readers themselves. We already are well aware of the devotion some fans can have for an author and their book series’ (Harry Potter & Twilight come to mind), but what about in Japan? How dedicated are the fans and how far will publishers go to please them?)

(<<CLICK HERE TO GO BACK AND READ PART 5)

Why do we write?

It’s a question that cuts to the core of our very soul and could possibly be considered one of the most important any author ever has to face.

What drives us to write? What is our ambition; perhaps even our sole ambition?

Many authors freely admit that their only goal is to be pleased with the work themselves. To be blunt: they write merely for the sake of writing. They may never have another person read their work, but as long as they like what they write, that is good enough.

This kind of writing mentality is very popular these days and it’s often repeated as supportive advice to aspiring authors who are worried that their work won’t be quite good enough for publication. On the outset, of course, it sounds very good.

After all, some people will probably hate what you wrote. Yes, I said hate. There isn’t a work of art, film or literature that someone out there in this wide world doesn’t hold great disdain for.

And what will get you through all that? The fact that “you” believe in your story. After all, as an excellent example, even J. K. Rowling was told Harry Potter of all books would be a flop. Crazy now in retrospect, but back then she had to believe in it for it to be what it is today. She, alone, had to believe in it against all odds.

So, at face value, the inspirational comment told to so many writers seems true at its heart.

But, alas, there are drawbacks to this.

To begin with, if one writes only for ones self, it would seem to me that that said writer has very little care about the opinion of others. He, as a result probably has little care for the advice of an agent or editor. Furthermore, he probably doesn’t care one way or another whether he gets published at all. If by chance others like his work too, he can celebrate. Otherwise, it really doesn’t matter.

Through this process, the writer of this mindset appears to be quite self-absorbed. He/She is trapped in a bubble and perfectly content to remain within it.

“There is this disconnect between the ideal of writing for yourself and the reality of needing people to read it for the writing to be fully worth the time and effort,” writes Tyler Braun on his blog “Man of Depravity”.

“If that’s the end goal, to write for yourself…keep a diary and don’t let anyone read it. If your writing is going to be read by others, you have to write for them, not you. If you’re writing only for yourself, why share it? Why publish it in spaces where others would read it?”

To further this point, an author wrote a comment to Mr. Braun’s article: “I’m working on a book and my initial introduction said “I’m not writing this book for you, I’m writing it for me.” When my agent read it he said, “that may have been the introduction you needed to write to propel you into writing this piece, but if people are spending $10 on a book, it darn well better be for them.”

This mentality builds up the mindset for the writer that their opinion matters first and foremost above all others. Yet, as any seasoned writer well knows, our opinions can often be misguided or downright wrong. It’s through the process of critiques, edits, and brainstorming that we reshape what we write, usually thanks to the help of others who can see what we cannot.

If a writer takes this way of thinking to heart, they’ll never seek to improve their book. After all, they’ll be content with it. They’ll never care to have it reviewed for critiques and edits, since after all, they’re content as it is. And so, it follows, that when their book is rejected by a publisher, the person will feel vindicated in their belief that “they just don’t understand my talent.”

But is this truly what we want? Should we actually encourage this?

All I can do, in opposition, is state my personal feelings on the matter. I won’t pretend to play the almighty judge and inquisitor on this subject, even if on this blog, that is my right. This is instead an open question that I want everyone in the publishing industry to ask themselves in private.

As for me, I can honestly say, much to the contrary of the previous line of thinking, that I would not write anything if there wasn’t someone who would eventually read it.

That’s right. I wouldn’t write a thing, books or otherwise, if there weren’t others who’d read it too.

But why? Why can’t I be content with just myself?

It probably has a little to do with what drives me to put pen to paper.

I feel inspired every time I read a good book. Whether its by the philosophical motorcycle speeding escapades of Keiichi Sigsawa or the futuristic totalitarian teenage angst driven Suzanne Collins, I feel for that moment in time as if the author has connected with my soul in a way otherwise not possible.

That imprint a good book leaves, has in my experience, never left at any time. “The Island of the Blue Dolphins” was powerful to me in the 4th Grade, and still is even now.

Because of that life changing ability of books, I feel an intense obligation to, at the very least, attempt to do the same. Perhaps my stories won’t be as defining as others, but if my only contribution to another reader is a smile to brighten their day or a thought that haunts their mind for the evening, than I feel like I have given a little back.

I don’t write for my ego. I don’t just write for the sake of having the ability.

I write because I am a storyteller. And stories, at their core, are meant to be shared.

Now, don’t misread me. I am not claiming that it’s wrong to continue writing even when others around you disapprove. I actually think that the advice about writing for yourself has some truth to it. We cannot, as writers, fall into the trap of writing solely for the sake of others. We ourselves must believe and love what we produce. As a friend of mine stated clearly, “I wouldn’t write something I hated, even if everyone loved it.”

But should we just write because we can, because we like our own work? Does it stop there? Will that be our one and only ambition?

Or should we write because deep down inside we want to do for a reader exactly what another author did for us?

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I was once asked in an interview, “What would be your advice to young writers on how they could improve their writing?”

I replied quickly, “Read more.”

Reflecting back, I’m sure some probably felt it was a simplistic answer.

However, that’s because, frankly, it’s quite a simple issue. At least, far simpler than many seem to be lead to believe.

Stephen King phrased it best in a candid video on YouTube, “I have no patience for those who say they want to write but have no time to read.”

So many writers, especially those who are young (whether in age or experience) are convinced that they need to spend most of their time working on honing their grammar skills.

“Write every day.” They hear the voice in their head repeat the words of some author or blogger. With honest sincerity, they believe that if they can just keep typing on the keyboard they will in theory, get better.

The problem is, that though they’ll improve, it will only be in one aspect.

The error in only giving a recommendation of attempting to write every day is the same misplaced logic as telling someone to “exercise every day” to improve their health.

What the latter forgot to mention is that if the person doesn’t improve their diet as well, the body will still not truly be healthy.

The same is true for writing.

Cranking out a number of words each day is very good, in fact, I dare say it deserves a round of applause, but without reading, well, it feels a bit hollow.

What we write is a direct result as to what we put in us. Our ideas, our stories, our characters, our worlds we create, all of it, is made up by a combination of our own original thoughts and those by which we took in from others.

If all we ever do is take up our time writing, especially in the early years of a writer’s hopeful new career, his own ideas will be inhibited by the lack of imagination he possesses.

Let’s put it a different way, did Harry Potter become popular because it was well written or because it was imaginative? Sure, both played a role, but what part was the one that it could not have become popular without? The latter, obviously. Just because something is well written does not mean it will become popular.

So how can a new or experienced writer ever expect to pen the next bestselling novel if they aren’t reading new material often and exposing their mind to new ideas? Simple answer: they can’t.

And it shows.

Simply look at book trends for evidence of authors with a lack of imagination.

After all, how many copies of Twilight exist with only minor differences made to the characters and setting?

But did any of them ever reach the same popularity as the original? No. Some came close, however, most never were remembered.

Do you want your own novel to turn out like that? I highly doubt it. It’s your prize, your dream.

So then you might ask, “What should I read?”

Again, I quote Mr. King: “Read Everything.”

But of course, people don’t always realize just how big “everything” really is.

Sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking that “everything” there is, can be found in your home country.

So here’s my expansion on King’s advice: READ NOVELS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES.

After you’ve read a number of titles from America and Britain, turn your eyes to a far away land and explore their collection of English translated YA. Exposing yourself to a wide range of ideas, especially ideas that aren’t common place in the West, can really broaden your range of possibilities and may just give you that spark of creativity you have been searching for.

For me, that foreign country was Japan. Without that nation and it’s bustling YA industry and pop culture, well, I would probably never have gotten the inspiration to have the stories that I do.

To sum it all up: when you take the time to read other people’s ideas, it only helps to feed your own.

So do yourself a favor and go read a book.

The King demands it.

A topic that I’ve made much reference to is the fact that in Japan, book commercials have become increasingly familiar to readers of Young Adult novels. Today’s article will explore that, but instead of using miles of text and pictures, I’ll be showing you the actual commercials. So without further ado, we’ll begin this slightly unorthodox article in my series on Japanese YA.

In the 1990′s, Kouhei Kadono’s Dengeki Bunko Content Entry “Boogiepop and Others” won not only the hearts of the judges, but also that of readers as it quickly became an instant bestseller upon publication. To push sales of the book, the publisher invested in a series of TV commercials to advertise the book. To make sure the short clips that aired nationally would prove effective, the publishing company collaborated with an animation studio to bring to life several key scenes from the book itself in order to give the commercials an edge.

The below video is brought to us courtesy of Seven Seas Entertainment, the English publisher who bought the translation rights for the series. The video is an exception among the others presented, as it has been translated and edited at the end to promote the English edition. The final product is more akin to a movie trailer than a book commercial and gives a glimpse at some of the earliest attempts at promoting Young Adult novels on television.

I have not found any commercials between the release of the above production and 2010, and thus all of the next clips will be from rather recent years.

What you will notice in stark contrast between the advertisement for “Boogiepop” and the more recent batch of YA commercial works is how companies are going about creating them. Obviously, in the case of Kadono’s work, his sales merited an advertisement composed of original animation. However, it would seem that the venture, which no doubt cost much, is not an option most publishers feel is needed to be pursued.

Rather, Japanese YA Publishers are utilizing material already within the books to create the TV sound bites. To be exact, the internal illustrations.

Our first clip is from February of 2010 and is for the novel “【角川スニーカー文庫】サクラダリセット WITCH, PICTURE and RED EYE GIRL”, a science fiction story involving time travel.

The next commercial is for a recent YA title “Date. A. Alive.” It was released this March.

The next video is an advertisement for the second book in the series, released at the end of this last August.

Following the success of the bestselling book series “BACCANO!”, author Ryohgo Narita launched a second series of books titled “Durarara!!!” to much success. The following commercial is for the first six volumes released as of 2009. 4 more books have been sold since then with more still planned.

Some of you may remember my recounting of a publishing scandal involving the bestselling series “Dantalian no Shoka”. In following with that, I thought I’d share with you the commercial put out to advertise it’s debut.

Another series I’ve referenced a number of times (and a personal favorite of mine) is the series “GOSICK” by Kazuki Sakuraba. Below are two commercials recently put on television for it.

Intriguingly, the idea of creating two different versions of a book cover to attract a different audience is not foreign to Japan. The next commercial showcases a series of new covers for the GOSICK novels which lack the typical YA illustrations. This is vaguely reminiscent of something “Harry Potter” did as well. The decision to change cover art was, however, met with mixed reactions by fans.

A quite popular YA franchise in Japan is “Full Metal Panic!” by author Shouji Gatou. A military/high school adventure story involving giant robots, Russian KGB agents and North Korean terrorists, the series has remained an ever present force in the industry. Comprising of 19 books+ and still ongoing, the following commercial advertises the newest release from the series, as well as the first book in a new spin-off story.

The next commercial is a personal favorite of mine. I love the sense it gives you for the story. The title itself, シュガーダーク: 埋められた闇と少女, translates to something like “Sugar Dark: The Buried Darkness and the Girl”. Though I haven’t read it, I am vaguely aware that it is a fantasy set in a graveyard. The book has, to my knowledge, received a lot of positive attention.

And here’s another series, this time a high fantasy.

And here’s a commercial for a book series that borders on some familiar paranormal themes.

This commercial takes a decidedly more comical approach to advertising a book.

As you may have noticed, in some of the commercials, they advertise another book briefly toward the end. One series that you may have seen pop up once or more was “Haruhi Suzumiya”. I’ve made a number of mentions throughout my articles to it. The series which has reached levels of fandom rarely envisioned by anyone but Rowling and Meyers has been a guaranteed cash cow. Below is the commercial for the release of it’s most recent volumes 10 and 11. I made mention last time that the two books received a first printing of over 500,000 copies, the largest any YA book in Japan has yet received.

If there’s one thing about Japan’s YA culture, it’s that it is a banned book lovers dream come true. Light Novels (Japanese term for Young Adult novels) are not shy of touching on taboo topics or pushing boundaries. Besides books that delve into every idea conceivable, and a healthy sale of LGBT works, there are also many high school tales that involve promiscuous situations. The next commercial is for just such a book, titled “R-15″.

Okay, so remember that book series that I told you sold 12.3 million copies? Well, the below is an advertisement for it. But it’s different from the one’s above. This time, the publisher decided to have two different main characters from two different book series vying for attention on your television. In this instance, it’s the book series “Toaru Majutsu no Index” verses “My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute!” In terms of genre, they couldn’t be further apart from one another.

Lastly, to further point out how big an industry YA is in Japan, here’s a television commercial for one of the bimonthly YA magazines. That’s right, they made a commercial to advertise a magazine issue. Yes, that’s actually how profitable the industry has become there.

Now, that’s most of what I wanted to share from Japan (at least, for now), however I did want to take a moment to contrast all of this with what is the reality of YA in America today. As most probably are aware, book commercials (let alone for YA) are not a popular thing in the US right now, and the chance of getting one (let alone put on actual TV) is quite rare.

To compare with the Japanese advertisements, I’ll post below some of the only US book commercials that exist. All are YA.

I’ll leave it to the reader to make a judgement based on this comparison. I’m sure more than a few could probably guess my own thoughts.

So in conclusion, take a deep breath. Those were a lot of videos, and if you’ve been reading every article thus far, you’ve come a long way in your understanding of Japanese Young Adult literature.

Of course, you still have a bit of a ways to go.

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So it comes as no surprise to me that some find the Japanese Publishing Industry even more mystifying than its Western counterpart.

For the majority reading, this will most likely be your first introduction to the island nation and their way of running a $270 million dollar Young Adult book market, but to a few, it may be the clarity you have always sought.

To start, I’ll begin with the latter group mentioned.

Whenever I overhear or bring up the subject of foreign rights, literary agents tend to bring up the UK, Germany and or the differing European markets. India tends to be as far east as many seem to go, but on occasion, I manage to hear discussion about the more deeply Asian market. To say the least, the opinions thrown around can get a bit conflicting.

Some express a complete lack of knowledge to how the Asian markets operate, others lament that they have difficulty breaking into them, while some claim that the book industry there is wide open. Obviously, there seems to be quite a bit of confusion. But why?

Part of the problem, and perhaps why there can be so many differing opinions about the continent’s market potential, is that for some of these industry insiders, they have committed a sin they near constantly warn their potential clients never to make.

They aren’t familiar with the market they are attempting to sell to.

For many debut authors, none more so than with Young Adult fiction, a writer will put pen to paper without ever investigating as to whether his tale will actually prove palpable to the audience he will be selling it to. This lack of knowledge is obvious in the final product and usually leads to instantaneous rejections from prospective Agents.

In the same way, many literary Agents I suspect are guilty of doing the same thing to a certain extent. They are either avoiding the geographic area outright or are making calculated guesses without any real firm knowledge to base them on. Many I surmise are unaware of how splintered the YA market is in Asia, especially when dealing with the subject of Japan’s own bustling business.

Of course, to be fair, it’s not as if they have had much of a say. For most, the issue was never one that presented an easy solution. To date, there has never been any resources explaining the Japanese YA industry, and even when an article did attempt to explain several years ago the general book publishing standards of Japan, it just about completely ignored the existence of YA altogether. The only solution was to be lucky enough to know someone on the inside, an uninviting and rare prospect given the low number of proficient English speakers.

That all ends now though.

As I have shown in the past three articles, the Japanese YA industry is vast and varied, a metropolis of books that nearly outshine even the large and growing YA culture in America. Fiercely competitive and constantly in a battle to expand its base, it represents a unique outlook of where the future of books might soon be headed.

But while my previous entries have done an acceptable job of laying the ground work for the culture as seen through the eyes of one of its many readers, it has not touched on the side of the business that resides behind a computer screen and the many obstacles that face the one behind it.

So without further ado, we’ll begin this by starting at the beginning.

Getting Your Foot In The Door

In Japan, much like America, an aspiring author has to go through the right channels in order to find publication. With fifteen or so literary agencies, all of which find their base of operations in the Capitol city of Tokyo, there are plenty of agents accepting proposals year round.

But besides the traditional route of finding an agent to represent you, there are also a number of ‘other’ popular methods of getting into the world of publishing that most Japanese writers are well aware of.

With nearly 4,000 publishers as of 2009 (3/4 of which reside in Tokyo alone), and 500 controlling 86% of the market, competition has proven quite intense. Within the YA industry, this has resulted in some unique (and quite successful) ideas to garner new bestselling debut titles. One of which, mentioned in my introduction to this series, was competitions.

The biggest of these, dubbed “The Dengeki Novel Prize”, is a contest managed by ASCII Media Works, one of the largest publishers of YA fiction in Japan, usually operating under their YA imprint known commonly as “Dengeki Bunko”. Offering the promise of publication and up to ¥1,000,000 yen in prize money, the event has proven it’s success several times over since it’s initial inception in 1994. Some of it’s most notable winners, “Boogiepop”, “Spice and Wolf” and “BACCANO” have gone onto become runaway bestselling book series, spawning numerous multimedia adaptations.

Riding on the success of this, and some other smaller competitions, Kodansha (another big name in the YA industry) recently announced this year the launch of it’s own similar competition, offering a twist to the prizes. The “Kodansha Light Novel Bunko New Author Prize” seeks to offer a grand prize of ¥3,000,000 yen and, on top of that, the promise of creating a fifteen minute Anime adaptation of the work in collaboration with studio AIC.

Special In-Store Display

As with all competitions of this nature, there are plusses and negatives. While many of the bestselling Young Adult novels in Japan have gotten their start here (a notable reference would be “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya”), some have avoided the competitions for numerous reasons.

The most probable explanation would be due to the fact that without an agent, the contract a debut writer signs often transfers most control of the given work to the publisher to do with it as it wishes. Most anything in regard to the production of the work is done without the oversight or consultation of the original author.

Of course, in the list of publishing avenues there is always self-publishing. While vanity presses do exist in Japan and are available if sought, the majority of self published novels are, as far as I know, primarily in the Blog and Cell Phone Novel format as noted several articles before. While there are some self-published Visual Novels as well (a notable reference being the “Higurashi -When They Cry-” series), the successes in this regard are usually the exception, rather than the rule.

Cell Phone Novels have proven highly successful for amateur novelists, as evidenced by the fact that five of the top ten national bestsellers in Japan in 2007 were from the format. With fourteen year old girls earning over $600,000 and new books being published from online serials on a sometime monthly basis, the market has been both promising and unpredictable.

The Writer’s Life

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the YA book industry in Japan is its rigorous time consuming schedules.

American readers are no doubt familiar with most YA titles being released at an average pace of one book per year. This has become quite average for a lot of us.

The same however, is not true for Japan.

No, in a nation where reading is on high demand and the next bestseller is always on the horizon, Japanese authors have found themselves constantly on their toes.

How tough is it? The average book schedule for a particular series is three. That is to say, three a year. With most Light Novel series (Japanese term for YA) stretching to fifteen or more volumes in total, writers are expected to do just as their name implies, write.

"Katanagatari" by NISIOISIN

One prolific and popular YA author, NISIOISIN, would make even James Patterson drop his jaw. In 2007, the bestselling writer wrote one book every month for a straight year, publishing each at it’s completion. What’s even more impressive, is that at the same time, Ryusui Seiryoin (another famous author) was doing the exact same thing at the same time. On top of that, he was holding book signings year round.

That’s not to say though, that there aren’t YA novels on annual rotation, but merely to point out that for many bestsellers, such a luxury of time isn’t available. One of the driving motivations for this is the fact that Japanese readers eagerly devour the material rather quickly, leaving large numbers of customers ready to empty their wallet, but no new product yet to purchase.

As mentioned last time, this is sometimes mediated through the use of YA magazines that do serialize stories on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. Often times, they will publish short stories from a number of popular series to pacify readers while they wait for the next volume. These short stories, will in turn, be eventually combined to form a future volume in the series.

One of the other unique aspects of Japanese YA is the use of illustrations. Many writers often times, after seeing this, wonder whether authors have control over the artwork in their books.

The simple answer, however, is no. Much like authors in the U.S. have little to no control over the final title and book cover, the same is true for Japan. The internal illustrations which many Japanese YA have become famous for, are outside the control of their authors many times, most usually in the case of a first time writer.

From what I’ve seen, writers (if they have proven successful) tend to gain more control over different aspects of the book’s publication, even collaborating with the artists on a shared vision. An example of this is hinted at the end of the novel “Book Girl and the Suicidal Mime”.

This, of course, brings me to another aspect of Japanese works that differ from the U.S.

The Afterword.

While not particularly popular in the states, an Afterward is near common place in every YA book to be found in Japan. In replacement of a typical Acknowledgment page which is common in the West, an Afterward combines the familiar thank you’s with a personal message from the author, sometimes dealing with a variety of themes.

What makes this subject one of such interest is the affect it can have on the fandom of a book and it’s wide prevalence among the industry. To illustrate, a book that has been a regular bestseller, GOSICK, has been praised by many fans for it’s Afterward. One fan in particular even remarked in an online review that it was one of the most entertaining parts of the book.

Intriguingly, even the artists of the internal illustrations, are on rare occasion, given their own afterward beside the author’s.

The Nitty Gritty

Surprisingly, there are many misconceptions regarding the length of Japanese YA. Given the name, “Light Novel”, some readers in America have mistakenly assumed that the books are of a smaller stature than other books in the market. The truth is, that contrary to what the name implies, “Light” Novels are anything but light. The majority of these YA titles register a word count of 50,000 or more, with a few nearing 100,000.

In a few instances, as with TV novelizations, the word count can shrink dramatically to the level of a novelette. A good example would be the “Fooly Cooly” trilogy. However, to perceive this as a representation of the bulk of YA works in Japan would be wrong.

Though the word count of YA novels in Japan are typically near the level of other adult works as well as books overseas in the U.S., there is some difference when it comes to the pages themselves. Light Novels are usually written with simple straight forward grammar and wording. In terms of the Japanese language, it means that very few kanji (the complicated characters that make up much of the written language) are used, and what is used are simple and easily understood.

In respect to the descriptions, long paragraphs detailing a sunrise are done away with, instead replaced by more dialogue or character exposition. In fact, Japanese YA could be looked at as being primarily focused on characters. While the plot is certainly a main focus in Japanese works, characters prove a strong central goal.

This could potentially play into the fact that most Light Novel covers feature the heroine or hero of the tale front and center. To a certain degree, the characters in a Japanese story sell the book almost as much as the blurb on the spine of the jacket. It could even be argued that at times, book sales rely solely on whether the main character catches the attention of a potential reader perusing the aisles in a bookstore.

Marketing and Publicity

Similar to America, Japanese publishers market their works through a variety of avenues available. Unlike the states though, Japan has more opportunities at their fingertips. With a larger pool of readers and bigger stake in the pop culture, not to mention regular film and comic adaptations, authors find their works on a center stage, duking it out to catch the sight of new fans.

Long Line For Book Signing

Book commercials, a relatively newer development in Japan, are quickly becoming mainstays. In recent months, I’ve noticed new TV ads being released more than ever before, promoting new and bestselling titles. The advertisements, utilizing the internal illustrations and even at times adding animation, are quick thirty second blasts of moving images. As to how well they are working at promoting sales, I doubt anyone knows better than the publishers themselves, but judging from the increase in production, it wouldn’t be a far fetch to guess they are performing quite good.

Besides television, new books are promoted in YA publications such as “Dragon MAGAZINE” and “Dengeki Bunko Magazine”, and occasionally on advertisements that wrap around other books.

As always, bookstores, the primary avenue for readers in Japan to grab a new novel, play a central role in selling titles. With over 15,000 stores nationwide, some separated from each other only by a street, new debuts are given ample opportunity to be found.

Social Media

Volume 11 of "Kino no Tabi"

In recent years, I have seen an explosion of growth in regard to YA authors and social networking. From my personal experience on Twitter, I have witnessed a large migration of bestselling authors moving to the platform, as well as Japanese readers who have joined as a result. Big name authors such as Noboru Yamaguchi (Zero no Tsukaima), Shouji Gatou (Full Metal Panic) and Keiichi Sigsawa (Kino no Tabi) would be a few that come to mind.

Facebook, though very popular around the world, is typically disliked by Japanese who prize their privacy and ability to remain anonymous. Thus it has not proven a successful platform for authors, let’s alone most Japanese as a whole.

As some might know though, Japan does have it’s own unique social network called “MIXI”. Though only Japanese users have access, from what I can gather, most users remain anonymous. So I’m not quite sure if publishers have attempted to utilize it in some way for the industry’s benefit.

Author & Publisher Relationships

This now brings us to an intriguing subject. How is the understanding between an author and his publisher? There are, quite obviously, many horror stories in America about authors who had terrible experiences with their publishing houses. Albeit, while they don’t represent what the majority of authors experience, they do give us a glimpse into the mindset of some in the industry.

And so it was that a news report from several weeks ago recently caught my attention.

Volume 1 of "Dantalian no Shoka"

The bestselling author of a recent book series “Dantalian no Shoka” found himself in a bit of a scandal, or at least, as scandalous as most book dilemmas go. According to reports, the author had planned to end his series upon the publication of book seven, but upon the request of his publisher, agreed to extend it by another book. That decision came prior to this last Christmas.

Everything was fine until after he published the eighth and final volume. He was shortly thereafter contacted by his publisher who requested once again that he extend the series by another volume. The publisher was in contact with an animation studio who was planning to prepare a short animated video based off the series. Their desire was to ship the OVA (Original Video Animation) as a special gift with the purchase of the next book (something many YA books do nowadays).

The obvious problem was, there was no more books coming out to ship it with. So the publisher sought the writer to add another book. The author, however, denied the request. He wasn’t interested in writing another volume. The series was finished.

The publisher, not discouraged, decided to take matters into it’s own hands. So they did what any of us would do, they listed a ninth book of the series on Amazon for preorder without permission. The author, upset and not backing down, told the publisher once again, with no room for doubt, that there would be no ninth addition to the series. Clearly having lost their battle, the publisher backed down, removed the preorder and announced the OVA was canceled.

Though this doesn’t give us a completely accurate picture of the entire industry, it does present a unique look at the landscape, if just a bit. We can really get a sense at how competitive the market is and how multimedia ventures, like an OVA, can affect the goals of a publisher. We also get a good sense of the conflicts that an author faces between writing a new book for the sake of his story, or instead, for the sake of increased profit.

How Big is Big?

Some have wondered just how well YA is selling in Japan, or to be more exact, how much. In an industry where numbers mean quite a lot, this is an important question. For a while now, sales data on Light Novels have been scant and hard to find, but thanks to a recent press release we can discover the answer.

With the recent release of new sales figures from several huge series, I can relay in confidence that “big” is, well… とても大きい (Very Big).

As of August 10, the YA novel series “Toaru Majutsu no Index” has reported a total of 12.3 million copies sold (3.3 million of which were sold in the span of a year) and has joined the ranks of “Majustsuhi Orphen”, another series which has sold near the same. Following close behind are bestsellers such as “Shakugan no Shana” which has sold 8 million and “Kino no Tabi” with 7 million.

Combined with everything I’ve been saying thus far and in the previous articles, it should come as no surprise that sales figures are so large. The best part is that the industry doesn’t appear to be dying down. Sales are rising faster and so are new books.

The rise of YA in Japan is also visible in the recent news regarding the bestselling series “Haruhi Suzumiya”. First published in June of 2003, the ongoing series of eleven books has reached near Twilight levels of fandom. With the release of books ten and eleven (released together at the same time) the series not only reached a new milestone for itself, but the entire Japanese YA market.

A printing run of 513,000 copies was approved by Kadokawa for it’s release, the highest ever in the history of the industry and a testament to the growing success and penetration YA has had over the past decade.

A Few Other Odd Bits

On the topic of Foreign Rights, most YA titles in Japan usually never travel further than the borders of Korea or Taiwan, their next door neighbors. Occasionally, with superb bestsellers, titles find their way to the U.S. or Germany, but in most cases, the translations are mishandled and generate little to none profit due to a multiplicity of issues, many of which will be covered in an upcoming article installment.

Another subject that never seems to grow old on the minds of many writers is the issue of “Advances”. Though information is scarce, it would appear that the average advance rate of a Japanese novel falls into some rather familiar territory. Ranging somewhere between $4,000 – $12,000, the book rates match the typical $6,000 many debut writers are accustomed to in the U.S.

Though larger advances aren’t uncommon, they are no longer the norm. Marketing has taken precedence over an immediate check.

In Conclusion

Japan is an obscure island nation to most, known more for it’s oddities than accomplishments. Though having a thriving and vast book industry, a unique outlook on the e-book debate and producing teenage prodigies via cell phones, most in the West have remained removed from their world and the affect their nation could have on the countries that abide nearby.

It is my hope that as these articles continue to outline this intriguing aspect of Japanese culture, more people will begin to gain a broader grasp of the large world Young Adult literature entails.

Isolationism has never been good policy for nations and it shouldn’t be for the book industries that reside in them either.

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For many, the past several articles have been an intriguing journey into an almost alien world. With each familiar reference to the industry and the YA culture we have grown so well accustomed to, there seems to be yet another uniquely Japanese aspect to it all that nearly turns things upside down.

However, to truly understand how our two industries have grown so different, and slowly piece together why one is seeing growth faster than the other, we’ll need to start at the beginning.

Taking form in the early 1980′s during the economic boom in Japan, the YA industry slowly began to grow in popularity with the release of bestselling hit titles such as “The Great Adventure of the Dirty Pair” and “The Guin Saga”. Appealing to Japanese youth, the books featured an Anime illustrated cover and a storyline that felt perfectly at ease fitting within the bustling Anime and Manga culture quickly growing around the youth of their day. Featuring protagonists in a range of ages, the pioneers of YA eagerly welcomed mature concepts, complicated story lines and sensually stimulating ideals.

However, it wouldn’t be until the early 1990′s that YA would finally hit its stride and enter the spotlight. Contrary to popular belief, and a certain publisher’s website, Kouhei Kadono’s bestselling book series “Boogiepop” was not the blast that sent the industry flying forward, though it admittedly played a major role. In truth, there were many other bestselling YA titles in the early 90′s that launched the immediate success of the market. Perhaps most notably, the industry saw immense growth as one bestseller followed another in a continual stream of new addictive book series’ that seemed to have no visible end.

Giant robots, Vatican employed vampires, telepathic teenagers and many other vibrant images began to flood the growing pop culture quicker than some had previously envisioned. To capitalize on the growing demand, a new term was soon coined by an internet forum to describe the fictional lit. It stuck, and before long, the public was slowly made aware of something that readers had been hoping for.

The “Light Novel” Industry had officially become mainstream.

Amongst the many populated shelves of Manga and adult paperback titles, there was now a new section growing that appeared to a number of people to bridge the obvious gap between the two.

Of course, the growing popularity of YA couldn’t be simply maintained through book sales, so in a decision that harkened back to the days of Dickens, several prominent publishers jumped to launch monthly and bimonthly magazines to serialize the current YA bestsellers, as well as publish exclusive short stories by the authors. The idea was an immediate success and a number of further magazines were soon published by a variety of other publishing companies, most of which are still running to this day.

The industry, though quickly rising in popularity, admittedly met some resistance in its early days. Much like America’s own YA, Japan’s new book culture soon found itself under random assault by some select literary critics. The fiction was quickly decried as lacking merit and criticized for it’s emphasis on plot and dialogue. The absence of complicated kanji and the “Light” aspect of the books, which had originally been meant to describe the ease of enjoyment, were soon used as an attack. They declared, as so many seem inclined to do, that Young Adult fiction would prove detrimental to the literary culture.

Their outcries mostly fell on deaf ears though and today the industry in Japan has grown so large that it now publishes an astounding 30 million books per year. Valued at an estimated $270 million dollars, the YA culture in Japan has never been as big as it is now.

Perhaps one of the clearest examples of this immense growth has been its penetration into the Anime industry. There was a time not too long ago when the adaptation of a “Light Novel” was rare. Anime adaptations were, and have been, the domain of Manga for as long as most familiar with the culture can remember. But all that has changed with the rise of YA. These days, it has become near as likely to hear of a novel getting adapted as it is to hear the same of a manga.

The fact that the YA culture grew so fast though should come as no surprise for anyone who is familiar with the Japanese. A person would be hard pressed to find a country more in love with the written word than Japan, where nearly 14% of the population read ten or more books per month and almost 40% read 3.

To contrast, nearly 80% of Americans haven’t read a single book in an entire year, let alone a month. A depressing statistic if there ever was one.

But now that I’ve set the stage, explaining how YA began, it’s time to explore the literary landscape in Japan as it stands now, and how it differs from the industry in the U.S.

The first major difference, as explained in a previous article, is the use of illustrations. For many in the West, the idea of illustrations is borderline juvenile. Relegated to the likes of grade school novels, they are more familiar to the likes of a “Magic Treehouse” book than the latest paranormal bestseller. But to the Japanese, it’s become standard, an almost incremental part of the YA experience.

Each “Light Novel”, on average, is given an illustrated cover, four colored illustrations and around seven or so black and white drawings scattered within. One of the observed benefits of this has been that since each character is firmly drawn out, all fans of a book are in agreement regarding the descriptions of the main characters. In other words, there is usually never any room for confusion, or for that matter, the issue of white washing, as has been occasionally discussed in America.

The next big difference is the price. At a typically cheap 500 yen (about $5, give or take), Japanese YA are made to fit the budget of a struggling student who may or may not feel at ease spending grocery money on the latest volume of his favorite series. They rarely go above the price listed, unless the author has written a longer than usual volume. The issue of money is so well understood by readers and writers alike that several authors have actually apologized in the back of a book for just such a price increase.

Though already affordable, readers in Japan have also had other methods of finding books at cheaper than usual prices, many times as low as $1. A wide plethora of book stores exist in Japan, ranging from large chains to local shops. Similar to a chain in the U.S. such as “Barnes & Noble”, reading books while in the store is often encouraged. Unlike the popular American brand however, is a lack of chairs.

One of the most noticeable differences between Japan and America in their individual YA industries is the topic of “trends”. As mentioned once before, Japan has almost none.

For Americans, this may sound strange considering the prevalence they hold in our own industry. But I assure you, it is true. A quick glance at the top fifteen or so YA bestsellers will quickly reveal a startling array of differing genres, the likes we are not quite used to seeing on our own charts that often.

That’s not to imply that there aren’t at times more of one kind of book sold than another, but rather that even so, it never becomes visible enough to the market. The closest that many Japanese readers usually come to discussing a trend, outside the realm of cover artwork, is when an author creates a “main character” that is similar to another bestselling work. This in itself can at times be rare, and even then, the work still stands on its own many times.

Titles such as “GOSICK” (a mystery series set in 1924 Europe), “Spice and Wolf” (an adventure in medieval economics and wolf deities) and “Zero no Tsukaima” (a high fantasy of magic, epic battles and panties) help to illustrate the wide arena of sales, as well as the hunger for newer and more creative ideas. Slice of Life, or contemporary as the genre has been often referred to in America, is not the domain of drugs and abusive relationships. In fact, much to the probable shock of many, Japan lacks most of the stories that have dominated the Western market in this regard. A phenomenally popular series such as “Toradora!” helps to illustrate this divide quite well by creating a comical tale involving a school that neither concentrates on bullying, sex or drug abuse. Instead, a tale of misconceptions, stalkers, forlorn pop idols and dating mishaps is created in a ten volume series that produces incessant laughter. Another story by the same author, in the same genre, follows the exploits of a young lawyer. Definitely not your average fare for the YA market.

With just about every genre for sale and having an active reading base for each, writers have had to accommodate a large market desiring variety. Combined with the influence of Anime and Manga, too formats of storytelling that pride themselves in creating vibrant tales that stretch the imagination, reader’s pallets have increased exponentially over the years, in many ways light-years ahead of their Western counterparts.

While on the topic of subject matter, it might prove interesting to note that the YA demographics in Japan differ from America in a most pleasing way. Boys, rather than avoiding YA, have gravitated to it as much if not more than women. Of equal intrigue is the fact that many of the stories in Japan that have grown popular with male readers feature female protagonists and are many times written by women. This seemingly defies certain outcries from Americans who have attempted to put the blame on the lack of male interest in YA on the fact that women are heavily involved in the industry.

Market penetration in Japan has also been widely successful in many other ways. Television commercials for new YA releases have gradually become more familiar in recent years, with several being put out per month. In fact, a number of months ago there was even a commercial aired for the recent edition of one of the more popular Japanese YA magazines. Quite impressive, especially if one remembers that in America a commercial for a YA book is a rarity, relegated to the likes of James Patterson, if even then.

With so many books published each year in such a large variety of genres, not to mention the availability of Cell Phone Novels and Visual Novel games, the high reading rates and the degree of book adaptations, it’s no wonder that many have come to see Japan as a somewhat utopia of literary ideals. Even more impressive though is the image it presents to us.

In a nation where 86% of Japanese say they couldn’t live without television, where Manga is seen as being on the same literary level as a novel, where a Playstation 3 is as likely a source of reading pleasure as an ereader would be in the states and where a fourteen year old can become a bestselling author after typing her work on the keypad of her cell phone, Japan seems as strange and fictional as the stories it has often been popularized for creating, perhaps even stranger.

During the course of writing this article, I began to think of Japan as being somewhat reminiscent of the famous mirror portrayed in Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series, the one in which a person could see their greatest desire shown before their eyes. Sometimes, when studying this country, it’s easy to imagine you are looking into that very same mirror. Of course, there is one big difference. Japan is not an illusion. It really exists.

And in my opinion, it’s high time we started to pay attention.

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