Read it in manga! A record of people’s passionate challenges to face the world’s problems
The world is full of conflicts, poverty, disasters, and other problems with no end in sight, but there are Japanese people who have faced these challenges while staying close to the people in the field. The JICA book series “Project History,” which chronicles the experiences of these people who have worked hard and followed through on their ambitions in the face of difficulties, has now been made into a manga. Here we introduce the first four works and the behind-the-scenes story behind their production.
Project History” is a series of books introducing the experiences and achievements of the people who led JICA’s projects, and has published more than 30 books since 2010.
The idea for the manga adaptation began in the summer of 2022. The idea began with a desire to convey the significance of Japan’s assistance to developing countries and JICA’s activities in a friendly manner, along with the thoughts of the people involved in the field, and to interest as many people as possible. The themes chosen ranged from a railroad development project that has changed the lives of people in India, to an IT human resource development project linking Bangladesh and a regional city in Japan, to non-formal education in Pakistan that is expanding people’s potential by improving literacy rates, to assistance to Uganda, which is receiving a large number of refugees from neighboring South Sudan. The fields of work vary.
All of these projects have developed into major businesses, but as you read through the manga, you realize that they all started with a small thought from a Japanese person. A drop of passion to “somehow help those in need right in front of you” spreads like a ripple, involving the people around you, and eventually becomes a big wave that changes society – only the illustrations in the manga allow you to experience this. In each story, there is a great deal of hard work before the results are seen, but how the obstacles that stand in front of them are overcome is depicted not only from the perspective of the Japanese people who appear as the main characters, but also from the perspective of the people of developing countries.
Thinking about the people and their lives in developing countries The manga was created by Tomoko Suzuki of the design company ROOM810 and two manga artist units, Birujirouzu and uwabami. We interviewed Ms. Suzuki, who wrote the script, and Yu Saito and Yoko Sumida (Birujirouzu), who did the illustrations, about the behind-the-scenes production process.
Mr. Suzuki reworked the nearly 200-page book into a 30-page manga version. He says that he deepened his understanding of each project and international cooperation through repeated interviews and research. He tried to be as close as possible to the ideas of the people in the countries where he worked. In the story, there are many scenes in which the main character is puzzled by the behavior of the local people, but if we depicted it in terms of Japanese common sense, it could be the wrong message. I always tried to be aware of the diversity of values in the world.
Mr. Saito says that he found some discoveries that could only be made with manga, which is expressed through pictures. For example, I learned that young Muslim women prefer to wear hijabs with bright colors and patterns that are fashionable, while women in slums tend to wear subdued colors and some do not wear hijabs for economic reasons. By painting, I can see the country more clearly,” she says.
Mr. Sumida said that the advantages of manga are “the ability to illustrate difficult concepts and visualize complex issues in an easy-to-understand way, and above all, the ability to experience the story by focusing on the “people” in the manga. I was mainly in charge of the people, and as the story progresses, the expressions on their faces change in a lively way, so I want people to pay attention to those changes.
The people in the developing countries who appear in the stories are the ones who are most moved by the honest hearts of the people in the stories, he said. The process by which people who are moved by their hearts give shape to their thoughts seems to be common to all the stories. I would be happy if the stories could be used not only as a resource for learning about developing countries, but also to convey the good qualities of the people who live there,” says Mr. Suzuki.
Four selected films, each with its own highlights
‘Madam, this is our Metro!
The Struggle of a Female Civil Engineer to Build a Subway in India.”
India is projected to have the world’s largest population by 2023. In order to cope with the rapid increase in population, the development of public transportation has been a challenge. Starting with the success of the Delhi Rapid Transit System construction project (commonly known as the Delhi Metro), which opened in 2002, the country now has “one of the largest subway networks in the world,” surpassing even the Tokyo Metro. The key person in this large-scale national project is the main character of this book, Reiko Abe. As a civil engineer, she devoted herself to safety measures and human resource development at the Delhi Metro construction site. The manga depicts not only the success of the project, but also the life of the main character who never gave up on what she wanted to do, regardless of gender or prejudice.
Bangladesh IT Talent Brings Japan’s Regional Development
A New Form of International Cooperation,” which led from cooperatives to industry-government-academia partnerships.
As digitization progresses around the world, Bangladesh, which has excellent IT human resources but is having difficulty finding work, and a regional city in Japan, which is suffering from a shortage of digital human resources. One initiative initiated by the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) was the catalyst that brought people from two distant countries together. This project, which developed over a period of 14 years, is notable for having created a new model of international cooperation that directly connects the needs of both the donor and the recipient. The project, which has developed over 14 years, has attracted attention as a new model of international cooperation that directly connects the needs of both donors and recipients.
Learning for the Future: “Anytime, Anywhere, Anyone”
Pakistan Non-Formal Education, Starting from Zero.”
Pakistan has a literacy rate of 60%. People are forced to work from childhood due to poverty, live in areas where there are no schools, or for other reasons, but they face a variety of hardships due to their inability to read and write. Non-formal education” in the cartoon refers to creating an environment where people from all backgrounds can learn through flexible and diverse education. In addition to the many people struggling to improve literacy, the stories of those whose lives have changed dramatically after learning to read and write are also carefully depicted, conveying the significance of continuing to learn even past school age.
Linking Humanity and Development: New Forms of Refugee Assistance in Africa”
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