UY Book 20

[Todd Shogun]

I always leave the SDCC feeling like I didn't get to see it all...and that's after a full four days. They need to expand it to a full week!!!

[Jerry]

Usagi Yojimbo Book 20: Glimpses of Death will be solicited for an early July 2006 release.

Wow! That's great! My brother, who collects all Your comics, asked me if will be a new part of Usagi Yojimbo. Now we must waiting when will be printed in Poland. There are actually two Officines Printers: "Mandragora" and "Świat Komiksu". I hope so one of them will printed Your book.

All the best!

Oyasumi na sai (is 23:32 in Poland)

[Stan Sakai]

Now we must waiting when will be printed in Poland. There are actually two Officines Printers: "Mandragora" and "?wiat Komiksu". I hope so one of them will printed Your book.

All the best!

Oyasumi na sai (is 23:32 in Poland)

It will be printed by Swiat Komiksu, or Egmont Poland.

Mandragora is printing the first 7 books that were published in the US by
Fantagraphics Books. I believe they just have one more book to publish. It is a shame, because I have really enjoyed my business and personal relationship with Mandragora.

I went to Poland last year, and had a wonderful time there meeting my Polish publishers and the many readers. I would love to return someday soon.

[cynlee]

How many countries is Usagi Yojimbo published in?

And, what comic is the most published all over the world? Is Usagi close to it?

[Stan Sakai]

How many countries is Usagi Yojimbo published in?

Usagi has been translated into about a dozen languages, not all editions are currently being published though. I don't think the Brazilian (Portuguese) and Swedish editions are being printed anymore. I haven't heard from the Croatian or the German publishers for about a year. Usagi was dormant in Dutch for about 18 months, but 4 issues just came out in the fall. Usagi just switched publishers in Italy. It is also published in Poland, France, and Spain.

We just picked up the Czech Republic.

[ai no ahodori]

Just wondering - has UY been published in Japanese and if so how was it received?

[Steve Hubbell]

This has to be one of the top ten questions Stan gets asked whenever he is interviewed...

From the SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER article by Cecelia Goodnow:

"It's translated into about a dozen languages," the affable Sakai, a Japanese American, said from his home in Pasadena, Calif., "but there has never been an American comic book that has made a dent in the Japanese market."

From the UGO.COM interview:

UGO: How popular is Usagi in Japan?

Stan Sakai: There has never been an American comic that has made a significant dent in the manga market. They did have things like Spider-Man and X-Men, but it's completely redone for the Japanese market. Usagi is not published in Japan, but I was invited there about five years ago by Osama Tezuka Studios, who does Astro Boy. I was surprised that people even knew who I was.

From the Dark Horse Interview by Adam Gallardo:

Adam Gallardo: Is your work read in Japan?

Stan Sakai: It's not translated into Japanese, no.

Adam Gallardo: Oh.

Stan Sakai: I don't believe there's been an American comic book that has made any type of impact on the Japanese Manga market. American comic books have been published in Japan, but you know, they've been issued by smaller publishers and on a very small scale.

From the Silver bullet Comics interview by Park Cooper:

Park Cooper: Are your comics translated into other languages? Whether they are or not, does Usagi have a big audience across the Pacific? Bigger? Smaller? The same?

Stan Sakai: They've been translated into a few European languages--Finn, German, Italian, even Croatian. There may be a couple of others. I recently returned from Spain where I received two Haxtur Awards for the Spanish editions. Usagi is also available in a couple of South American countries. I get a lot of letters from Australia.

It has never been translated into Japanese. I don't believe that any American comic has ever made a big impact on the Japanese market. I was there in '98 as a guest of Osamu Tezuka Productions and was surprised that anyone knew who I was. I visited publishers and met a lot of cartoonists during the symposium. Their manga industry is just amazing.

From the Comics Journal interview by Kim Thompson:

Kim Thompson: Do you have any Japanese fans who write to you from Japan?

Stan Sakai: Not really, not on a consistent basis. I would get a couple every so often but Usagi's not translated in Japan. There's never been an American comic book that has really made a big impact on the Japanese market. I was featured in a prominent Japanese magazine but aside from that, there's been no response as far as the Japanese market goes.

Kim Thompson: The Japanese market is pretty, no pun intended, insular. So you're bigger in Germany than you are in Japan!

Stan Sakai: Uh-huh. [laughter] And Croatia!

From the Tozai Times article by Mas Dobashi:

Oddly, Usagi Yojimbo is a very popular strip in European countries, but this is not the case in Japan. Sakai's work can be found throughout Germany and is also translated into Croatian. Recently, a small town in Germany held a comic book festival and Sakai was asked to display his work. He shipped over some of his original watercolor book covers of Usagi which was greatly appreciated by the festival organizers who said there was a terrific response to Usagi and Sakai's work.

Sakai believes the reason his books are not translated into Japanese is that everything would have to be re-done in the reverse order to accommodate the Japanese way of printing. The books and magazines are read right to left in Japan, as opposed to the Western left to right. "Because of this there has never been an American comic book that has really made it big in Japan," says Sakai.

Abayo....

[ai no ahodori]

Wow! Thanks for the thorough response!

The reversed printing thing is a good point - for ages I thought Lone Wolf was left handed until I realised that Dark Horse had reversed the images for its translated editions.

Domo arigato gozaimasu.