Kazuhiro Torishima

Summary of Interviews in Summer 2000

Kazuhiro Torishima
Chief editor

Shonen Jump
(Weekly boy’s magazine)

Friday, August 4, 2000

Mr. Kazuhiko Torishima (47 yr. old) has 25 years’ experience as an editor at Syueisya, which is one of three major publishing companies in Japan including Kodansya and Shougakukan. He is a baby-boomer who grew up with the development of manga. Although he was not a boy who was crazy about Manga when he was a child, he learned about manga since he became an editor. In 1968, Shonen Jump published after Shonen Magazine and Sunday in 1959. In 1985, Shonen Jump recorded 4 millions, 5 millions in 1988, and 6 millions in 1996.

Background

1. He was not a boy who loved reading and creating manga when he was a child. (Rather, he was not interested in manga at all.) Since he started to work at the publishing company, he learned about manga.

About the company

1. He was not a boy who loved reading and creating manga when he was a child. (Rather, he was not interested in manga at all.) Since he started to work at the publishing company, he learned about manga.
2. The role of Syounen Jump is to support talented children to let them create manga to meet readers’ expectations.
3. It is important to draw readers’ attention to the story to let them overlap his own life onto the hero in the story. Readers enjoy stories in which the hero grows in the process of fighting obstacles and difficulty.
4. The most popular manga in the Jump is “One piece,” which is a story of boys which they try to be pirates. The reason that this story is popular is that readers can vicariously enjoy being pirates with the hero/heroine through the process of confronting obstacles. This is a typical success story of becoming something and the record of growth.
5. There are typically two ways to become a mangaka: 1) to apply for the monthly and annualy contests and 2) to contact editors directly to show his/her manga to be published as a shinjin (new-face)
6. There are about 20 young manga artists in training for one editor (about 20 editors X 20 = 400?)
7. The relationship between mangaka and editors are very tight (The role of editor is a kind of manager, who organizes the story of manga and others.)
8. The content of manga might be changed according to children’s requests based on the data of weekly questionnaires. (Weekly questionnaires are collected collected to reflect audience impressions.)

About comike

1. Mr. Torishima does not care about the Comic Market since those children do not have originality and creativity, but they just copy other famous manga. *Also if those people are not young enough (younger than 18?), it is difficult for editors to nurture their talent to be successful as mangaka to depict in the Shonen Jump.