Japan's hope for a manga-led economic recovery

Updated April 15, 2009 12:17:02

Tokyo wants the world to catch on to Japan's love of comic books and animation, and help pull the country out of recession.

At a recent press conference Prime Minister Taro Aso waved Asian magazines that featured Japanese pop stars. He was promising cash from last week's stimulus package of around $US150 billion to boost its biggest cultural exports.

He might be on to something. Comic books in the distinct Japanese manga format have been growing, together with animated or anime films, pop music, and more.

Presenter: Matthew Abud
Speaker: Hillery Pastovich, Australia's Madman Entertainment; Lillian Diaz-Pryzbyl, senior editor at Tokyopop; Jonathan Liong, founder of Kiseki magazine

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