National Manga Museum
Japanese authorities have been planning a national manga center for a few years and it looks like this plan might finally see the light of day. The center itself is called Kokuritsu Media Geijutsu Sogo Senta (which in effected has been translated by reporters as National Center for Media Arts or NCMA) and it boasts to be a fantastic storehouse of all things anime and manga. According to earlier plans, this building is meant to be a formidable site, standing tall at at least four stories high and stretching out to cover 10,000 sq. meters.
There is a lot of controversy surrounding this plan. Firstly, a lot of folks are viewing such expenditure, on a manga facility no less, as frivolous especially given the dreary financial situation. And so you find, more than one international paper describing this plan as a 'can you believe it' event. For the record, no, it's not that crazy, at least not after hearing about the Mps expenses in UK. Secondly, a lot of people who are supporting this type of cultural addition to Japan are worried that the plan might be canceled, especially after the upcoming electins. To this effect, they are probably worried about the political parties who have been openly critical about the plan. What happens if they win?
By the way, it is only fair to point out that this museum is meant to encompass all or most art forms prevalent in Japan. And so, it will be dedicated to print and digital media and hence, will include manga, anime as well as numerous other forms. Unsurprisingly, a lot of people vying for the NCMA plan have been gritting their teeth about the constant reference to a manga museum. Quite understandably too. After all, all the naysayers who speak about it with disdain use this title and brush aside the all-encompassing factor suggested by this center.
From what I have read, there is high hope of this being a tourism magnet. And why not? Any time I visit Japan, I would stroll over to any manga museum in that area. At the same time, there is a concerted effort to make this a research center, a kind of place that helps talented individuals learn more about an art form and/or enhance their skills. I don't know about you, but that sounded pretty good to me.
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