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Manga is having something of a moment in the capital, partly because the British Museum is opening an enormous, extensive ‘Manga’ exhibition at the end of this month.
So, if one of the biggest British institutions is going all-in on Japanese comics, what exactly is Japan House London supposed to do? Well, it’s passing up the chance to host a Beano/Dandy exhibition in favour of a more specific look at the Manga artform – namely, a celebration of diversity and LGBT+ representation within the Japanese comic-book world.
A series of LGBT+ events at the venue will be kicking off on Monday, with famous female manga artist Moto Hagio, who’ll be discussing how she founded the shojo (manga aimed at women) movement, much of which is focused on love stories between men.
There’ll also be a talk with Gengoroh Tagame, author of ‘My Brother’s Husband’, on Wednesday, as well as a whole library display on sexuality and expression titled ‘LGBTQ+; Diversity in Manga’. This will all lead up to Japan House’s ‘This Is Manga – the Art of Urasawa Naoki’ exhibition, which will run from June 5 to July 28.
So, yeah, it seems like Japan House has got this whole manga thing covered. Your move, British Museum.
Japan House London. High St Kensington tube. From Mon May 20. Free.
Can’t get enough of Japan? Here’s our guide to Japanese culture in London.
Find more great things to do this month with our May guide.