Agency adviser helps publish manga titles in 36 languages
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Foreign-language versions of Japanese manga works, clockwise from top left: “Crayon Shin-chan” (Vietnamese); “City Hunter” (Polish); “Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms” (Italian); “Tomino the Damned” (Russian); “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” (Malaysian); “Berserk” (French); and “Grimoire of Zero” (Ukrainian). (Haruto Hiraoka)
Chigusa Ogino may not be a household name in the Japanese manga industry, but she is credited for spreading the popularity of the artwork around the world.
Ogino, an adviser to Tuttle-Mori Agency Inc., has been serving as a bridge between Japanese and overseas publishers since the early 1990s, helping them produce popular manga works in foreign languages.
“I have been working hard, determined to build a ‘new infrastructure’ to deliver Japanese works to overseas fans,” she said.
The literary agency acts as a mediator for companies when they publish foreign novels, illustrated books and other titles in Japan.
In 1991, when Ogino was working as a secretary to the president, she received a call from Shueisha Inc., a leading publisher and one of the agency’s clients, saying it has received many faxes from a Spanish publisher.
She and her boss went to Shueisha and read several dozen faxes originally written by a person who wanted to publish “Dragon Ball” in Spain.
Although an animated TV series adaptation was airing in Spain at the time, the original comic books had yet to be published.
The fax sender was an editor at the Spanish company yearning to publish a Spanish edition after learning from a school that many children were drawing “Dragon Ball” characters.
Ogino ended up serving as a mediator between Shueisha and the Spanish publisher, tasked with negotiating contract terms and calculating royalties.
The Spanish edition was released by the local publisher in the following year.
Since then, Ogino has responded to inquiries from publishing houses in Thailand and Germany on behalf of Shueisha.
Other Japanese publishers began asking her for help in doing business with overseas companies.
Ogino has brokered deals between about 160 Japanese publishers and around 200 foreign publishers, helping them to produce many popular titles in 36 languages.
They include: “Crayon Shin-chan” (Futabasha Publishers Ltd.); “Fullmetal Alchemist” (Square Enix Co.); and “Berserk” (Hakusensha Inc.).
In some cases, she approached publishing companies in countries and regions where the distribution of pirated editions was causing problems.
In August, Ogino received the Manga Publishing Hall of Fame Award for her longtime contributions from the American Manga Awards founded two years ago.
“I haven’t made many deals with publishers in India, Middle East and Africa yet, but it is my goal to deliver manga from Tuttle to the world,” she said.
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