Author Talk – The Minamata Story: An EcoTragedy with Manga Author Sean Michael Wilson
Monday, July 26, 2021
6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Connect via Zoom, login information provided upon registration
Free Admission; Advance Registration Required
Register Online: http://bit.ly/minamatastory
Purchase Book Online (use promo code “JCCC” for 20% discount): http://bit.ly/minamatastorybook
A true story of environmental damage and a deeply moving personal tragedy in Japan due to mismanagement and cover-up.
Join us for a special author talk with manga author Sean Michael Wilson for his upcoming manga/graphic novelization of the true story of Minamata disease, a devastating neurological disease caused by mercury poisoning from chemical company dumping offshore that afflicted the Japanese fishing village of Minamata and other coastal towns during the 1950’s. Sean Michael Wilson’s book follows a young college student, Tomi, and his grandmother as they research and discover a tale of corporations evading responsibility, government cover-ups and the very moving story of the local people who suffered the consequences with bitterness and pain, but with deep strength and courage. With the recent news that the Japanese government is planning to release Tokyo Electric Power Company Fukushima Daiichi nuclear waste into the sea, this story about the past tragedy of Minamata’s poison sea has renewed importance today.
Manga author Sean Michael Wilson will present his new book and share with us the process of researching and writing the book as well as connecting with the survivors from the Minamata community who continue to live with the consequences of this tragedy. In addition, Sean will share with us insights and experiences with creating manga comics and having his work published in Japan’s manga publishing industry. Don’t miss this special webinar, which will include an audience Q&A for Sean to answer some of your questions too!
About Sean Michael Wilson
Sean Michael Wilson is a comic book writer from Scotland. He has had more than 40 books published with a variety of US, UK and Japanese publishers. He is currently writing books for big Japanese publisher Kodansha, as the only professional manga writer from Britain who lives in Japan. He is also the editor of the critically acclaimed collection ‘AX:alternative manga’ (Publishers Weekly’s ‘Best ten books of 2010’ and nominated for a Harvey award). Working with various Japanese artists he has written a unique line of Japanese history/martial arts/Samurai books, including The Book of Five Rings, Secrets of the Ninja, The 47 Ronin, and Cold Mountain (winner of China Comic and Animation Competition 2015 ‘Best Overseas Comic’ award). In 2016 his book ‘The Faceless Ghost’ was nominated for the prestigious Eisner Book Awards, and received a medal in the 2016 ‘Independent Publisher Book Awards’. In 2017, his book Secrets of the Ninja won an International Manga Award from the Japanese government – he is the first British person to receive this award. In 2020 he received the ‘Scottish Samurai Award’ from an association celebrating links between Japan and Scotland.
英国スコットランド出身。熊本在住の漫画原作者。米国や英国、日本など、さまざまな国で刊行される漫画の原作を書き下ろしている。『クリスマス・キャロル』は英サンデー・タイムズ紙2008年度のベストテンに選ばれた。その他、The Faceless Ghost 「顔のない幽霊」は漫画界のゴールデン・グローブ賞と言われているアイズナー賞にノミネートされ、同作品は米国で開催される独立系出版社賞漫画部門の大賞に2016年に輝いた。また、Secrets of the Ninja 「忍者の秘密」は2017年の第10回日本国際漫画賞(外務省主催)で入賞。この賞を受賞する最初の英国人となった。 2020年に「スコットランド・サムライ」賞を受賞