Manga cafe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A manga café or a manga kissa (まんがきっさ）is a kind of café in Japan, where people can read manga. People pay for the time they stay in the café, and sometimes they may also be offered internet access, video games, television, and snack/beverage vending machines. More luxurious cafés may offer massage chairs. Like Japanese cafés in general, smoking is usually permitted.

For an hour stay, the cost is generally about $4 US, while a short 10 minute stay (for checking e-mail) is available for as little as 50 cents. Some manga cafés even offer a service where one can rest the night (11:30 to 6:00) for the equivalent of $13.

In April 2006, a man was arrested for living in a manga cafe for 34 days without paying.

1 Abroad
2 Criticisms
3 In fiction
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Abroad

Recently there have been numerous manga cafes sprouting on foreign soil. These are maintained and governed by fellow manga enthusiasts. One such cafe opened up in France, and even offers courses from a mangaka.

[edit] Criticisms

Recently, there have been complaints from manga companies that say manga cafés are unfair. No royalties are generally paid, and a single manga or graphic novel can be read by as many as 100 people. The profits go directly to the proprietors rather than the manga distributors themselves. (Public libraries avoid this criticism because they do not take profits.) Cafés such as GeraGera (see link below) are competing with companies like Kinko's for quick e-mail and internet service.