and people near and far are taking part

across the country students from overseas

continue with their education in Japan

On today's Manabi-ya, we'll need a student

from Italy who's learning manga in Kyoto

Manabi-ya is all about overseas students

living and learning in Japan

First up: School Days.

Keeping up with what's going on, on campus

Kyoto is not just a city in Japan.

It's a place that's known and loved around the World.

Japanese tradition resides here

as part of everyday life

Traditions come in many forms.

They attract people from other countries

who want to learn about them in their natural habitat.

People like this young woman from Italy

My name is Daniela Russo.

Daniela has made good use of those years in Japan.

Her language skills have come along quite nicely.

The 22 year-old attends Kyoto Seika University,

majoring in one of the more recent

artistic traditions to come out of Japan.

Kyoto Seika University started

offering instruction in manga in 1973.

The first university in the country to do so.

The curriculum includes courses for those

who want to become professional manga artists(Manga-ka).

But it also has classes for students who

want to get involved in editing (American cartoonist).

People can also learn how to express

irony and humor in a single picture

and how to put pictures into motion

through animation (Animator).

About 60 students from abroad are

learning about manga here.

They come from such places as China,

South Korea and Sweden

and of course Italy,

Daniela's home country.

She's enrolled in the comic art sequence(Story Manga)

to become a manga artist (Manga-ka).

And has been at it for 2 years.

The assignment for this day was to draw 8 manga pages

in line with the particular theme.

This requires not only deciding the story development

but also figuring out how to set the range

for the pictures, the size for dialogue and the locations.

Daniela does her project in Japanese.

The professors in this department are practicing

manga artists (Manga-ka) whose work is seen across the country.

They know the ends analysis of the industry

So, when they give advice it's based on experience.

The teachers cast a critical eye on everyone's work

International students get no slack.

“I just have change to erase

and redraw the bottom part of this page.

That way it should be alright (LOL).”

Repetition helps develop the skills

needed to develop a reputation

so the students draw over and over

to reach the essence of the subject.

When Daniela goes home

she's still surrounded by manga.

Her monthly living expenses amount

to just under 15 hundred dollars.

About 6 hundred of that goes to rent.

All those manga she buys upper that too

Daniela was born (in Milan)

and raised in Monza a suburb of Milan.

As a girl she loved drawing.

She started watching Japanese anime and

reading translated manga.

Before long, that world had become her world.

She study Japanese by herself at 16 and

learn enough to understand some manga.

“Moe Kare!!” is a love story about a girl

like Daniela who's crazy about manga.

Daniela was drawn to this tale of

dreams and romance

but she also found that it made her

aware of cultural differences.

The obvious part for her was

to study manga in Japan

and in Japan, Kyoto Seika University

is THE place to go to, to do just that.

To pave the way, Daniela needed to build up

her communication skills in Japanese.

So, for her first 2 and a half years in the country,

she attended language school.

She now sees Kyoto as her other hometown.

Part of the reason is that she's been there quite a while.

But her attachment to the city

goes far beyond nostalgia.

This is Japan's first manga research facility.

It was established by Kyoto Seika University

and the city of Kyoto

and its influence reaches around the World.

50 thousand manga line the walls, a historical

record of an art form that still evolving.

Manga are now found in places across the globe.

They make for a multi-million dollar

business in markets such as the USA and France.

Daniela says the institute reminds her of

just how prominent the profile of manga is internationally.

From a dreaming girl

to a woman with an actual career.

Daniela still has a ways to go in making a

living and a life as a manga artist (Manga-ka).

But with everyday the picture

becomes more realistic.

Even in her early age Daniela

had a sense of where she was headed.

Manga became part of her childhood

and when she got older

she found the courage to follow her dream

to the other side of the World.

Her story continues to be written in Japan.

Before we go, here's a bit more

information about what you saw today.

The manga department of Kyoto Seika University,

where Daniela studies,

encourages applications from international students.

The process requires

sending in information and documents

and later, an interview in Japanese

along with the review of your portfolio.

Classes are all in Japanese.

So you'll need to drawn on your language resources

See you next time on Manabi-ya.