With manga becoming more popular internationally, an increasing number of Japanese universities have been providing courses on the subject, producing graduates who have gone on to work in a broad spectrum of society.
"The number of students finding employment at companies unrelated (to manga) has increased over the past decade thanks to the good performance of such graduates," says Machiko Satonaka, a cartoonist who has been teaching manga studies at Osaka University of Arts since 2003.
Kyoto Seika University, the first in Japan to begin manga courses, way back in 1973, has produced around 500 graduates of its Story Manga Course since 2000, about 60 of whom have become professional manga artists.