Gender identity disorder, sexual orientation discrimination, death row, depression and physical abuse: these are just a few of the hard-hitting subjects being dealt with at a manga exhibition for the promotion of human rights.
While people from overseas have grown more aware of Japanese culture through Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cool Japan initiative, the exhibition underway at the Tokyo Metropolitan Human Rights Promotion Center comes at a time when human rights-related challenges are gaining prominence here.
"People do not usually think about human rights in their everyday lives, but hopefully they will pay even a little attention to the issues," said exhibition curator Ayumi Tamura. "For that purpose, manga is one of the best ways, since people can easily pick them up."