For a man born in Cameroon who grew up in Japan, finding his calling in life as a social minority has given him a unique perspective, which he has parlayed into a budding career as a manga artist.
As Japan's pop culture has evolved, so too have the experiences of Rene Hoshino, who has used the bittersweet memories of his childhood years as the comical material for his recently released manga, "Afurika Shonen ga Nihon de Sodatta Kekka" ("The Results of an African Boy Growing Up in Japan").
With a growing following of more than 47,000 people on Twitter, the 34-year-old appears to have struck a chord in a society where he is making his mark as an African-Japanese.