People who like to draw pictures. People who like to come up with original ideas for stories that others do not have, and think about how to effectively convey them through pictures and composition. Have the perseverance to continue steady work.

They draw manga, which are pictorial representations of stories, and publish them in magazines and other publications to earn manuscript fees and other income. Some draw stories of their own devising, while others draw stories devised by other artists. If we compare this process to the production of a movie, it is like devising a script, instructing the characters in acting, determining camera angles, and devising and directing the background. The cartoonist is a film director who does all the work on his own. However, when a work is serialized in a weekly manga magazine, he may have an assistant to help him with the work. Even so, completing a dozen or so pages of manga each week is a daunting task. However, it is extremely difficult to be serialized in a weekly manga magazine, where the number of works published is limited. Nevertheless, manga is always in need of new talent, so there are opportunities for those who are willing to work hard. In particular, there are now a large number of web-based manga available on smartphones and other devices. As a result, there are more opportunities for debut artists. If a work becomes a hit, it may be made into an animated TV series or a movie. In addition, manga is very popular overseas as one of the representative cultures of Japan. It is not a dream to expand your fan base all over the world.

There are no special qualifications or exams to become a professional cartoonist. Anyone who can draw manga has the potential to become a professional. While it is possible to learn how to draw those cartoons on one's own, there are also technical schools where one can learn the techniques to make them more interesting. However, while it is important to learn the techniques, it is even more important to enrich one's experience, which is the source of "original ideas. Read a lot of books, watch movies, and interact with many people. Although an academic background is not necessary, it is a good idea to go to a college or university to broaden your human horizons by gaining a variety of perspectives.

The path to a manga artist's debut varies from person to person, but can be broadly divided into the following three categories: First is "submitting work to newcomer awards offered by publishers. The second is to bring your work to the publisher. Applicants contact the publisher directly and have their work read. They receive on-the-spot evaluations and guidance, which is a great learning experience. If your skills are recognized, you may be introduced to assistant work, which can lead to opportunities to hone your skills. Finally, there is "scouting by publishers. If a work published in a self-financed coterie magazine or a Web manga published on the Internet becomes popular, a publisher may take notice and offer to serialize it or publish it as a book. Recently, an increasing number of manga have become hits through this third method.

In recent years, the tools for drawing manga have changed dramatically. In the past, the only analog way to draw was with pen and paper. Today, however, advances have been made in digital equipment such as PC image processing software and pen input devices. It is now possible to draw digital data with the feel of analog operation and with quality comparable to that of drawings done with analog methods. Many manga artists are shifting to such digital drawing. Some cartoonists draw lines using an analog pen, scan them into a computer, and finish them digitally. Digital technology is expected to continue to improve. In addition, the place for presenting manga is spreading beyond print media such as magazines to the digital world, including the Internet. Since the creator and the publisher are connected by the same digital technology, a new style of manga may be born, with the addition of methods of expression and functions unique to digital technology.

The average annual income of manga artists ranges from 4.23 to 7.88 million yen. The main income of a cartoonist is "manuscript fees" for works serialized in magazines and other publications, and "royalties" generated when a book summarizing the serialization is sold. Manuscript fees vary depending on the career of the cartoonist and the publisher, but range from 10,000 yen to several tens of thousands of yen per manuscript. Royalties are royalties paid to the cartoonist based on the number of copies published or sold. This also varies depending on the cartoonist's career and the publisher, but is roughly 10% of the price of the book. In the case of a contract based on the number of copies published, if 10,000 copies of a 500 yen book are published, the royalty is 500,000 yen. If the book is made into an animated cartoon and goods are sold, the cartoonist receives a "copyright fee" or "royalty," which is the royalty for each use of the book.

Before deadlines, they sometimes work all night, and when the work is finished, they take a day off, often with no set days off. The weekly magazine serials, which have weekly deadlines, are particularly strenuous work.

Work space at home. Some cartoonists rent a work space separate from their home to work in because it becomes too cramped with more assistants.

It's a chart that shows at a glance the main routes to getting a job as a cartoonist!