Exonian Profiles
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Jake Tarbox ’79: Bringing ‘Manga’ to America
“I read comic books for a living,” says Jake Tarbox ’79, with more than a hint of bemusement in his voice. But it’s the truth. Based in Tokyo, Japan, Tarbox is the senior editor of Raijin Comics, the first weekly anthology of Japanese comics (or manga) created specifically for a North American audience. Fluent in Japanese, Tarbox not only reads the comics, he also oversees their translation into English and the design and production of a sizable 200-page magazine. Additionally, he is the editor of a new series of graphic novels published by Raijin, including their first title Fist of the North Star. “Japanese anime and comics have seen a huge spike in interest in the United States over the past five years,” says Tarbox by phone from Japan, where he has lived and worked for most of the last 16 years. “Sales of Japanese comic books translated into English went up about 400 percent last year alone.” Citing the phenomenal success of Pokemon and the various other Japanese animation serials that have followed in its wake, Tarbox says the timing for a magazine like Raijin in the United States is just right. With the first issue hitting the streets in November 2002, the publication currently ships about 7,000 copies per issue and this spring will expand its distribution to mainstream bookstores like Barnes and Noble. “Manga is an absolutely huge part of popular culture in Japan,” says Tarbox. “In the United States, comics have been pigeonholed as something for kids, and DC and Marvel Comics have specialized way too much in the superheroes genre at the expense of others. In Japan, there are all kinds of genres in both animation and comics. There is something for every age group and demographic.” This, of course, translates into big sales and a booming industry. By way of example, Tarbox cites a comic book that sold a whopping 6.53 million copies in a single week, setting a new world record. This compared to an average issue of Batman or Superman that sells 250,000 per month. Despite a rather ruthless production schedule that has him working 70 hours per week, Tarbox is enjoying the world of manga. “I like the challenge of taking a complex popular media in one cultural setting and language—a language that is as radically different from English as it is possible to be—and trying to bring that into an American environment. Once you’ve translated the comic, it’s no longer the same thing. So the question is, how do you make that adaptation true to the original, without being a boring read?” Prior to Raijin, Tarbox worked for NFL Japan, helping the organization promote and market American football in Asia. This position was preceded by a series of jobs in the communications field, working as a copywriter and editor for an advertising firm in Osaka and as communications director for the Hontai Yoshin School of Jujutsu. He also taught high school English as an employee of the J.E.T. program run by the Ministry of Education. Tarbox says his fascination with Japanese culture grew from an interest in martial arts. After Exeter, Tarbox went on to Oberlin College where, in addition to dual degrees in Japanese and religion, he also received a second-degree black belt in Aikido and a yearning to go to Japan. This led to his involvement with J.E.T.—which, he says, was basically an excuse to get to Japan and study martial arts more intensely, which he did, receiving a third-degree black belt in Jujutsu and second-degree black belt in traditional sword—and eventually, a total immersion in Japanese culture. Other than the time it took him to earn a master’s degree in Japanese and Asian religion from the University of Chicago in the early 1990s, Japan has been home ever since. Now married with a stepchild, he has no immediate plans to leave. “I never intended to stay over here this long, but it’s definitely home now.” —Bill Ewing |
