Manga cafe
Encyclopedia
A is a kind of café
in Japan
where people can read manga
. People pay for the time they stay in the café. Most manga cafés also offer internet access like and vice versa, making the two terms mostly interchangeable in Japan. (One large chain, Popeye, uses the term "media cafe"). Additional services include video games, television
, snack
/beverage vending machine
, and more. Like Japanese cafés in general, smoking
is usually permitted.
For an hour's stay, the cost is generally about 400 yen, with most places requiring customers to pay this as a minimum even if leaving earlier. Some manga cafés offer a service where one can stay for the night.
Similarly, South Korea
has a Manhwabang
(만화방), where people read or borrow manwha or Korean-translated manga. More recently, the concept of manga cafes has also popped up in Europe.
companies that say manga cafés are unfair. Generally royalties
are not paid for the reading of a book, and due to the nature of the business a single manga
or graphic novel
can be read by as many as 100 people. The profits
go directly to the proprietors of the cafe rather than the manga distributors themselves. (Public libraries avoid this criticism because they do not take profits.) Cafés such as GeraGera are competing with companies such as Kinko's for quick e-mail
and internet
service.
Coffeehouse
A coffeehouse or coffee shop is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages. It shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on...
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
where people can read manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
. People pay for the time they stay in the café. Most manga cafés also offer internet access like and vice versa, making the two terms mostly interchangeable in Japan. (One large chain, Popeye, uses the term "media cafe"). Additional services include video games, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, snack
Snack
A snack is a small portion of food eaten between meals. The food might be snack food—items like potato chips or baby carrots—but could also simply be a smaller amount of any food item.-Snacks and health:...
/beverage vending machine
Vending machine
A vending machine is a machine which dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, alcohol, cigarettes, lottery tickets, consumer products and even gold and gems to customers automatically, after the customer inserts currency or credit into the machine....
, and more. Like Japanese cafés in general, smoking
Tobacco smoking
Tobacco smoking is the practice where tobacco is burned and the resulting smoke is inhaled. The practice may have begun as early as 5000–3000 BCE. Tobacco was introduced to Eurasia in the late 16th century where it followed common trade routes...
is usually permitted.
For an hour's stay, the cost is generally about 400 yen, with most places requiring customers to pay this as a minimum even if leaving earlier. Some manga cafés offer a service where one can stay for the night.
Similarly, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
has a Manhwabang
Manhwabang
Manhwabang is a kind of café in South Korea where people can read Manhwa. Similarly, Japan has a Manga cafe...
(만화방), where people read or borrow manwha or Korean-translated manga. More recently, the concept of manga cafes has also popped up in Europe.
Services
Search criteria at a search engine site ("National Net Café / Mangakisa Search Engine (beta)"http://www.mk-style.com/netcafe/) offers a glimpse of services that may be offered at a mangakisa:- Seating: reading seat, non-smoking seat, sofa, massage chair, party room, internet seat, pair seat, zashiki (tatamiTatamiA is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Traditionally made of rice straw to form the core , with a covering of woven soft rush straw, tatami are made in standard sizes, with the length exactly twice the width...
matted), reclining seat - PC: disc burners, office software, color printers, photocopier, TV
- Facilities: movies/DVDs, shower room, dartsDartsDarts is a form of throwing game where darts are thrown at a circular target fixed to a wall. Though various boards and games have been used in the past, the term "darts" usually now refers to a standardised game involving a specific board design and set of rules...
, magazines, PC class, music CDs, nail salon, pool table, newspapers, CATV/CS broadcast, table tennisTable tennisTable tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
, slot machineSlot machineA slot machine , informally fruit machine , the slots , poker machine or "pokies" or simply slot is a casino gambling machine with three or more reels which spin when a button is pushed...
, tanning bed, mahjongMahjongMahjong, sometimes spelled Mah Jongg, is a game that originated in China, commonly played by four players...
Criticisms
Recently, there have been complaints from manga publishing/distributionManga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
companies that say manga cafés are unfair. Generally royalties
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
are not paid for the reading of a book, and due to the nature of the business a single manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
or graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
can be read by as many as 100 people. The profits
Profit (accounting)
In accounting, profit can be considered to be the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market whatever it is that is accounted as an enterprise in terms of the component costs of delivered goods and/or services and any operating or other expenses.-Definition:There are...
go directly to the proprietors of the cafe rather than the manga distributors themselves. (Public libraries avoid this criticism because they do not take profits.) Cafés such as GeraGera are competing with companies such as Kinko's for quick e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
and internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
service.