The hottest places in the Anime & Manga industry, brought to you by the SMAC! News Team… This is TOKYO MANGA DEEP WALKER! I think there are many of you who use tablets and draw manga digitally, but in the Japanese manga world, it’s still common to draw things by hand. Thus, for Japanese manga, art supplies are indispensable!! At what kind of place do manga artists buy their supplies? To find out, we visited an art supplies store that’s popular among young creators, illustrators and professional manga artists alike. This is the Ochanomizu branch of the TOOLS art supplies store! This is the very place that supplies Tetsuo Hara sensei’s studio! Let’s hurry up and look inside! As you can see, the whole shop is crammed full of art goods!! We arrived shortly after opening, so there were only a few customers browsing, but by the afternoon, it usually fills up with manga artists and students from nearby design and illustration colleges. There’s too much to possibly introduce everything, but let’s start with some standard supplies!   From the left, we have ink, Indian ink and white-out. Of course, not all ink is equal! You get ink for pens, ink for brushes and ink that is used for tones. And depending on your needs, you might want to use Indian ink. And don’t forget the white-out, for when you need to erase a line! Next, the pen-holders and nibs. Depending on what kind of line you want to draw, there are various nibs, such as for G-pens, mapping pens, school pens and millimeter pens, and the appropriate holders. For nibs alone, there are over 20 types!! There are nibs that you can exchange after they wear out and nibs that were used by famous manga artists which are given away as presents with certain purchases. Underneath is some Manga manuscript paper. B4 is the standard size for drawing paper in Japan. Commercial manga magazines are printed on B5 paper and comics are printed on B6. As such, the manga is first drawn on a larger paper and shrunk down when published. Thanks to this, even if the lines are a little rough, it won’t show. Artists can draw thick, dense lines and it will look very clean in the final print! Wait, what’s in all these drawers? It seems that they’re all filled with… screentones! For adding patterns on B4 size paper, you cut and paste these to fill in things like shadows or patterns on uniforms. Each draw is chock full of screentones!! You just have to look for the pattern or image that you want to use and purchase it. Next up… French curves! If you have one of these, you can draw various curved lines with ease. You get several rulers in a set, allowing you to draw any sort of curved line! And look and this! Loads of reference material for artists!! Books containing poses or illustrations, wooden mannequins and many other helpful items are lined up on the shelves! Of course, there’s only so much space in the shop, so they’ve chosen only the best items to put on sale. If you’re unsure about what to get, the shop staff will be happy to assist you! In one trip, you can get everything you need to draw and some useful advice! What a great store!! The TOOLS recommended section!! Popular all over the world: alcohol markers. Over 358 colors are available! I don’t think there are many shops in Japan that have this many options!! With a wide range of beautiful colors, many illustrators are beginning to use alcohol markers for their coloring needs. You can mix ink to get the color that you want or change the nib to an airbrush, giving you endless possibilities! It’s a new wave for not only illustrators, but also manga artists! For first-timers, there are videos that show you how to use them! And finally… A few words from the store manager, Mr. Iwata: “The Ochanomizu branch of TOOLS is very close to the holy land of anime, Akihabara, and we get many customers from other countries. To support artists in their creative endeavors, we’ve prepared not only the basic tools, but also a wide range of reference materials. If you’re in Japan, we hope that you will visit our store!” We were really surprised at the sheer range of goods, and we had a great time looking around! We hope that you’ll also get a chance to take in hand these tools that are used by professional manga artists in Japan! You’ll definitely feel the manga culture! ＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝ TOOLS, Ochanomizu Branch Official Site Tokyo, Chiyoda ward, Kandasurugadai 2-1-30 101-0062 TEL 03-3295-1438 FAX 03-3295-1440 Business hours: 10:00 – 19:00 (until 18:30 on weekends and public holidays) Link to English google maps   Our next update will be on 4/2! We’ll be checking out the mixture of old & new in the holy land of otaku culture: Nakano Broadway! Photographer: Yoshio Kobayashi