From what I understand books and manga are traditionally written and read from back to front in Japan.
I was wondering, would a Japanese artist or art student work through a sketch book in the same way, starting on what would be considered the last page for us westerners.
I’m an art student and I’ve just bought a new sketch book, and I’ve been teaching myself manga drawing and the question just popped into my mind.
Sorry if I sound a bit ignorant but when I Google it I’m only getting answers about published books and mange rather than just an every day sketch book for doodles and practice.
Thank you for your enlightenment 😁
4 comments
I bought several sketchbooks and notebooks while in Japan, and they all had a front cover, so I guess they would work through a sketch book the same way we do.
Also, interestingly, published art books from illustrators can be either front to back or back to front.
“Mange”
Thank you, auto-correct. That’s funny.
They are read from front to back. No language is normally written and then read backwards.
Or does your Eurocentric/Anglo centric mind mean they write from right to left, and read consecutive pages from right to left? It’s still front to back for Japanese people.
Hi, a bit late to your post, but I might have some insight since I’ve studied art in Japan for a little while. To give some context, manga looks like it’s read from “back to front” because the text is written from right to left. So, to make the reading flow better, the art is also in a right to left order. However, people nowadays are also used to writing left to right like in English.
To answer your question, most Japanese artists use their sketchbooks from left to right. There isn’t a deep meaning to this; it’s just that the main sketchbooks sold in Japan has the cover on the left side. I’m guessing some manga artists would use it backwards if they’re drafting their manga or something, but people usually use it from left to right. I’ll link some examples:
[Maruman Sketch Book](https://www.amazon.co.jp/maruman-%E3%83%9E%E3%83%AB%E3%83%9E%E3%83%B3-S120-%E3%82%B9%E3%82%B1%E3%83%83%E3%83%81%E3%83%96%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF-B4/dp/B000IGZ5M4/) – standard sketchbook with mid~heavy weight drawing paper.
[Maruman CROQUIS](https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%83%9E%E3%83%AB%E3%83%9E%E3%83%B3-%E3%82%B9%E3%82%B1%E3%83%83%E3%83%81%E3%83%96%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF-%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AD%E3%83%83%E3%82%AD%E3%83%BC%E5%B8%B3-%E7%99%BD%E3%82%AF%E3%83%AD%E3%83%83%E3%82%AD%E3%83%BC%E7%B4%99-SM-02/dp/B001DHFSF6/) – what Japanese people call a “croquis” book. It uses really thin paper so you can do a bunch of quick sketches without worrying about weight or price too much.