Tsumugu / out Nov 2024

Tsumugu is a sequel to the comic Iogi.

It is a book collection of comic works on the border between the genres of sociological comics and comics with a strong poetic value - on the theme of everyday life in Japan. The project is a follow-up to the comic book Iogi (2022), in which the same team focused on ordinary life in Tokyo's Suginami district and which was featured in a number of exhibitions in Japan and the Czech Republic, won several prestigious awards (Japan International Manga Award, Muriel Award for Best Screenplay, nomination for Muriel Award for Best Book of the Year and Best Short Comic, Art Award of the City of Pilsen) and several foreign language editions (English, Japanese, Polish).

In the continuation of the book, each individual story will focus on a different region of Japan: from the northern island of Hokkaido to Shimane Prefecture in the southwest of the archipelago, from the mountain peaks of Gunma Prefecture to the seashore of Shikoku Island. The stories deal with the theme of everyday life, which is far from the established ideas of the Land of the Rising Sun. In addition, the theme of tradition and its transmission will be key in the forthcoming book: some comics will deal with contemporary forms of traditional Japanese crafts, customs or ceremonies (pottery, calligraphy, the tea ceremony, blueprinting, the feast of the Japanese Nicholas or Namahage the devil, or the traditional bio-production of sake), dealing with tradition, its transmission and value.

The comic book is an exceptional collaboration between the author of the script, Jean-Gaspard Páleníček, who brings the perspective of someone who has lived in Japan, and students of the Faculty of Design and Art under the direction of Václav Šlajch. The expert framework of the project will be provided by a foreword by Pavel Kořínek, a literary scholar and researcher at the Centre for Comics Studies of the CAS.

Editors: Jean-Gaspard Páleníček, Václav Šlajch

Scripts: Jean-Gaspard Páleníček

Václav Šlajch

Drawers: Alyn Brabec, Daniela Herodesová, Maxmilián Hrstka, Kateřina Illnerová, Tomáš Klaus, Matěj Kolář, Johana Kubalová, Dominika Lizoňová, Jozef Pavelka, Jaromír Pohanka, Ivan Rjabčenjuk, Marty Roule, Jan Stěhule, Liubov Šamaeva, Václav Šlajch, Thuy Tien Tranová, Barbora Voštinková, Jana Vyskočilová

Author of the afterword: Pavel Kořínek