Tokyo Love Story: A Manga Memoir of One Woman’s Journey in the World’s Most Exciting City

Fujita’s wry illustrated diary renders life in Tokyo in featherlight lines and cheery watercolors. The French-born artist’s career as a globe-trotting scientific illustrator takes her to Japan, where she falls in love with Tokyo and finds a series of cozy homes in different districts of the sprawling city. Each short chapter presents a snapshot of city life, with carefully observed visual detail and amusingly drawn characters. While many Westerners’ takes on Japan focus on ancient traditions or geeky pop culture, Fujita instead trains her gaze on the hip contemporary scene: clubs, bars, music festivals, fellow artists, and figuring out how to flirt with standoffish Japanese men. She survives the earthquake and tsunami of 2011, checking in with friends as they watch updates on the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster. Fujita fills her pages with meticulous street scenes, train systems, apartment interiors, food, and those ultracomfortable bespoke toilets. All text is in both English and Japanese, which often makes for crowded layouts, but provides a guideline for students of either language. This loosely drawn sketchbook account provides a friendly introduction to Japanese language, culture, and daily life. (Mar.)