Anime-loving cartoonist from Sweden shares joys of Tokyo life

This is a sponsored story, created and edited exclusively by Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Tokyo Updates website.

Asa Ekstrom is a Swedish cartoonist whose works are very popular in Japan. Manga and anime are two of Japan’s major industries, but while many foreigners read manga written by Japanese artists, it is rare to find a foreign manga artist whose works are widely read in Japan. Her five-volume manga series „Nordic Girl Asa Discovers the Mysteries of Japan“ humorously depicts the unique aspects of Japan that stand out to foreigners from a young foreign woman’s perspective. Asa achieved her dream of living in Japan when she moved to Tokyo. We asked her about the charms of various parts of the city.

A city like a giant amusement park

Asa became fascinated by Japanese pop culture when she was a teenager after watching the Japanese anime, „Sailor Moon.“ She read every single Japanese manga she could find that was translated into Swedish and her style of fashion back then was influenced by Japanese anime.

She visited Japan for the first time 20 years ago at the age of 19. Her first impression of Tokyo was that it was „like an amusement park,“ with glittering neon signs everywhere. The streets were filled with people, and it was large enough to fit several European cities. Coming from a country of forests, she was surprised at the sheer size of Tokyo.

She also learned that Tokyo is not just a city of skyscrapers but that it also has many traditional spots like shrines. „The appeal of Tokyo is the contrast between old and new culture,“ says Asa. The people she met were also surprisingly kind to foreigners. By the time she made her third visit to the country, she thought „I love Japan and am going to move there no matter what,“ and her heart was set.

Incorporating the difficulties of life in Japan

Asa found a co-living space in Asagaya, Suginami City, a little to the west of central Tokyo, and began her life in Japan. Her dream of becoming a manga artist came true when she showed her work to a publishing company at their booth in a doujinshi (self-published manga and novels) convention.

Although some of her roommates were foreigners, many were locals, and conversation was mainly in Japanese. She recalls those days fondly: „At first, I knew very little Japanese, so I just pretended to understand and laughed. But when I started speaking broken Japanese, my roommates loved it and said, ‚Kawaii (cute)!‘ My Japanese became so popular that it was called „Asa-nese,“ and they started to imitate me.“

As her Japanese gradually improved, Asagaya became her home in Tokyo. There were lush green spaces nearby like Wadabori Park, which stretches along the Zenpukuji River. She often jogged on the pathway along the riverbank, which offers a magnificent springtime view of the many cherry trees blossoming.

If you take the Chuo Line train from Asagaya, you will soon arrive at Nakano, where you can find the Nakano Broadway shopping complex. It is home to stores selling anime-related figures and other collectibles and is called a „holy land“ by pop culture fans. Asa also likes the non-anime-related stores on the underground floors such as the ice cream shop that serves about 10 flavors of soft serve stacked on a cone and a recycled kimono store.

„At night, I like to go to a restaurant with outside seating to enjoy beer, sake, and food. When alcohol is involved, the language barrier disappears and even tourists can get to know the locals,“ says Åsa. Along the Chuo Line, you can find unpretentious establishments with outside seating in yokocho (alleyways with bars and eateries) under elevated railway tracks and around stations. Ebisu Station on the Yamanote Line is home to many cutting-edge IT companies, but it also has the Ebisu Yokocho near the station, underscoring one of Tokyo’s paradoxes.

Asa often visits the places where her favorite manga are set. Of the two iconic radio towers in Tokyo, Tokyo Skytree is newer and taller, but her favorite is Tokyo Tower, which is depicted in the manga X by CLAMP. As an anime fan, Asa finds joy in even the smallest details of everyday life in Tokyo. Walk into any convenience store and you will find onigiri (rice balls), a uniquely Japanese fast food that shows up in anime. The first time she saw onigiri, it really brought to mind a scene in Sailor Moon where the characters ate them, so the onigiri was quite a discovery for her.

Living in a foreign country can be difficult at times. When she could not read the Japanese on the onigiri wrapping, she had no idea what was inside until she ate it, and she could not figure out the trick to opening the rice ball without tearing its seaweed wrap. However, when she later made these experiences into manga, Asa’s love of Japan and excitement towards a different culture, in spite of her difficulties, were endearing.

Deeply moved by ‚Nana‘ original drawing exhibition

As a manga artist, one of the main attractions of Tokyo for Asa is that there are so many exhibitions to attend. „Many exhibitions start in Tokyo, and some of them then travel to other parts of the country,“ she says. Her go-to place is the Mori Arts Center Gallery in Roppongi Hills, where many manga and anime exhibitions are held, but there are so many museums and galleries in Tokyo that she is always finding exhibitions she wants to visit.

Asa likes exhibitions of original drawings and was deeply moved by one held in 2022. „I went to this (Yazawa Ai) exhibition of original drawings of my favorite manga, „Nana.“ I was so moved that I thought, ‚Maybe I came to Tokyo just to see this‘ and felt my heart shout, ‚Tokyo is the best!'“

„In Sweden, we do not have the opportunity to see original drawings from Japanese manga at all. It is exciting for me as a fan, and there is a lot of study material as a manga artist. There are details that you cannot see in print such as the intensity of the lines, and sometimes you can see things that have been erased.“

Asa has two children with her Japanese partner and is raising them while traveling back and forth between Japan and Sweden. She realized from her experiences that Japan’s idea of love and marriage is very different from her own country’s, and this also became a theme of her manga. Now, she is doing research to compare child-rearing between the two countries. For example, childbirth in Japan is strongly linked to marriage, but in Sweden, there are many children born out of wedlock.

Her manga compares details of daily life between different cultures, is easy for anyone to read, and, at some point while you are reading and laughing, you subconsciously learn about a different culture. Hopefully, we will soon be able to read her manga on childcare.

Translation by Toshio Endo