I’ll be honest; I don’t consider myself a person who can really give advice about how to “make it” in manga in Japan because...it’s not like I’ve really been successful yet. I’ve barely done much professionally, and haven’t officially debuted in a real way yet.

So all the perspective I can really give at this point is just about how to get started. Please keep in mind that I have lived in Japan for 12 years and have pursued this for 11 of those years. That’s how long it has taken me to “get started”. It’s a commitment.

To begin with, you need to know Japanese to do comics in Japan. That goes without saying, but I’m just going to stress the importance of this. Comics are the marriage of art and writing. The way you convey things has to resonate with your audience.

If you’re drawing manga in Japan, your primary audience is going to be Japanese people. Like with any language, any weirdness in your text is going to take them right out of the story.

Even now I still need someone to look over my text and help me phrase things in a more compelling way. It comes down to the small stuff. Of course you can work around this in other ways—have a story with minimal text, for example.

Comics are a ratio. If you’re able to craft a great story, your art itself doesn’t have to be super great or conventional. On the other hand, if your art is truly exceptional it can make up for a relatively average story sometimes.

All of that basic stuff aside, it is incredibly easy to get editors to look at your work. You can literally call up publishers and set up a meeting. And now, because of the pandemic, most places hold these meetings via video chat.

There’s also countless newbie contests and auditions you can your work to. For contests it should be work that was never published before, but nowadays there are more and more “auditions” where you can submit work you’ve submitted to other places/contests/publications.

In addition, a lot of publishers have begun to set up sites where you can display your manga. Editors regularly look over the site and they hold contests often where you can submit your work via the site. Days NEO, Manga Park, Manga Meets, JUMP Rookie are examples of these

But here’s the thing—it is precisely because it is so easy to submit your work that it’s really hard to make it big.

There are so many people who are currently trying to debut, so you need something to help you stand apart. A lot of people will suggest using your non-Japanese status (particularly if you’re a Westerner) to this effect. Personally I’d rather not, but it’s up to you.

Contests award you with a number of things. First and foremost, money (the higher the rank of award the more you get). Next, an editor. And finally, if you rank high enough: the chance to debut professionally through the publication.

On average most people will either make it to the lower ranks where they get a bit of money, or a bit of money and an editor. Editors will work with you to make a comic that’s good enough to lead to your debut.

Sometimes you hit it off with your editor, sometimes you don’t. I’ve heard some real horror stories tbh...my experience with K-san at Publisher S was pretty rough, but I’m glad for everything I learned with him. Just be prepared for a lot of rejections.

(For the record, I’m still in contact with K, but I have another editor for this serialization at a different place who I am primarily working with at the moment)

Honestly, you’re going to face a lot of failure. When I was 25 an editor told me to my face that I was already old, and was I ready to put in the time to actually get good? Luckily this mindset has started to fade with then onset of online publications and submissions but...yeah.

A lot of aspiring mangaka don’t work a fulltime job and focus all their time on their craft. That’s why many people decide to quit and get a real job if they don’t make it anywhere by 30.

As a person who needs a visa to even be in this country, I do not have this luxury. I need to work AND draw. But this also means I have no limits. I’m already in the workforce lol. But it’s a lot of work, so it’s worth considering if it’s something you’d be okay with.

If you are, then I wish you all the luck! Hopefully it will take you a shorter time than it took me just to get to the opening gates of something. In the end, you either do it, or you don’t, and that’s up for you and you alone to decide.

Anyway, I made this thread because enough people have asked me about how to make it as a manga artist that now I have something to send over lol. Keep in mind that I’m just one person, so I can only speak to my experience. Good luck!