Daily Yomiuri has an article today on a ward in Kobe that plans to create an artist enclave to revitalize an area of the city that was ravished by earthquake.

From the article:

Merchants in Kobe’s Nagata Ward, which was devastated in the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, plan to revitalize the area as a “cartoon town” by renting vacant rooms in buildings constructed after the quake to young cartoonists and establishing a museum featuring a popular anime created by a Kobe-born cartoonist. The merchants hope buildings erected after the earthquake will function like the Tokiwa-so apartment building in Toshima Ward, Tokyo, in which many talented cartoonists, such as Osamu Tezuka, Fujio Akatsuka and Fujio Fujiko, stayed and drew in their early days.

In the new buildings, they aim to nurture young, talented cartoonists by providing workrooms and opportunities for them to publish their work. The merchants also plan to invite shops to sell items related to popular cartoons and comics as well as figurines of popular anime characters.

I dunno if this will be an effective measure in the long term, but I’m sure some struggling artists will appreciate the opportunity.

You can read Daily Yomiuri’s article on Kobe supporting anime artists here

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