Moresukine: Wöchentlich aus Tokio

by Dirk Schwieger

Ex-pat in Japan experiences all things Japanese as ordered online! Dirk lived in Tokyo, had a comics blog where he had people dare him to try all sorts of different things, exotic, disgusting, revealing, whatever!, in this land of the rising sun, and then relate it with funky humor on the blog. Result is quite a fascinating inside look at the Japanese society, how they live, how they think, what they eat. Moresukine is the Japanese way of pronouncing Moleskine as these comics were created on one. This graphic novel comes designed exactly like a Moleskine: black cover, rounded edges, ribbon page mark… "What a fun idea" said Neil Gaiman and other artists also contribute with their take on this adventure, including James Kochalka and Ryan North.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Japan, Travel, Nonfiction, Germany, Graphic Novels Comics

Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Arminzerella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dirk Schwieger created a webcomic blog while he was living in Tokyo, Japan (January 2 – July 3, 2006). He set himself a challenge – to accept assignments from folks who commented on his blog. It was a way for those who were curious about Japan and Japanese culture to get Dirk to investigate further. He took on each assignment (24 in all) and reported in comic format on fashion, gender, various museums, love hotels, religion, pod hotels, sushi, Japanese slang, and other things of interest to his readers.

Not quite as earth-shatteringly daring as I’d hoped this would be, it was still pretty interesting and informative. The last part, which I skimmed, is comprised of the work of several other comic artists, who create pieces to showcase their experiences meeting a Japanese person in their own cities and having a conversation with said person. I read a couple and they seemed more like advertisements for the other artists’ work/websites. Eh.

[Emilia P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. Nicely illustrated guide to How Japan is Weird (but um, there are plenty of books about that already). Doesn't do much to distinguish itself beyond that -- feel like it would have been better in original webcomic form, but still, Schwieger, as a native German speaker, doesn't use English in much more than a functional way so it's not super exciting to read. Still. Great illustrations. Hence the three stars.

[Matt Graupman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looking to distinguish himself from all the other diary cartoonists blogging from a foreign land, German artist Dirk Schwieger undertook a radical project: he solicited suggestions from his readers of what he should experience in his adopted home of Japan, with the caveat that he couldn’t turn down any challenge. From trying a certain type of blowfish that’s deadly if prepared incorrectly to exploring the surrounding museums and shrines, Schwieger documented each challenge in a series of blocky, angular comics which he then uploaded to his website. There’s some interesting stuff sprinkled throughout the book but - perhaps because of the difficulty of translating Japanese life through a German perspective into the English language - I found the book to be kinda off-putting. The page layouts, his writing style, his pacing, etc., it never quite came together for me. Japan DOES seem like a pretty wild place, though.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Schweiger is a German cartoonist, relocated to Japan for his day job. As part of his online webcomic/journal, he asked readers to give him challenges that they'd like him to undertake. No matter his personal interest, he pursued each suggestion, turning it into a four-page webjournal entry. Unfortunately, while this was probably good for him as a creative challenge and in terms of getting acclimated with Japanese life, the entries are very shallow and mostly boring to read.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

While living in Japan Dirk Schwieger would ask his followers what he should do (food, events, sites) and then he would go out and do it! The result is an often fascinating example of what is called 'gradual acculturation' - the process of outsider/insider status changing as perspective is changed through engagement. A great gift for someone going to Japan (especially if it is the first time).

[A. Mickey Perkins · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a fan. A little racist. A little homophobic. A lot a straight white guy mocking things he doesn’t understand. So not for me.

[Natira · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Moresukine" ist ein comic-hafter "Notizbuch"-Erlebnisbericht. Der Autor ging einige Zeit nach Japan und hat ihm online gestellte "Aufgaben" (wie z.B. ein sogenanntes Kapselhotel auszutesten, traditionelles Essen zu sich zu nehmen, das Hara-Museum zu besuchen etc.) erledigt und seine Erfahrungen als Comic präsentiert.

Es ist ein etwas anderer Zugang zu und eine etwas andere Darstellung seiner Erlebnissen in Japan. Ich fand das alles interessant, dennoch hat es mich nicht 100 % überzeugt. Zeichnerisch war es nicht ganz mein Ding, aber zugegeben: Das ist Geschmackssache. Das Format fand ich für die Darstellungen zu klein - auch wenn ich verstehe, dass dies den Notizbuchcharakter betont (auch die ausfaltbare Notizseite hat leider Plus- und Negativpunkte, da es hier zwar mehr Raum gab, sie aber nur schwierig "ordentlich" wieder zusammenklappbar war und das Blatt u. die Heftung bei Mehrfachnutzung leiden). Ein paar Begriffe hätten für Nichtkenner der japanischen Szene wie mich durchaus kurz erläutert werden dürfen, wenn sie schon lapidar benutzt werden ("Wer nicht gerade Otaku ist ..." durch z.B. "Wer nicht gerade Otaku, also ein Herz-Blut-Fan ist ..." und ja ich weiß, ich kann googlen, was ich ja auch getan habe).

Diese Erlebnis-Berichte machen den ersten Teil des Buches aus, im zweiten Teil stellt der Autor von ihm geschätzten Comic-Künstlern jeweils die gleiche Aufgabe - Treffe in Deiner Stadt eine/n Japaner/in, rede mit ihr/ihm und berichte. Die unterschiedlichen Ansätze und Interpretationen fand ich sehr faszinierend und den zweiten Teil daher mindestens genauso spannend wie den ersten.

[Diana Welsch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a gift from my sweetie, apparently as a way for him to let me know he wasn't going to be mad if I dumped him to go to work in Japan for a year. Not that I would dump him to do that...no way! He's much too sweet. I'd fly him out and we could do some of the stuff outlined in this book together.

During a stay in Tokyo, Dirk Schweiger kept a blog and invited readers to suggest things for him to do there. No matter what it was, he would do it, and then make a cartoon about the experience. This book is the collection of those.

The suggestions were varied: it might be someplace to visit, something to eat, or just to tell about his neighborhood or a memorable experience he had. He visited a weird sex hotel, stayed in a "pod hotel," went to a couple of really neat museums, met a local band, ate some weird things, and talked about making a mess in the bathroom with their weird space-age toilets.

It was a great concept and very intriguing book. I'm definitely interested in visiting some of these places when I do visit Japan. I'd recommend this to anyone who is interested in visiting Tokyo, learning more about it, or just reading about weirdness.

[Krysta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick-reading, engaging, visual vignettes of a foreigner's experience living in Tokyo. The concept centered on completing 'suggestions' that blog readers submitted and through doing so, he covers all the highlights like pod hotels, canned coffee, love hotels, okonomiyaki (can't wait to eat this myself), the Ghibli Museum, the weird high tech toilets (nervous about this!) and more.

Reading this in context of going to Tokyo made me appreciate it alot, but I think it's entertaining for anyone interested in Japan or Asian culture.

[AM · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good graphic journal with a neat concept. Schwieger ran a blog and accepted challenges of things to do and experience while in Japan. I wish his portion of the book had been longer. The last fourth of the book was his challenge to his audience -- meet a Japanese where you are and talk to them. Those additions were kind of hit or miss. The only true fault is in the design, some of the layouts didn't quite fit the moleskin journal format.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, I love Tokyo so it was nice to revisit it in print for a few days. Interesting concept. European (gaijin) in Tokyo writes/draws graphic blog accepting dares to see or try or do something authentically Japanese. He has to do it whether he wants to or not. I'm a sucker for cultural anthropology (my major) and cultural differences, so a very enjoyable read. Also learned about some cool places I'd like to visit someday.

[Amy Peavy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just read through this quickly today. It was interesting to look through his experiences in Japan. I think English was his second language, o I was reading the panels in the wrong order... sometimes I had no clue what he was saying.. but it did give me some inspiration for our next trip to Japan. There was also a section at the end with guest posts (the comics were online originally), and I found that weird.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Moresukine has a great concept- a German living in Japan accepts assignments to engage with Japanese culture and then writes short comics about his experience. The comics are pretty cruddy though. I did learn the useful bit of Japanese slang "all America wept," used to indicate that something is completely meaningless. For example "Richard gave Moresukine 2 stars and all America wept."

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read about the artist's adventures in Japan, as dictated by the readers of his webcomic.

A good alternate or companion read would be Japan Ai: A tall girl's adventures in Japan by Aimee Major Steinberger. She's definitely more obsessed with certain aspects of Japanese culture--she's a cosplayer and draws in a cute Manga style.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not worth a buy, but it's readable. The last quarter of the book made nearly no sense to me, but the first 3/4 of the book were solid for the most part. Looks like a Moleskine book, which adds to the appeal but I was ultimately let down by this collection. It's a fast read, so if you have the time and the access, it's worth the time.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author is working from Tokyo and his blog challenges his followers to submit challenges that they would like him to experience in Tokyo. They range from talking to a Japanese, riding a rooftop roller coaster, sleeping in a pod at a pod hotel to eating potentially poisonous fugo. An interesting look into Japanese life and culture as perceived by a westerner.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun concept: using a weblog to illustrate a facet of Japanese life to his readers, Dirk Schwieger, a German, is challenged to explain a lot of the oddities of life in Japan but it should prove to be amusing to those who are interested in Japanese life.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the concept of this graphic novel more than I enjoyed the actual execution. I really wanted more depth instead of cursory recountings.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent idea, well executed. I could have done without the stuff by other authors in the back though.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and well drawn, but some of the pages had a confusing flow.

[Mitch Donaberger]

Full of fascinating insight.

[Whatsupchuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

A travel comic from Japan. Readers of this guy's blog suggested things for him to check out, which he did and then reported back his findings.

[Sarah Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun way to experience Japan through a European viewpoint.