Riyadh: Saudi Minister of Culture and Chairman of the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan met Saudi scholarship students participating in the Manga Industry program in Tokyo.

The program, organized in collaboration between the commission and Manga Productions, a subsidiary of Misk Foundation, aims to develop talented manga artists through professional training rooted in Japanese techniques, the art form’s birthplace.

Prince Badr highlighted the Saudi leadership’s strong commitment to developing human capabilities across various fields, emphasizing the importance of academic and professional training in cultural disciplines.

The meeting was attended by the CEO of the commission, Mohammed Hasan Alwan, CEO of Manga Productions Essam Bukhary and students studying manga art at Kadokawa Contents Academy, a leading Japanese institution for training and recruiting manga talent.

The program offers virtual workshops, intensive training courses and overseas training in Japan. It also includes competitions blending manga with Saudi cultural themes, such as Munjanha, which transforms Arabic proverbs into manga stories; Manga Al-Qaseed, which adapts Arabic poetry; and Manga Al-Ibil, which celebrates the cultural symbolism of camels in Saudi heritage.

More than 1,850 participants have benefited from the program’s virtual workshops, with 115 advancing to intensive training, producing 115 manga stories. Of these, 21 students were selected for advanced training in Japan.