Åsa Ekström

Manga artist and cartoonist

Åsa Ekström

Swede based in Japan

Fun Fact: Åsa did not know Japanese before she came to Japan.

When teenage Åsa discovered the Sailor Moon anime on TV, she was immediately hooked. Ever since, her dedication to cartoons and drawing has made her a pioneer in Swedish manga. Today she is based in Tokyo, where she is publishing books and cartoons for a Japanese audience. She recently released a new book in her series depicting a Scandinavian girl exploring Japan. We took the chance to discuss what it’s like to explore the cultural peculiarities she portrays in her cartoons.

Åsa, you are living the dream. What is your story of getting here?

I was 19 when I first visited Japan, but I returned to Sweden to study at the cartoon school in Malmö. Manga was quite hard to get hold of in the 90s, but when I came back from Japan the Dragon Ball manga had been released and was very popular. Since I was one of the first people in Sweden to draw manga, the timing was perfect and I started getting commissions. I kept travelling back and forth between Japan and Sweden for eight years, but in the end, I longed so much for Japan that I eventually moved here.

What do you think it was that kept pulling you back to Japan?

Being in Tokyo is a never-ending excitement! There is always something to do, see, and explore. And then there are the small things that make me happy every day, like discovering that you can buy gold leaf ice cream or some curious face mask in the form of pastilles. I have lived here for seven years and still stumble across surprises like these daily! My book series actually portray myself as a Nordic girl discovering the mysteries of Japan, but there has also been much interest from the readers to learn more about Sweden, so I am writing about that more than ever.

Intriguing! How do you choose what aspects of the two cultures to discuss in your books?

It is much harder to write about my own culture than of Japan. This summer I had my Japanese flat mate visiting me in Sweden for two weeks and it turned out to be a very efficient way of discovering odd things about Sweden. For example, in summertime Swedes eat outdoors – constantly! I never thought of that before. I think Sweden and Japan have a lot to learn from each other, but I also see a lot of similarities. Our people are quite similar personality-wise, but the work culture and perception of gender and equality are things I will never get used to. But that’s ok – you don’t have to like everything in a place to love it, and that is something I want to write about. As for Sweden, we can learn from listening in on the collective group – we are so very individualistic. That can be good and bad, but I think – especially for the future – that we have to show more respect for the people and the environment around us.