Japonismes 2018: Manga ↔ Tokyo, the exhibition at the Grande Halle de La Villette

When reality and fiction meet... That's what the Manga ↔ Tokyo exhibition, held at the Grande Halle de La Villette from November 29 to December 30, 2018, attempts to show. A retrospective organized as part of the Japonismes 2018 season, which celebrates the ^160th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and Japan, as well as the ^150th anniversary of the Meiji Restoration.

In the same way that American comics - and Marvel in particular - would never have become the major genre it is today without New York and Manhattan as a backdrop, Japanese manga would probably not have been as successful with the public without the influence of the city of Tokyo in its pages. A reciprocal influence, since today it's the turn of manga (but also video games and anime) to enrich the Japanese capital just as much.

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The exhibition explores this interaction between fiction and reality. How has Tokyo inspired the production of Japanese pop culture over the years? How has Japan's capital inspired manga characters and their storylines? How have these fictional perceptions affected and enriched the real city? These are the questions the exhibition seeks to answer, through the presentation of scenes and extracts from animated films, as well as original drawings, lithographs, photographs, merchandising, accessories and posters.

The retrospective features " settings based on authentic neighborhoods and landscapes seen in films from Godzilla (1954) to the latest blockbuster Your Name (2016 )". Each scene is set in a geographical context, forming a multi-dimensional panorama that immerses visitors in a world of reality and fiction.

Please note that it's been over 4 years since our last visit, so the place and experience may have changed.