| Japan – Salesian Youth Day 2015 |
| RMG - New Provincial of Japan: Fr Mario Yamanouchi |
| Brazil – The story of Jesus, in ‘Manga’ format |
(ANS – Tokyo) – A comic book on Don Bosco produced by Don Bosco Sha, the publishing sector of the Japanese Salesian Province, was launched on 7 May. Don Bosco Sha had been working on the production for the past year together with a professional cartoonist and a professional cartoon editor in order to ensure a high-quality production that would attract the youth of today, even non-Christian youth, with the main target audience being teenagers.
By Fr Yoshiki Sekiya, SDB
The story-line is devised in a novel way to let the reader experience an encounter with Don Bosco. The main characters, present day teenagers Riku and Mana, are transported back in time to the founding days of Don Bosco’s oratory. Riku and Mana are typical youth of today who find difficulty in envisioning the future with hopes and dreams, and are frustrated with relationships. They meet the young people of the oratory, get involved in various activities, and through eye-opening experiences, are helped to grow. In the end, they return to their present-day life to start anew with the positive outlook on life learned from Don Bosco. The central message is to have faith in someone, and to have someone who has faith in you, and the key to this is “staying together”.
The illustrator, Mr Guri SUZUKI is a 38-year-old cartoonist. He accompanied the group of young Salesians from Japan on their pilgrimage to the places associated with Don Bosco in order to research the project. He became friends with the Salesians, and saw the holy places of Don Bosco with his own eyes. His own experience of encounter with Don Bosco shines through in the work.
The Editorial Supervisor is Fr. Shinjiro URATA, SDB, who studied spiritual theology at UPS. He holds a doctorate in theology and specializes in Don Bosco studies. He accompanied Mr. Guri Suzuki in researching the project.
The Japanese Salesian Province hopes the production will be read by many people, especially the young, all over the world in different languages.
For more information write to: Salesian Press DON BOSCO SHA.
Published 28/05/2015
