Woman in Comics Month: Yoko Tanigaki

PREVIEWSworld: Please introduce yourself! Tell us where you currently work and what you do in the industry?

Yoko Tanigaki: Hello, my name is Yoko Tanigaki, and I'm Digital Manga Inc's VP of Sales & Distribution. Working for a small indy publisher, I get to handle a lot of things. I oversee sales, distribution, licensing, and Japanese relations. When my Editor-in-Chief lets me, I get to translate and edit on a few too. It keeps me busy and it's never dull.

PREVIEWSworld: How long have you been working with sequential art? What titles, companies, and creators have you worked with over your time in comics?

Yoko Tanigaki: I've been with DMI for six years and going on my seventh this year. Most of our creators are in Japan, so I don't get to meet them often. I was lucky to meet and spend time with Uki Ogasawara  (the creator of BLACK SUN ISBN: 9781834129272) and her editor Junko Numzaki. I am a big fan of her work and it was tough trying to control my fan-girling'ness.

PREVIEWSworld: How did you get interested in comics? How did you find your way into working with larger companies?

Yoko Tanigaki: I've always liked manga since I was a kid. I've self-taught Japanese by reading lots of manga. I got really lucky with this job. I was in between jobs and I just remember seeing "...knowledge of Japanese language preferred, but not required..." in the job ad. I said to myself, "I can speak Japanese," so I sent in my resume. I went in for an interview thinking, 'really?' I get PAID to do this job? Reading and translating manga for work? Oh my, sign me up!" DMI offered me a job then.

PREVIEWSworld: What's your current project? What're you reading right now?

Yoko Tanigaki: My biggest project is Tezuka Osamu's licenses and Digital Manga Guild. We licensed over 250 of Tezuka's titles and I'm in the middle of localizing them for our digital distribution. Since I got this job, I don't get to read much for leisure. All my reading materials tend to be for work. My current reading material is Viz Media's Happy Marriage.

PREVIEWSworld: Have you noticed a trend in the type of comic books women buy?

Yoko Tanigaki: I have a feeling that a lot of our women customers want to connect with the characters. It's almost as if they want to be there in the book. I think that's how many readers "connect" with the book.

PREVIEWSworld: What do you feel the benefits are for the larger industry by having a better mix of genders at all levels of comics production?

Yoko Tanigaki: We at DMI deal with so many different imprints, genres and types of manga, so, yes, I'd say more the merrier. Having a mix of genders at all levels of comics is a great thing. More feedback, different opinions, thoughts and collaborations. I often run into a situation where I tell myself, "Hm, that's a good point. I didn't think of it like that." It makes me look at things in different ways.