Lat's 'Kampung Boy' wins Japanese comic award

The cover of the Japanese version of Lat's "Kampung Boy".

KUALA LUMPUR: The Japanese version of Lat's Kampung Boy comic won second place in Japan's Gaiman Award for the overseas comic category.

According to a statement, the comic by Datuk Mohd Nor Khalid, popularly known as Lat, topped 14 other comics from several countries including Britain, Spain, China and South Korea.

According to the results announced on the website www.gaiman.jp Saturday, Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon published in the United States by Marvel Comics was accorded first place, while third place went to Jolies Ténèbres from France.

"Generally, overseas readers love reading Kampung Boy and choose the book because it portrays the culture, harmony and unity of Malaysian society through the eyes of a local village boy.

"The illustrations of real characters in a village setting draw readers close to the characters and make the comic book an easy read," the statement said.

The Japanese version of Kampung Boy was translated by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's Japanese language lecturer, Hieda Natsue, edited by Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS) lecturer Assoc Prof Soda Naoki, and jointly published by the Malaysian Institute of Translation and Books and Tokyos TUFS Press.

Launched at the Tokyo International Book Fair in July, it is also used as a teaching aid for Southeast Asian Studies at TUFS because of its uniqueness.

Lat's works have been translated and published in 12 foreign languages including English, Arabic, Mandarin, Tamil, French, German, Indonesian and Korean. - Bernama