About Kanpiki

 Kanpiki is a comic project created by Erin Taylor (@evtofficial on Twitter/Instagram). It is a travelogue and a graphic novel retelling of Erin's experience studying abroad in Japan during her senior year of high school. It is an exploration of Japanese culture through the eyes of an American exchange student. The comic focuses on themes of ross cultural communication and exchange, and takes the reader on a journey from Tokyo through the Japanese countryside. The stories are in English with some Japanese included (but always translated into English and explained, so as to be accessible to American readers). Welcome! We are glad you're here. 

Q AND A: 

Q: When did you study abroad in Japan? 

A: I studied abroad in Japan in the fall and winter of 2014. It was a great time to be in Japan. During this time, one of my classmates won a medal in the 2014 Pan-Asian Olympics, which felt so exciting. The song "Tokyo Victory 2020" was very popular -- I remember singing it with my classmates at karaoke!

Q: Where in Japan did you live?

A: While in Japan, I lived in Nakaoka city, which is in Niigata prefecture. I loved Nagaoka! It's small (by Japan standards -- to me it seemed really urban, because I grew up on a farm in America!) and very beautiful. The mountains there are gorgeous, and there are tons of very beautiful temples and really tasty food. If you choose to visit that area of Japan, I highly recommend it. While there, I was lucky enough to stay in a traditional Japanese farm house with my wonderful host family. If that sounds interesting to you, please read the comic, because I discuss this a lot further there! It was a beautiful experience! 

Q: What organization did you study abroad with?

A: On the American side, I used Greenheart Travel. In Japan, my organization was the Japan Foundation for Intercultural Exchange. I really recommend Greenheart -- the staff were all super friendly and so helpful! All the JFIE staff were very kind as well, and it was nice to meet other exchange students from all over the world who used the same organization as me. however, if I were to do it again, I would do the Rotary program. It's free for students who qualify, and they play and pay for a lot of in-country travel for you. So cool! 

Q: What does Kanpiki mean? 

A: When I first moved to Japan, I quickly found that if I made language mistakes, no one would correct me, because they thought it was cute and funny. At the time, this made me feel so frustrated, but with hindsight, I find it really funny. One of my silliest mistakes was about the word かんぺき (kanpeki), which is Japanese for 'perfect'. When I first heard my host mom say it, I thought she was saying かんぴき(kanpiki). It's close, but of course, to natural speakers, it sounds very cutesy and silly (and also wrong)! My host family laughed at me for this for the entire time I lived in Japan. I actually only learned I was saying it wrong months after I had moved back to the states! It's silly, and it's the perfect example of the ways in which studying abroad quickly shows you that you have a LOT to learn about your new home.

Q: Why did you decide to make comics? 

A: I've always liked making comics (although I like writing too!). I chose comics for this project because manga (comics) are hugely popular in Japan as a medium of communication. Comics are read by everyone, from salarymen riding the train, to housewives, to children, to anyone you can imagine. They tell stories with depth and emotion, stories meant to entertain and to educate and to spark thought. I wanted to show what I learned in Japan through this method to pay homage to Japanese comics culture and traditions. 

Q: Where can we find you? 

You can follow me on Twitter or Instagram for updates on the comic (I'll post when I add new chapters!). You can find my writing on my blog. I also have another comic about Japan! It's called The 7/11 Barcrawl, and I hope you'll read it! It follows my experience traveling in Japan as a tourist, rather than a student. I'm proud of it, and I hope you enjoy it!