Kameoka Diaries #1 — Self-Introduction

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The Kameoka Diaries: Volume One, collecting the first eight parts, is available in HD for $1:
[ Click here to buy on the iBookstore ]
[ Click here to buy as a DRM-free PDF ]

Also available is The Kameoka Diaries: Part Two, collecting parts 9-16:
[ Click here to buy on the iBookstore ]
[ Click here to buy as a DRM-free PDF ]

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Part Two is now up! Read it here.

  • Bahari

    Awesomo!

  • Niki

    Worked perfectly for me on an iPad 2 in IBooks! The only thing I might recommend is upping the contrast for e-ink readers.

  • Avery

    This is a great description of my classes as well! I recently reread Tonoharu and realized that it fit my personal experience much better than I thought it would when I first arrived in Japan. I’ll have to buy vol.3 :)

  • Chris

    Fun times Lars!

  • travelbug

    Great start!
    I loved your comic, and now once again, you’ve captured the complexity of teaching in Japan, with markers. I look forward to your web comics!

  • Nice to see your updates, pal – and in a more loose art style. I think thats good, if it takes you less time you can get things out quicker. Anywayone in Japan can see a bit about Lars in the manga, AX, issue 84, out now – in my regular column ‘Sean says what?’

  • Loaded in my Samsung Galaxy S, works perfectly with Aldiko eBook.
    Love this smartphone-friendly comics.

  • Scot

    Hey Lars. I spent a study abroad in Kameoka about a decade ago.It was a pretty pleasant place, in my humble opinion. It is not too built up, not too isolated. I hope you dig the dueling Seiyu and Saty (Probably an AEON) stores by the JR station.

    Stay safe.

  • Wendy Clark

    Natsukashii! I don’t have an iPhone/ereader, so appreciate the computer version. I also always appreciate your Facebook updates because they remind me to come visit your website! Can’t wait for vol. 3!

  • tats

    Yes, Japanese kids are supposed to say “I’m fine, thank you. And you?” even though they are terribly sick. I love your comics. Hope you will upload other episodes one by one.

  • rebekah

    Hi Lars! Thank you for your comic. I am from Minneapolis and I applied to JET this year, so I was really happy to find you.

  • Lars Martinson

    Thanks for all the comments, guys! And best of luck to you on your application, Rebekah!

  • Hey Lars, awesome comic! Quick question about the ebook format: Why export as epub instead of pdf, which would theoretically be readable on more devices (as well as online)? Curious to hear your thoughts. Thanks -kevin

    • Lars Martinson

      Hey Kevin, Okay, I’m no expert on this at all so I may be wrong, but PDFs force you to specify a page size, right? I wanted to make something that would (insofar as possible) adjust based on the device. So if you read it on an iPhone you’ll get a panel at a time, whereas if you read it on an iPad it’d be 4up (hopefully). I thought since EPUBs are designed to be versatile like that that they might be better than the more rigid PDF format.
      I’m also thinking of eventually trying to sell it on iBooks, etc., and for that it needs to be in EPUB format.
      But like I say, I’m no expert at all, so maybe I’ll wrong about all this. :-/

  • Filippo Mare

    Hello Lars, I write from ITALY.
    Your works are great! You are one of my best graphic authors, together with Guy Delisle and David Mazzucchelli.
    This idea of the weblog is very good, go on!
    Although I love normal BOOKS made of real paper. Graphic novels are to be collected in a bookshelf, not saved on a disk.
    Ciao Filippo

  • this is good stuff!

  • Jherek

    You mentioned the handshaking nonchalantly but how do you deal with that sort of culturally ingrained rudeness on a daily basis? Do you also get the constant staring and celebrity nick-naming I’ve received on my travels in SE Asia? But at least in Japan you’re not constantly accosted and your sensibilities challenged every time you go out by begging children.

  • Anonymous

    Bookmarked. =)

  • Jonny

    I’m an ALT in Tochigi and I thought teaching at 5 schools was a lot, but damn – 11? I’ve done my self intro about 80 times by now and I really hate talking about myself. Got any tips for making it more fun for myself?

    Also, I’m loving your comic so far. You’ve nailed the experience.

  • Jason

    Omg, I felt exactly like this! When I was on JET, I had over 2,600 students (every student under 15 in a town of 32,000) so I ended up doing self-introductions for the first three months I was there.
    Also, another Pro-Tip for ALTs out there: Make sure to wash your hands after shaking all those hands or you’ll be sicker than a dog.

    Lars, you do a really good job of explaining the complexities of teaching English in Japan. Keep these coming!

  • Lars Martinson

    Thanks for the comments, all! (^O^)/
    Jherek: No, the kids are cute about it, I don’t mind. And sometimes they do stare at me like I’m an alien, but I’ve pretty much gotten used to that so it doesn’t really phase me anymore. A big part of the reason I do this job is to try to help them get used to people different than themselves, and through repeated classes they do get better, little by little!

  • Lars Martinson

    Whoops, forgot to comment on Jonny’s question:
    “I’ve done my self intro about 80 times by now and I really hate talking about myself. Got any tips for making it more fun for myself?”
    Like I say in the comic, I often do a quiz about myself as a part of my self-intro. Like I’ll ask “What is my hobby?” and give them 4 choices. They then decide as lunch groups, and I award points to the correct guesses. It sounds dumb but the kids eat it up, and it makes all those millions of self-intro classes go by a *little* faster…

  • Heh, rad stuff. I’ve been at it for the past 2-3 years now. I’ma check back on ya~

  • John Hall

    I normally read comics in CBR or CBZ format. Rar or Zip the pdfs, then re-name it cbr or cbz. There are comic readers available for download on many readers.

  • pgp

    Thanks for putting this up online, but I’m heading over to the Apps Store to buy this in HD!

  • Awesome~!!!