My highlight: Manga now by Timon Screech

Unlike its equivalents in the west, manga in Japan is taken seriously as art. The new exhibition at the British Museum showcases the images of Tetsuya Chiba, Yukinobu Hoshino and Hikaru Nakamura

The term “manga” comes from Katsushika Hokusai’s books of “random images” published in the early 19th century. Now, 200 years on, the genre has exploded into something much wider. Somewhat like the Franco-Belgian bande dessinée or the US comic strip, the Japanese manga covers a range of topics, from politics to social criticism, retellings of classic stories to everyday escapism. Above all, though, it’s about how to live in Japan’s contemporary megacities, places that are some of the most advanced on Earth, yet also sites of decrepitude, with friendly people and excellent social services, but also alienation and the disappearance of children in a fast-ageing nation.

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