The Zimbabwean manga publishers of Kalabash, Zimbabwe’s most popular manga anthology have just inspired an amazing project on the international scale. In a Campfire post, the project known as TOKIWASO reached it’s first stretch crowdfunding goal and is looking to smash the next one. The Afrotokyo inspired TOKIWASO international anthology is currently in production. One of the coolest aspects of the anthology is that the cover is illustrated by the amazing Boichi, creator of the recently ended Dr. Stone manga and anime franchise.
Kalabash has grown from inspiring and promoting stories in Zimbabwe to inspiring the storytelling on a much greater scale. The TOKIWASO project features creators from Zimbabwe, Japan, South Korea, Greece, Cyprus, Spain, France, India, and South Africa. I’ll bet there are very few projects in the world with such an amazing line-up of manga creators. The Kalabash Anthology has already features amazing work from artists like Bill Masuku, Kudakwashe Rwizi, Tafadzwa Shumba and many other up and coming artists.
Boichi has donated his services, refusing to take payment for the illustration which he said is inspired by Kalabash, the Zimbabwean anthology. The project seeks to see all the contributing artists earn a decent fee.
Below is a fluent English translation with contextual notes to help an international audience understand the project’s significance, rather than a strictly literal translation:
News! We Reached Our Next Goal in Just Two Days! ✨
Thanks to the incredible support we’ve received, we’ve already reached our first stretch goal only two days after launching our crowdfunding campaign.
To bring this book to even more readers, we’ve set an even higher stretch goal.
If you’d like to support the project or reserve a copy of the book, we’d be delighted to have you join us.
About the International Manga Group “TOKIWASO”
Hello! My name is Hiroko Oda, and I’m a manga artist.
In 2025, after meeting artists from around the world through manga, we formed the international manga collective TOKIWASO.
Our members come from:
- Japan
- South Korea
- Greece
- Cyprus
- Spain
- France
- India
- Zimbabwe
- South Africa
Why I Started This Project
In 2010, I traveled across Eurasia, completing roughly one and a half crossings of the continent.
Along the way, I met people from many different countries.
What I realized was simple but profound:
Even if our languages and cultures differ, people laugh, worry, love their families, and dream in much the same way. We are all fundamentally human.
That experience inspired my debut manga, “A Solo Woman’s Journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway.”
Since then I’ve published eight books, including works about world cuisine, parenting across cultures, and everyday life around the world.
Throughout all of them, I’ve tried to share one message:
People are fundamentally the same, regardless of language or culture.
Manga Connects Us
Through my work, I’ve met many manga creators who have roots outside Japan but create manga inspired by Japanese storytelling.
Although our cultures and languages differ, we are connected through the shared language of manga.
Cover Illustration by Boichi
The cover of this anthology was generously illustrated by Boichi, the artist behind Dr. STONE (art) and Sun-Ken Rock.
His concept sketch reflects his own childhood experience of growing up in Korea, where he says he drew on the backs of calendars using worn-out ballpoint pens because his family had very little.
The illustration features a Zimbabwean woman as a tribute to the Zimbabwean manga collective Kalabash, whose work inspired this entire project.
Boichi supports this initiative because of his passion for nurturing manga talent around the world.
He shared the following message:
“What an inspiring gathering of manga artists from all over the world.
It has always been my lifelong dream for manga culture to flourish in every country.
I believe your friends will each become seeds for the future manga industries of their own nations.”
Boichi also declined payment for the cover illustration, asking instead that the money be used to pay the participating artists.
We are deeply grateful for his generosity.
Our Goal
We want to publish a book that serves as the founding manifesto of the international manga collective TOKIWASO—
a place where manga creators from around the world can inspire, challenge, and learn from one another.
The crowdfunding campaign isn’t only for printing costs.
A major objective is to pay every participating artist a professional page fee (20,000 yen per contributor), regardless of their country.
We also hope that this publication will eventually lead to the creation of an award that discovers and supports new manga talent internationally.
Why This Project Matters
Japanese manga is loved all over the world.
Now, a new generation of creators who grew up reading manga are creating works in the Japanese manga style while bringing their own cultures and perspectives.
We believe that:
Stories born from diverse backgrounds make the world of manga richer.
TOKIWASO was founded to create a community where artists from many countries can grow together through manga.
The name is inspired by Tokiwa-so, the famous apartment building where many legendary Japanese manga artists once lived and developed their craft together.
This first anthology is more than just a collection of comics.
It is a declaration of the group’s philosophy:
Diversity strengthens manga.
The Japanese edition will have a limited print run of approximately 100 copies (possibly increasing to 200 depending on crowdfunding results).
After crowdfunding supporters receive their copies, remaining books will be sold at Comitia in December.
The English edition will be published online free of charge so readers around the world can discover these creators.
Inspired by Zimbabwe’s Manga Magazine “Kalabash”
The biggest inspiration behind this project was Kalabash, a manga magazine created by a team of artists in Zimbabwe.
Hiroko Oda first discovered it through social media because its cover included Japanese text.
She recalls thinking:
“I had no idea Japanese manga was loved so passionately in Zimbabwe.”
Reading the magazine impressed her even more.
She admired both the artistic quality and the way Zimbabwean culture was naturally expressed through manga.
After contacting the Kalabash team, she later contributed one of her own manga to the magazine.
One featured story, “SWITCHED × SWITCHED,” follows a Zimbabwean high school boy and a Japanese high school girl who mysteriously swap places.
An Unexpected Collaboration
Not long after her manga appeared in Kalabash, Hiroko Oda received an unexpected message on X (formerly Twitter).
It was from Boichi.
He wrote:
“Please let me participate in the Zimbabwe project too.
I’d like to draw an eight-page manga.”
Boichi explained that he had been deeply moved by Kalabash’s mission because it aligned with his lifelong dream of helping manga culture grow around the world.
His contribution is scheduled to appear in Kalabash Volume 4.
Current Progress
The anthology is currently planned to include work by 18 creators.
The cover illustration has already been completed by Boichi.
Production is underway for publication later this year.
Budget
The largest expense is paying the participating manga artists.
Rather than asking creators to work for free, TOKIWASO wants to compensate them for their talent and support their future careers.
Your support helps invest in the next generation of manga creators around the world.
Budget
- Printing (100 copies; 200 if stretch goal is met): ¥60,000
- Artist fees: ¥360,000 (72 pages × ¥5,000)
- Project planning: ¥200,000
- Administration and publicity: ¥82,500
- Miscellaneous expenses: ¥100,000
- Crowdfunding platform fee: 20%
Already donated:
¥500,000
Original goal:
¥500,000
New stretch goal:
¥700,000
Supporter Rewards
Supporters will receive the inaugural issue of TOKIWASO.
Funds will be used not only for producing, printing, and shipping the anthology but also for supporting the group’s future activities.
If this first issue succeeds, the organizers hope to continue publishing annually and establish awards to discover promising new manga talent.
Schedule
- July: Crowdfunding begins
- Late August: Crowdfunding ends
- October: Anthology printed and released
- December: Rewards shipped to supporters
To Manga Artists and Aspiring Manga Creators
TOKIWASO welcomes both professional manga artists and aspiring creators from around the world.
The goal is to improve together through friendship, collaboration, and healthy competition.
Interested creators are encouraged to get in touch through the contact form on Hiroko Oda’s website.
Final Message
For many years, I’ve tried to share one message through my books about food and travel:
Even when our languages and cultures differ, people are fundamentally the same.
Now I hope to express that same idea through manga.
By bringing together manga artists and aspiring creators from around the world—as friends, colleagues, and rivals—we believe we can enrich the future of manga together.
We would be sincerely grateful for your support.
Context for International Readers
This project is more than a crowdfunding campaign for an anthology. It is an attempt to build an international manga community modeled after Tokiwa-so, the legendary Tokyo apartment where influential manga creators such as Osamu Tezuka’s successors and artists like Fujiko Fujio, Shotaro Ishinomori, and Fujio Akatsuka lived and learned from one another. The organizers envision TOKIWASO as a modern, global version of that creative environment, connecting artists across continents.
Another notable aspect is the project’s recognition of Zimbabwe’s Kalabash manga collective. Rather than presenting manga as something that only flows outward from Japan, the project highlights creative exchange in both directions: Japanese creators are inspired by Zimbabwean artists, and internationally recognized professionals like Boichi are supporting emerging talent. This emphasis on mutual inspiration and fair compensation for artists is a central theme of the initiative.