Japanese comic books are all the rage among salarymen and civil servants here, not least because some Korean firms have put them on the compulsory reading list for executives. “Shota No Sushi (King of Sushi)” is king. The serial comic has been widely read among office workers for several years, and Shinsegae Food CEO Choi Byung-ryul always tells staff, “You need to read ‘Shota No Sushi.’” He thinks the story of a boy who wants to be the top Sushi expert as a textbook for the industry. SK chairman Chey Tae-won told new staff two years ago, “I think a lot about how to manage my company when I read ‘Shota No Sushi,’” and ordered the SK Research Institute for Supex Management, the SK Group’s think tank, to study the comic. KT and Shilla Hotel also favor it for their executives.

Japanese comic books “Mr. King of Sushi” (left) and “Shima Kosaku”

It all started with “Kacho shima kosaku (Assistant Manager Shima Kosaku),” a serial comic that vividly describes the underhand combat among Japanese salarymen, whose work environment and corporate culture are similar to Korea’s. It tells the story of Shima’s rise from assistant manager to director. “An MBA course in the U.S. chose “Kacho shima kosaku” as one of its textbooks to understand what corporate culture is like in Japan,” says a staffer with a big domestic corporation who admits he has stacks of this manga. “Many Korean office workers are reading Japanese manga not just for fun but also to get a variety of expert knowledge.”

(englishnews@chosun.com )