INDEX
“Have you eaten already?”
Okaya: You work at home, don’t you, Gao?
Gao: Yes. Novelists sometimes write in coffee shops, but for manga, I have my own tools.
Okaya: You have a big LCD tablet, so it’s either at home or at work.
Gao: Novelists of the past used to travel around and write their works at inns, which is nice.
Okaya: Indeed. There are many inns associated with them. It would be hard to do that with manga, though if I had an iPad, I could probably do just the names.
Gao: Yes, that’s true. Daisuke Igarashi used to draw manga while sketching on his travels.
Okaya: I kind of admire traveling cartoonists. I might go on a trip to India next year, so I might draw manga in India.
Gao: India sounds nice! I also want to visit various places and go back to my parents’ house in Taiwan once in a while, but right now I’m too busy with work. I spend about 20 days a month drawing manga, and the remaining 10 days doing illustration work. Even my editor tells me to work in moderation. He works so much that I want to say, “That’s my line, too.
Okaya: Wow. Do you ever have days when you don’t want to do anything?
Gao: Very often, but once I start working, I get so absorbed in it that I forget to eat.
Okaya: You should eat that! Okay, I’ll boil some udon today [laughs].
Gao: Thank you [laughs]. Actually, I haven’t eaten much today.
Okaya: You know how your parents’ mothers always prepare a lot of food that they say, “I can’t eat this much”? Recently, I have come to understand that feeling. They say, “Eat as much as you can!
Gao: Yes, I understand. I do the same when my friends come over to my house. In Taiwan, it’s like “How are you? (呷飽没?)” is the most common greeting used in Taiwan. is the most common greeting in Taiwan.
Okaya: Wow. What do you say to that?
Gao: About 90% of the time, the answer is “I’ve eaten. The person asking doesn’t want to know if I actually ate it. If I haven’t eaten yet, I would answer, “I’ll eat it later.
Okaya: I see.
Gao: I find it most relaxing to eat with others and chat. When I am alone, even if I decide to take an hour off and not work, I can’t resist and end up working, or I feel guilty and wonder why I am taking a break. But when I get together with everyone, I don’t think about work at all, and I can relax.
Okaya: You are so serious!
