Cartoon Street

Cartoon Street (Korean: 카툰 거리), also known as Zaemiro (Korean: 재미로), or the "street of fun,"[1] is a street in the central part of Seoul, South Korea, which extends 450-meters from Myeong-dong Station to the Seoul Animation Center on the hillside of Mount Namsan. The area, created by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, is an open-air cartoon gallery of graffiti-like paintings, comics' quotes and short stories; with small parks and a multipurpose cultural hall.[2][3][4]

Cartoon Street
Cartoon hill wall, November 2015.
Korean name
Hangul
Revised RomanizationKatun geori
McCune–ReischauerK'at'un kŏri
Zaemiro
Hangul
Hanja
재미路
Revised RomanizationJaemiro
McCune–ReischauerChaemilo

History and environs

Cartoon Street, "the street of manhwa",[5] or Zaemiro, which is also spelled Jaemiro,[2] was opened in December 2013[6] by Seoul's city government to promote the "imaginative industry" and boost tourism and the local economy.[3]

The street connected Namsan Mountain and Myeong-dong, both busy tourist areas that welcomed approximately seven million tourists annually, but it had been overlooked for many years,[5] having been used long ago during Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945), and was the area where the Korean CIA was founded in 1961. The Mount Namsan area had become increasingly popular with tourists who visited, then posted photos and videos on social media. On October 31, 2015, over 30,000 people visited during the Namsan Halloween Festival.[2]

The major sights added to the .28-mile street include five small parks or manhwa culture stations: "Sangsang Park" in front of Exit 3 of Myeongdong Station; "Manhwa Samgeori" in front of the Pacific Hotel; "Sayeon Post Office" where artists displayed the stories of citizens on the walls of a public parking lot; "Jaemi Sports Ground" in a convenience store parking lot; and "Manhwa Hill" on Namsan Ongbyeok (retaining wall).[5] Other new additions included a four-story building with galleries and shops for comics, and some 70 famous local cartoonists contributed their work to walls and buildings along the street.[3][7][8] A Manhwa Neighborhood Meeting was held to include the opinions of locals,[5] and both the name of the street "Jaemiro", and the name of the manhwa culture space, "Jaemirang" were selected from an SNS-based citizen competition and local votes.[5]

Street route
Cartoon Street and Seoul Animation Center street signs below N Seoul Tower, November 2015.

The entrance of the street begins as a tiny alley found between Exits 2 and 3 of Myeongdong Station, along subway line No. 4,[4][9] at a fork in the road by the Pacific Hotel.[5]

By 2015, the city had decorated the bus stop at Exit 3 of Myungdong Station, near the entrance to the street, with more than 32 images of Tayo the Little Bus, a character modeled after city buses.[2][10] The "Tayo bus stop", along with "Tayo" city buses, was part of the Public Transportation Day" commemoration on March 26, 2015.[11]

Cartoons are found at the street's entrance, with the manhwa Tower of God by SIU and continuing uphill, include Run Hanis characters racing each other, Dooly the Little Dinosaur, and Spirited Away's Kaonashi.[5] The street seems to cover Korea's manhwa history from the 1970s robot Jjibba, to the prince and princess featured in 2002’s Goong or Princess Hours.[4] Local shop owners and hotels also started adding artwork and Korean history to their storefronts.[2][7][8]

Zaemirang culture center

The "Zaemirang" multicultural facility or "cartoon museum"[4] was opened on December 19, 2013[12] and is located towards the middle of the street. The lower floors are cartoon culture spaces with sales and exhibitions, and resting places to read comics; the upper floor has writer working areas.[6] The rooftop has a cartoon reading room and seating space on a heated floor,[4] and the comics and webtoons range from "Taekwondo Kids Maruchi Arachi" which is popular among the older generations and "Run, Hani" popular with the younger generations.[5]

In 2013, the first exhibition "A Visit To The Animation House" celebrated its opening and the history of present day webtoons and their authors such as Misaeng by Yoon Tae-ho, Bibimtoon by Hong Seung Woo, Along With the Gods (webtoon) by Ju Ho Min, and God of Bath by Ha Il-kwon.[6]

In the first half of 2015, an exhibition was held there by the city government, the Seoul Business Agency (SBA) and the Seoul Animation Center, "Story Road, Seoul, Korea – Alleys," which detailed Seoul's alleys from the perspectives of cartoon artists and artists.[13]

Webtoon workshop center

On February 1, 2016, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Business Agency opened a Webtoon Workshop Center or "Webtoon Gongjakso (photo)" on the street where people can create character figurines via 3-D printing. It also showcases character figurines and posters from Korean webtoons, such as The Sound of Heart and Noblesse, as well as DC Comics and Marvel Comics, such as Batman and Iron Man.[9][14]

Cartoon hill wall at night, February 2015

Cartoon hill across from Seoul Animation Center

The "cartoon hill" is near the end of the street, just before it opens in front of the Seoul Animation Center, and is Namsan's retaining wall illuminated with popular Korean cartoon characters from 40 artists, including Lee Hyun-se, Huh Young-man and Hwang Mi-na.[12]

Festivals, exhibits and special events

The street is host to many events. In February 2014, individual cartoonists were invited every Saturday to Zaemirang to spend time with their fans and draw pictures while a "Cartoon Concert" of indie bands performed.[4] The "Cartoon Street Festival" in November 2014 featured cartoon stories, a costume play photo tour of cartoon clubs, and Korean traditional dress and games.[1]

gollark: Prove it.
gollark: It was very good. I tested it against itself, and it said it was fine.
gollark: In what way?
gollark: There seems to be less "banter" here than previously. A shame.
gollark: It SHOULD work, I used it to test the test suite's C adapter.

See also

References
  1. "Seoul to Hold a Cartoon Street Festival". tbs eFM. November 10, 2014. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  2. Jang Hyeok-Jin and Kim Jeong-Hee (December 15, 2015). "On the street where cartoon characters live". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  3. Oh, Grace (December 17, 2013). "'Cartoon street' opens in downtown Seoul". Yonhap. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  4. Lee, Seung-ah (February 6, 2014). "Seoul's secret travel destination: the cartoon-strewn streets". Korea.net. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  5. "Top 30 Famous Alleys in Seoul...Myeong-dong Jaemiro, January 2016, p. 105-106" (PDF). Seoul Metropolitan Government. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  6. "[K-Manual] 'Killer Contents' Webtoon, Standing On The Global Stage (2)". Yahoo! News. July 4, 2014. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  7. Sun, Jackie (February 3, 2014). [장선희 기자의 숨은서울찾기]명동 만화의 거리 ‘재미路’ (in Korean). The Dong-A Ilbo. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  8. Kim, Joo-Hyung (April 2, 2014). 재미로① 추억과 꿈이 깃든 만화의 거리 (in Korean). Yonhap. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  9. Park, Hyong-ki (February 1, 2016). "New webtoon center opens on Seoul's Cartoon Street". The Korea Herald. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  10. Kim, Mok Yeon (January 4, 2016). "Seoul City Turns Myeongdong Station To 'Pororo Heaven'". tbs eFM. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  11. Ha, Jung-min (December 13, 2015). "[Cine feature]Korean characters reaching out to the international market". The Hankyoreh. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  12. "Seoul builds an 'Cartoon Street' in Myeongdong, Namsan areas". Seoul Metropolitan Government. December 30, 2013. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  13. "Encounter a Marriage of Cartoons and Alleys". Seoul Metropolitan Government. January 21, 2015. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
  14. "Venue of various webtoon contents newly opens in central Seoul". The Dong-A Ilbo. February 1, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2016.

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