ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the forces that led to Jiro Taniguchi becoming, over the course of two decades, the most celebrated Japanese comics creator in France. More than almost any other cartoonist working in Japan, Taniguchi's visual style has been informed by European—specifically, Franco-Belgian—comics traditions. In his book-length interview with Benoît Peeters, Taniguchi notes that he was exposed to European comics through their English translations in Heavy Metal magazine at the end of the 1970s and that he sought out work by cartoonists like Moebius, Vittorio Giardino, and Hermann. The chapter begins by noting how unusual a book like Les Gardiens du Louvre—a hardcover, full-color European style album that reads right-to-left in the Japanese manner—seems in theory. Ultimately, not only Les Gardiens du Louvre but the entirety of Taniguchi's career within the French comics industry demonstrates the powerful ability of gatekeepers to create a social space within the field.
