Kan Takahama, the award-winning manga creator known for her lyrical storytelling and the acclaimed "Nagasaki Trilogy," has launched a new manga titled Anchoring Dutchman on LEED Publishing's Torch web platform. The series is produced in collaboration with Nagasaki's Huis Ten Bosch theme park, and the first chapter is available to read now.
Story and Setting
Set in the year 2036, Anchoring Dutchman follows "the world's slowest" romance between a museum curator and a ghost who appears before her one day. The ghost is trapped in the museum due to a curse from his ship and can only be freed by his true love — weaving a melancholic romance across the boundary between life and death.
The collaboration with Huis Ten Bosch, a Dutch-themed park in Sasebo, Nagasaki, brings a distinctive European-inflected atmosphere to the story's visual identity. The park's iconic windmills, canals, and architecture are expected to feature prominently in the series.
Creator Background
Kan Takahama is an internationally recognized manga artist whose work Ōgishima Saijiki (Ōgishima Seasonal Words List) won the Le Prix Konishi (Konishi Award) for its French translation at the 52nd Angoulême International Comics Festival in February 2025. Her "Nagasaki Trilogy" — comprising Nyx no Lantern, Chō no Michiyuki, and Ōgishima Saijiki — established her as a distinctive voice in historical and literary manga.
Nyx no Lantern earned an Excellence Award at the 21st Japan Media Arts Festival Awards in 2018, and Takahama has had several works published in English including Monokuro Kinderbook, Mariko Parade, and Awabi through Fanfare and Ponent Mon.
Availability
Anchoring Dutchman is available to read now on LEED Publishing's Torch web platform. Takahama's previous Torch series Shishi to Botan (The Lion and the Moutan Peony) launched on the platform in November 2023.
Significance
This collaboration between a major manga artist and a theme park is an unusual but welcome development, reflecting the growing trend of cross-industry manga projects in Japan. Takahama's literary approach and international acclaim make this an intriguing addition to her body of work, and the supernatural romance premise offers a fresh take on her established themes of history, place, and human connection.