Etymology of the term "Manga"

Manga could be loosely translated from Japanese as "cartoon" or "caricature". Literally, manga means "involuntary pictures" or "random pictures". It was coined by Katsushika Hokusai in 1814 to convey a "freeflowing" or "quirky" style of art. It should be noted that Japanese comics existed far before the coining of this term (choujuu giga by Toba in the 12th century, for example, which depicted animals behaving like humans; see gi-ga).