Gaku: Minna no Yama

Gaku: Minna no Yama (岳 みんなの山) is a Japanese mountaineering manga written and illustrated by Shin'ichi Ishizuka. It has been serialized by Shogakukan in Big Comic Original since 2003, and collected in ten bound volumes as of October 2009. It depicts the adventures of a volunteer with an alpine search and rescue team in the Japanese Alps. Gaku: Minna no Yama received the 2008 Manga Taisho ("Cartoon Grand Prize") and the 2009 Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga.

Manga
Gaku: Minna no Yama is written and illustrated by Shin'ichi Ishizuka and was first published by Shogakukan in the seinen (aimed at younger adult men) manga magazine Big Comic Original in 2003 issue 19. It was serialized irregularly until July 2007, when it moved to a weekly schedule. The serial chapters have been collected in eleven tankōbon volumes, titled Gaku ("Peak") without the subtitle used on the serialized numbers, as of October 2009. The series is licensed in Taiwan by Sharp Point Press.

Reception
Gaku: Minna no Yama is a best-seller in Japan—for example, volume six reached number 6 on the Tohan Comic Ranking, volume seven also reached number 6, volume eight reached number 14 and remained at number 16 the following week, and volume 9 debuted at number 26 before rising to number 17 the following week. The series was featured by Da Vinci magazine as the Platinum Book of the Month for April 2007.

Gaku: Minna no Yama received the first annual Manga Taisho ("Cartoon Grand Prize") in 2008, and the 2009 Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga.