A cartoon strip takes on the repatriation of treasures from the British Museum

@GEOPOLITICONOMIST
Yes, but nothing should be returned to Egypt where had it not been for Napoleon's expedition 1798 - 1801 there in the nick of time the Ottoman, Marmeliks and Islamic Arabs would have utterly destroy all traces of Ancient Egypt. Treasures in safekeeping at the British Musuem or any western museums must not be returned.

The Roseta Stone should in deed be returned to the museum in Figeac, France, the birthplace of Jean-François Champollion, after all it was he and he alone who painstakingly deciphered the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and all, not just part, of the languages, demotic and ancient Greek, thereupon. Athanasius Kircher, Silvestre de Sacy, Johan David Akerblad, Thomas Young and William John Bankes all tried and got it all wrong, totally amateurish.

I'm sure there are some professors in the Louvre kicking themselves right this moment, or even contacting another Japanese author on the phone as I write this comment....

It is great to see the Economist reporting on Japanese manga, and for once not with the usual stereotypical image of porn, violence or forgettable tripes. I have lived in Japan for many years and enjoyed the company of many great manga (be it for entertainment or for education or serious thoughts). The combination of manga and musuem is quite rare, and even rarer is a manga that comes with the full support of a musuem. On this I must applaud the creative thinking of British Musuem and Ms. Rousmaniere in particular. Manga is unquestionably mainstream in Japan and I am very happy to see it is gaining fans in the western world too -- not least in British Musuem itself !

The Indians may asked for the return of Nur damond for Cameron for now. Who knows what others may demand in the future?

If governments feel that it is important for their people to see exhibits which are in a museum in a different country, then why not simply make replicas of them?

The bronze age hut at Flag Fen at Peterborough is a replica (and probably quite a lot of guesswork). The difference engine at the science museum in London isn't even a replica - it's a "reproduction" of something that never actually existed - and which is of no practical use today! Are visitors to these places significantly worse off for this?

The big Manga exhibition at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco several years started the ball rolling toward international recognition of Manga as a legitimate art form. The response in San Francisco was gratifying.