Dumb question

Why isn't manga panel arrangement columnar?

Or...IS it?

I don't think it is, or at least pretty seldom. No moreso than western comics (see Non Sequitur Sundays, if you can stand it. Also, any comic page ever where the panel is as wide as the page.) Anyway, why should it be? Yes, I know japanese is traditionally written in columns rather than rows. Still, so what?

Anyway, why should it be? Yes, I know japanese is traditionally written in columns rather than rows.

This is the exact reason that it's perfectly logical to think it should be the case (or at least to wonder why it's not the case). If that's the way people from that culture learn to process information on a page and all. I think it's an interesting question that's not occurred to me before. Maybe there was some deliberate aping of Western comics involved?

I think the proper antecedent to examine is japanese painting, not writing. I don't know much about that, though.

I don't know, I see Yonkoma all the time, even in "regular" books, added in at the end as gags. Japan has experimented much with page layout for a long time, too.