Kyōko Okazaki
Kyōko Okazaki (岡崎京子) is a Japanese cartoonist. In a relatively short career, spanning from 1983 to 1996, Okazaki established herself as a leading figure in josei manga, i.e. comics primarily targeting women. In particular, she was a major contributor to gyaru manga, a trend reclaiming 'girliness' into adult graphic novels.
Okazaki is known for her unorthodox visual style and her bluntness in tackling topics such as sex, prostitution, bourgeois decadence and body dismorphia, against the backdrop of the opulent life in 80s and 90s Tokyo. Her most famous works are Pink (1989), River's Edge (1993-1994) and Helter Skelter (1995-1996), the latter also adapted into a live-action film.
In 1996 Okazaki was hit by a car. The accident, from which she is
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Inio Asano
Inio Asano (浅野いにお, Asano Inio) is a Japanese cartoonist. He is known for his character-driven stories and his detailed art-style, making him one of the most influential manga author of his generation.
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Asano was born in 1980 and produced his first amateur comics as a teenager. His professional debut happened in 2000 in the pages of the magazine Big Comic Spirits. Since then, he has collaborated with most of the major Japanese magazines of seinen manga (comics for a mature audience). Among Asano's internationally acclaimed works are: the psychological horror Nijigahara Holograph (2003-2005); the drama Solanin (2005-2006); the existentialistic slice-of-life Goodnight Punpun (2007-2013); the erotic A Girl on the Shore (2009-2013); the sci-fi De -
Hitoshi Ashinano
Hitoshi Ashinano (芦奈野 ひとし, Ashitano Hitoshi) is a Japanese manga artist.
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Prior to his professional debut as a solo cartoonist, Ashinano worked as an assistant to manga artist Kousuke Fujishima, while also releasing some doujinshi (amateur manga) under the pen name 'suke'.
Ashinano's comics are known for their contemplative, laid-back, nostalgic feel. His first and best-known series is Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō, a slice-of-life manga set in a post-apocalyptic world. The manga was serialised in Kodansha's comics magazine 'Monthly Afternoon' from 1994 to 2006, won the 2007 'Seiun Award for Best Science Fiction Manga' and was adapted into an anime. -
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Moyoco Anno
See also: 安野モヨコ
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Moyoko Anno (安野 モヨコ) is a Japanese manga artist and a fashion writer, with numerous books published in both categories. Her manga and books have attained considerable popularity among young women in Japan. Though she primarily writes manga of the josei demographic, her most popular series, Sugar Sugar Rune, (serialized in Nakayoshi) is targeted at primary school-aged girls. In a recent Oricon poll, she was voted the number eight most popular manga artist among females and thirteen in the general category. Her manga Happy Mania was made into a television series in 1998, followed by Hataraki Man in October 2007. Sakuran was made into a movie in 2006.
In the movie Japan Sinks, she has a cameo role alongside her husband; their cha -
Murasaki Yamada
Murasaki Yamada (やまだ 紫, Yamada Murasaki), born Mitsuko Yamada (1948–2009) was a Japanese cartoonist, essayist and poet. She is considered a pioneer of literary comics, especially from a female perspective. Her work offered realistic portraits of women negotiating complicated family situations and social responsibilities.
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With a background in design, Yamada debuted in comics in 1969 with a story published in Osamu Tezuka's magazine 'COM'. Soon after that, she became a leading voice in the avantgarde manga magazine 'Garo'. Her manga work appeared in almost every issue of Garo from 1978 to 1986.
Translations of Murasaki's books outside of Japan began to be released only many years after the author's death in 2009. Among her works available in -
Nishioka Kyoudai
Nishioka Kyoudai (literally Nishioka Brothers) are a Japanese duo of manga authors. They are brother and sister, born and raised in Mie Prefecture. First published in 1989, their works consist of both manga and illustration books.
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The brother half of the duo has also published as Satoshi Nishioka.
The sister half of the duo has also published as Chiaki Nishioka. -
Fumiyo Kouno
Fumiyo Kōno (こうの史代, Kouno Fumiyo) is a Japanese manga artist. She was born in Hiroshima in 1968 and began drawing manga when she was in junior high school. After moving to Tokyo, she became an assistant to mangaka Katsuyuki Toda, Aki Morino, and Fumiko Tanigawa.
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Kōno made her commercial debut in 1995 with Machikado Hana Dayori. She is best known for her manga Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms, winner of the Grand Prize at the 8th Japan Media Arts Festival (2004) and of the New Life Award at the 9th Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prizes (2005). -
Taiyo Matsumoto
See also: 松本大洋 and 松本 大洋
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Although Taiyo Matsumoto desired a career as a professional soccerplayer at first, he eventually chose an artistic profession. He gained his first success through the Comic Open contest, held by the magazine Comic Morning, which allowed him to make his professional debut. He started out with 'Straight', a comic about basketball players. Sports remain his main influence in his next comic, 'Zéro', a story about a boxer.
In 1993 Matsumoto started the 'Tekkonkinkurito' trilogy in Big Spirits magazine, which was even adapted to a theatre play. He continued his comics exploits with several short stories for the Comic Aré magazine, which are collected in the book 'Nihon no Kyodai'. Again for Big Spirits, Taiyo Matsumoto st -
Ryū Murakami
Ryū Murakami (村上 龍) is a Japanese novelist and filmmaker. He is not related to Haruki Murakami or Takashi Murakami.
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Murakami's first work, the short novel Almost Transparent Blue, written while he was still a student, deals with promiscuity and drug use among disaffected Japanese youth. Critically acclaimed as a new style of literature, it won the newcomer's literature prize in 1976 despite some observers decrying it as decadent. Later the same year, Blue won the Akutagawa Prize, going on to become a best seller. In 1980, Murakami published the much longer novel Coin Locker Babies, again to critical acclaim.
Takashi Miike's feature film Audition (1999) was based on one of his novels. Murakami reportedly liked it so much he gave Miike his bles -
Kabi Nagata
Nagata Kabi is a Japanese manga artist best known for My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness. Nagata has been drawing for as long as she can remember.
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Satoshi Kon
Satoshi Kon was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, animator and cartoonist.
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Kon started his career as a manga artist in the middle of the 80's, when still in university. He served as an assistant to famous manga author Katsuhiro Otomo, who will also play a role in steering Kon's career towards animation.
Besides a few short stories, Kon's only finished graphic novel is Tropic of the Sea (1990). His unfinished manga series include Seraphim 266613336Wings (1994), in collaboration with anime filmmaker Mamoru Oshii, and Opus (1996).
In 1991 Kon started a prominent career in the Japanese animation industry, eventually becoming one of the most influential filmmakers of his generation. Kon's movies often explore the boundaries between dreams, r -
Murasaki Yamada
Murasaki Yamada (やまだ 紫, Yamada Murasaki), born Mitsuko Yamada (1948–2009) was a Japanese cartoonist, essayist and poet. She is considered a pioneer of literary comics, especially from a female perspective. Her work offered realistic portraits of women negotiating complicated family situations and social responsibilities.
Buy books on Amazon
With a background in design, Yamada debuted in comics in 1969 with a story published in Osamu Tezuka's magazine 'COM'. Soon after that, she became a leading voice in the avantgarde manga magazine 'Garo'. Her manga work appeared in almost every issue of Garo from 1978 to 1986.
Translations of Murasaki's books outside of Japan began to be released only many years after the author's death in 2009. Among her works available in -
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Cho Nam-Joo
Associated Names:
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* 조남주 (Korean)
* Cho Nam-Joo (English)
* 趙南柱 (Chinese)
* โชนัมจู (Thai)
* チョ・ナムジュ (Japanese)
Cho Nam-joo is a former television scriptwriter. In the writing of Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 she drew partly on her own experience as a woman who quit her job to stay at home after giving birth to a child.
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is her third novel. It has had a profound impact on gender inequality and discrimination in Korean society, and has been translated into 18 languages. -
Shuzo Oshimi
Shuzo Oshimi (押見修造, Oshimi Shūzō) is a Japanese manga creator.
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Drawn in a realistic art style, his comics tend to be psychological dramas exploring the difficulties in human relationships and often touching on disturbing situations and perversions.
Oshimi debuted in 2001 with the manga series Avant-Garde Yumeko, appeared in Kodansha's 'Monthly Shōnen Magazine.' Most of his works since then have been published by Kodansha and Futabasha.
Among his first successes the single volume manga Sweet Poolside (2004), later adapted into a live-action film, and the series Drifting Net Café (2008–2011), also adapted for TV.
Oshimi reached international acclaims with The Flowers of Evil (2009–2014) and Inside Mari (2012–2016), both adapted into successful -
Ai Yazawa
Ai Yazawa (Japanese: 矢沢あい, Yazawa Ai) is a Japanese manga author and illustrator. Her pen name comes from singer Eikichi Yazawa, of whom she is a fan.
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Yazawa started her comics career in 1985. She specialises in shojo manga (girls' comics). Most of her works have been serialised in the magazines 'Ribon', 'Cookie' and 'Zipper'.
Yazawa's stories focus on young, often rebellious women and their relationships. The characters are always very stylish, and Yazawa herself is known for her sense of fashion. (She even attended a fashion school for some time after high school.)
Among her most famous manga are Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai (I'm No Angel, 1992–1995), Neighborhood Story (1995-1998), Paradise Kiss (1999-2004), and Nana (2000-2009), the latter awarded -
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Tatsuki Fujimoto
Tatsuki Fujimoto 藤本タツキ (Fujimoto Tatsuki) is a Japanese manga author, mostly known for Chainsaw Man.
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Awards:
- Shōgakukan Manga Award: Shōnen category for Chainsaw Man (2020)
- Harvey Award: best manga for Chainsaw Man (2021-2022)
Chinese language profiles: 藤本樹 and 藤本树. -
Sayaka Murata
Sayaka Murata (in Japanese, 村田 沙耶香) is one of the most exciting up-and-coming writers in Japan today.
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She herself still works part time in a convenience store, which gave her the inspiration to write Convenience Store Woman (Konbini Ningen). She debuted in 2003 with Junyu (Breastfeeding), which won the Gunzo Prize for new writers. In 2009 she won the Noma Prize for New Writers with Gin iro no uta (Silver Song), and in 2013 the Mishima Yukio Prize for Shiro-oro no machi no, sono hone no taion no (Of Bones, of Body Heat, of Whitening City). Convenience Store Woman won the 2016 Akutagawa Award. Murata has two short stories published in English (both translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori): "Lover on the Breeze" (Ruptured Fiction(s) of the Earthqu -
Vera Caspary
Vera Caspary, an acclaimed American writer of novels, plays, short stories and screenplays, was born in Chicago in 1899. Her writing talent shone from a young age and, following the death of her father, her work became the primary source of income for Caspary and her mother. A young woman when the Great Depression hit America, Caspary soon developed a keen interest in Socialist causes, and joined the Communist Party under a pseudonym. Although she soon left the party after becoming disillusioned, Caspary's leftist leanings would later come back to haunt her when she was greylisted from Hollywood in the 1950s for Communist sympathies. Caspary spent this period of self-described 'purgatory' alternately in Europe and America with her husband,
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Courtney Love
Courtney Michelle Love (born Courtney Michelle Harrison) is an American rock musician and Golden Globe-nominated actress. Love is best known as lead singer, songwriter and lyricist for the now-defunct alternative rock band Hole and for her two-year marriage to late Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain. Rolling Stone has called Love "the most controversial woman in the history of rock".
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Shinji Kajio
Shinji Kajio (梶尾 真治, Kajio Shinji, born 24 December 1947 in Kumamoto Prefecture) is a Japanese author of science fiction and fantasy.
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Suehiro Maruo
Suehiro Maruo ( 丸尾 末広) is a Japanese manga author and illustrator.
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Maruo graduated from junior high school in March 1972 but dropped out of senior high school. At the age of 15 he moved to Tokyo and began working for a bookbinder. At 17, he made his first manga submission to Weekly Shōnen Jump, but it was considered by the editors to be too graphic for the magazine's format and was subsequently rejected. Maruo temporarily removed himself from manga until November 1980 when he made his official debut as a manga artist in Ribon no Kishi (リボンの騎士) at the age of 24. It was at this stage that the young artist was finally able to pursue his artistic vision without such stringent restrictions over the visual content of his work. Two years later, hi -
Kenji Oiwa
大岩ケンヂ Kenji Oiwa is a Japanese manga artist. Some of his major works include Goth, Welcome to the N.H.K., a one-shot, Tsukumo Happy Soul published in Shōnen Ace, Kadokawa Shoten's manga magazine, and the manga serialization of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.
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Mari Okazaki
Mari Okazaki (Japanese: おかざき真里, Okazaki Mari) is a Japanese manga artist.
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Okazaki was born in Nagano in 1967 and grew up in the region of Kansai. She graduated with a major in Design from Tama Art University and worked in advertisement for a number of years.
Okazaki had been publishing illustrations and short comics since high school, although her professional manga career started around 1994. In the early 2000's she left her day job to become a full time cartoonist and illustrator.
Okazaki comics have appeared in josei magazines (marketed to an audience of young adult women) as well as seinen magazines (marketed to an audience of young adult men). Her longest completed manga series to date are the josei Suppli, serialised from 2003 to 2009 -
Fumiko Takano
Fumiko Takano (高野文子, Takano Fumiko) is a Japanese cartoonist. She is considered an important figure of the manga 'New Wave' of the late 70's and early 80's.
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Takano got interested in making manga in high school, when she discovered the influential work of Moto Hagio. She later moved to Tokyo, where she studied to become a nurse and worked as such for a couple of years. During that time, she continued drawing amateur manga (doujinshi).
Her professional debut happened in 1979, when her story Zettai Anzen Kamisori was published in 'June', an alternative manga magazine coming out of the doujinshi scene. She also collaborated with more mainstream shōjo manga magazines, like 'Petit Flower' and 'Seventeen', while working as a secretary at the small