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Shigeru Mizuki

Shigeru Mizuki (水木 しげる, Mizuki Shigeru^?), born March 8, 1922 in Sakaiminato, Tottori, is a Japanese manga author, most known for his shonen Japanese horror manga GeGeGe no Kitaro. A specialist in stories of yokai, he is considered a master of the genre. To a lesser but still notable degree, he is also known for his World War II memoirs, as well as a writer and biographer.

Born in the coastal town of Sakaiminato, Mizuki was originally named Shigeru Mura (武良 茂 Mura Shigeru), the second of three sons. Described as a drifting, curious child, his earliest pursuits included copious amounts of drawing and hearing ghost stories from a local woman he nicknamed "Nononba" [1].

However, in 1942 he was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army and sent to New Britain Island in Papua New Guinea. His wartime experiences affected him greatly, as he contracted malaria, watched friends die from battle wounds and disease, and dealt with other horrors of war. Finally, in an Allied air raid, he was caught in an explosion and lost his left arm. As a southpaw, after the war he taught himself to write and draw with his right hand. While a prisoner of war on Rabul, he was befriended by the local Tolai tribespeople, who offered him land, a home, and citizenship via marriage to one of the local women. Mizuki acknowledged he considered remaining behind, but was shamed by a military doctor into returning home to Japan first to face his parents, which he did reluctantly.[2]

Upon arriving home, Mizuki had initially planned to return to New Guinea; however, the Occupation of Japan changed that. His injuries and loss of his writing arm did little to help, nor did the fact that his older brother, an artillery officer, was convicted as a war criminal for having prisoners of war executed. From his return until 1956 he worked as a movie theater operator until his break as a cartoonist.

In 1957, Mizuki released his debut work, Rocketman. Since then, he has published numerous works, both on yokai and military works. He has also written many books on both subjects, including an autobiography about his time on New Britain Island and a manga biography on Adolf Hitler. When not working in either field, he paints a number of subjects, though these works are not as well known as his literary ones which have made him a household name.

In 2003, he returned to Rabaul to rekindle his friendship with the natives, who had named a road after him in his honor.

In 2005, Shigeru Mizuki appeared in a cameo role in Yokai Daisenso ("The Great Yokai War") directed by Takashi Miike, a film about yokai inspired by his work; several of his characters make cameo appearances. A brief explanation about his works also is mentioned in the film.

Sakaiminato, the birthplace of Shigeru Mizuki, has a street dedicated to the ghosts and monsters that appear in his stories. One hundred bronze statues of the story’s characters line both sides of the road. There is also a museum.

Mizuki has won numerous awards and accolades for his works, especially Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro. Among these are:

• 1990 Received Kodansha Manga Award for Shōwa-shi.
• 1991 Received Shiju Hosho Decoration.
• 1995 For the 6th Annual Tokyo Peace Day, he was awarded with an exhibition of his paintings, entitled "Prayer for Peace: Shigeru Mizuki War Experience Painting Exhibition"
• 1996 Received Minister of Education Award.
• 1996 His hometown of Sakaiminato honored him with the Shigeru Mizuki Road, a street in his town decorated with bronze statues of his Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro characters and with other designs relating to his works.
• 2003 Received Kyokujitu Sho Decoration.
• 2003 Sakaiminato honored him again with the Shigeru Mizuki International Cultural Center.
• 2007 Received the Best Album award for NonNonBâ at the Angoulême International Comics Festival

• Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro
• Akuma-kun
• Yamato
• Hitler: A Biography
• Kappa no Sanpei

• Mizuki Shigeru no Nihon Yōkai Meguri (Shigeru Mizuki's Ghosts and Demons)
• Rabauru Senki (Memories of Rabaul)
• Mizuki, Shigeru. "Graphic World of Japanese Phantoms". 講談社, 1985. ISBN 978-4-06-202381-8 (4-06-202381-4)

• "Drawing from Experience", Japan Times, February 6, 2005
• MizukiWorld Official Website
• Sakaiminato: The town where you can meet Kitaro
• Yonago (transfer point to Sakaiminato), Sakaiminato, Shigeru Mizuki Road, Shigeru Mizuki Museum, photos