was a Japanese

manga artist A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist be ...

. He is known for his collaborations with manga writer

Kazuo Koike was a prolific Japanese manga writer ( gensakusha), novelist, screenwriter, lyricist and entrepreneur. He is best known for his violent, artful ''seinen'' manga, notably ''Lone Wolf and Cub'' (with Goseki Kojima, 1970–6), '' Lady Snowblood'' ...

, the most famous of them being ''

Lone Wolf and Cub is a Japanese manga series created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima. First published in 1970, the story was adapted into six films starring Tomisaburo Wakayama, four plays, a television series starring Kinnosuke Yorozuya, and is ...

''.

Biography

Kojima was born in

Yokkaichi, Mie is a city located in Mie Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 310,259 in 142162 households and a population density of 1500 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography Yokkaichi is located in north-central ...

, on the same day as

Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu''; – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist, and animator. Born in Osaka Prefecture, his prolific output, pioneering techniques, and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him such ...

. After getting out of

junior high school A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school ...

, Kojima painted advertising posters for

movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

s as his source of income. In 1950, he moved to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. The post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

environment led to forms of

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

meant for impoverished audiences. Kojima created art for ''

kamishibai is a form of Japanese street theater and storytelling that was popular during the Great Depression of the 1930s and the post-war period in Japan until the advent of television during the mid-20th century. were performed by a (" narrator") w ...

'' or "paper play" narrators. Kojima then started to create works for the '' kashi-bon'' market but soon started working as an assistant of manga artist

Sanpei Shirato , known by the pen name , was a Japanese manga artist and essayist known for his social criticism as well as the realism of his drawing style and the characters in his scenarios. He was considered a pioneer of the controversial ''gekiga'' genre o ...

. In 1957, he made his

debut with ''Onmitsu Kuroyoden''. In 1967, Kojima created the ninja adventure ''Dojinki'', his first manga for a magazine. In 1970, he and writer

created ''Kozure Okami'' (''

''), the first and most famous of their four major collaborations. Koike and Kojima were dubbed "the Golden Duo". In his later years, Kojima adapted some of the films of his favorite director,

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...

, into graphic novels. Kojima died on January 5, 2000, at the age of 71.

Awards

*2004: Won the Hall of Fame

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

2004 Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards
Comic Book Awards Almanac

Bibliography

Comics work includes: * ''Kozure Okami'' (''

''), with writer

, 1970–1976 * ''

Kogarashi Monjirō is the main character and title of a Japanese novel by Saho Sasazawa, probably best known in the televised version broadcast during prime-time in 1972–1973, directed by Kon Ichikawa. In 1993, the drama was made into a film, titled '' Kaettekita ...

'', with writer

Saho Sasazawa was a Japanese author, known as the creator of the '' Kogarashi Monjirō'' novels, which became a hit televised drama series. He was a self-declared member of the or "new orthodox" school of detective fiction writing. Aside from mysteries, he ...

* ''Kubikiri Asa'' (''

Samurai Executioner ''Samurai Executioner'', known in Japan as , is a 10-volume manga created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima, the same team that created the popular ''Lone Wolf and Cub'' series. The series was first serialized in Japan, from 1972� ...

''), with writer Kazuo Koike, 1972–1976 * ''Hanzo no Mon'' (''

Path of the Assassin is a gekiga manga created by the writer Kazuo Koike and the artist Goseki Kojima and published in ''Weekly Gendai'' magazine (Kodansha). Unlike their previous collaborations on ''Lone Wolf and Cub'' and ''Samurai Executioner'', this story foc ...

''), with writer Kazuo Koike, 1978–1984 * ''

Kawaite sōrō is a Japanese jidaigeki or period drama that was broadcast in prime-time in 1984. It is also known as "A Samurai's Sorrow." It is based on Goseki Kojima and Kazuo Koike's manga of the same title. The lead star is Masakazu Tamura. Masakazu Tamura's ...

'', with writer Kazuo Koike, 1981–82

Notes

References

* *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kojima, Goseki 1928 births 2000 deaths Manga artists from Mie Prefecture Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame inductees People from Yokkaichi Gekiga creators 20th-century Japanese people