is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for his long-running series ''

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1987 to 2004, and was transferred to the monthly ''seinen'' manga ...

'', which began publication in ''

Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that run ...

'' in 1987 and has over 120 million copies in circulation, making it one of the

best-selling manga series The following is a list of the best-selling Japanese manga series to date in terms of the number of collected ''tankōbon'' volumes sold. All series in this list have at least 20 million copies in circulation. This list is limited to Japanese ...

in history.

Biography

Early life

Araki grew up in Sendai, Japan with his parents and younger identical twin sisters. He cites his sisters' annoyances as the reason he spent time alone in his room reading manga, naming ''

Ai to Makoto is a Japanese manga series written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Takumi Nagayasu. It was adapted into a live-action television series in 1974 and into four live-action films in 1974, 1975, 1976 and 2012. TV series Cast * Yūsuke ...

'' as the most important one to him. He supposes that his father's art books were his motive for drawing manga; he was particularly influenced by the work of French artist

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

. After a school friend praised his manga, he began secretly drawing manga behind his parents' backs. He submitted his first work to a magazine in his first year of high school. All his submissions were rejected while other artists his age or younger were making successful debuts. He decided to go to the publishers' offices in Tokyo to find out why in person, taking a manga, ''Poker Under Arms'', that he stayed up all-night to finish. The

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...

editor he met highly criticized the work, but said it had potential and to clean it up for the upcoming

Tezuka Award The is a semi-annual manga award offered by the Japanese publisher Shueisha since 1971, under the auspices of its ''Weekly Shonen Jump'' magazine. It awarded new manga artists in the Story Manga category. Its counterpart award, Akatsuka Award, a ...

Debut and ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure''

Araki left

Miyagi University of Education , is a national university at Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. The predecessor of the school was founded in 1873, and it was chartered as a university in 1965., Florida State University website (sister university). It is accredited by the Japanese Ministr ...

before graduating, and made his debut under the name in 1980 with the

wild west The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

one-shot ''Poker Under Arms'', which was a "Selected Work" at that year's Tezuka Award. His first serialization was ''Cool Shock B.T.'' in 1983, about a young magician who solves mysteries. But the first series to display his signature amount of

gore Gore may refer to: Places Australia * Gore, Queensland * Gore Creek (New South Wales) * Gore Island (Queensland) Canada * Gore, Nova Scotia, a rural community * Gore, Quebec, a township municipality * Gore Bay, Ontario, a township on Manitouli ...

was 1984's ''

Baoh is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki, most famous for his manga ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure''. Originally serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1985, it was ...

''. It tells the story of a man who is implanted with a parasite by an evil organization, giving him superhuman powers, and follows as he fights against them. It was adapted into an

OVA , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

in 1989, the manga was released in the US by

Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...

in 1990 (in ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' form in 1995), but the OVA didn't get a stateside release until 2002. It wasn't until ''The Gorgeous Irene'' in 1985, that he really developed his signature art style of buff, muscular characters (it would later become more flamboyant). His next series would become his

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

, 1987's ''

''. The series begins in 1880s England and follows

Jonathan Joestar is a fictional character in the Japanese manga series ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'', written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. Jonathan is the main protagonist of the series' first story arc, '' Phantom Blood''. In late 19th-century England, the ...

(JoJo) and his adopted brother

Dio Brando is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the Japanese manga series ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'' written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. He is featured primarily as the main antagonist of the series' first part, '' Phantom Blood'', ...

, who eventually tries to kill their father in order to obtain his share of inheritance. When confronted, Dio puts on an ancient mask that turns him into a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deat ...

. JoJo then learns a breathing technique called ''hamon'' which grants JoJo various powers to combat Dio. He then travels to Dio's castle to kill him. Subsequent arcs of ''JoJo'' follow the descendants of the Joestar family, and many are set in different parts of the world.

Part 3 Part, parts or PART may refer to: People *Armi Pärt (born 1991), Estonian handballer *Arvo Pärt (born 1935), Estonian classical composer *Brian Part (born 1962), American child actor *Dealtry Charles Part (1882–1961), sheriff (1926–1927) an ...

, which would become the most popular part in the series, downplays the vampire story and hamon technique and instead introduces the power of Stands, which continues in the series today. Still being serialized over 30 years later, ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'' has been adapted into numerous other forms of media and the manga had 120 million collected volumes in print by 2022. From 2011 to 2021, Araki produced ''

JoJolion is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki, and is the eighth part of the larger ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'' series. Set in Japan in 2011, it follows Josuke Higashikata, a young man afflicted by retrograde amnesia, ...

'', the eighth story arc of the series, serialized in ''

Ultra Jump is a Japanese monthly seinen manga magazine published by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. Originally, the magazine was a special issue of '' Weekly Young Jump'' which was first issued in 1995. On October 19, 1999, the special issue bec ...

'' magazine.

Recent work

The September 2007 issue of ''

Cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery ...

'' had a cover drawn by Araki with a

ligase In biochemistry, a ligase is an enzyme that can catalyze the joining (ligation) of two large molecules by forming a new chemical bond. This is typically via hydrolysis of a small pendant chemical group on one of the larger molecules or the enzym ...

represented as one of his Stands. In 2008, Araki drew the cover art for a collection featuring

Yasunari Kawabata was a Japanese novelist and short story writer whose spare, lyrical, subtly shaded prose works won him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968, the first Japanese author to receive the award. His works have enjoyed broad international appeal a ...

's short story "

The Dancing Girl of Izu is a novel by Japanese writer and Nobel Prize winner Yasunari Kawabata first published in 1926. Plot The narrator, a twenty-year-old student from Tokyo, travels the Izu Peninsula during the last days of the summer holidays, a journey which h ...

". He drew the cover for the limited edition of

Base Ball Bear Base Ball Bear is a Japanese rock band from Tokyo that made its major debut in 2006 with EMI Music Japan. Although assembled in autumn 2001, the band formally began in 2002, and started off with self-produced releases. Their style influences incl ...

's "Breeeeze Girl" single, which actually takes an image from the ''JoJo'' manga. Also in 2009, Hirohiko Araki was one of five artists selected by the

Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

to create original works set at the famous museum. His piece ''Rohan at the Louvre'' starred JoJo's

Rohan Kishibe The ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'' manga series features a large cast of characters created by Hirohiko Araki. Spanning several generations, the series is split into eight parts, each following a different descendant of the Joestar family. Parts 7 ...

and was shown at the exhibit titled Le Louvre invite la bande dessinée ("The Louvre Invites Comic-Strip Art"), which was created to show the diversity of comics, from January 19 to April 13. ''Rohan at the Louvre'' was highly praised. The following year, ''Rohan at the Louvre'' was published in France and ran in Japan's ''Ultra Jump''. It was released in the US by

NBM Publishing Nantier Beall Minoustchine Publishing Inc. (or NBM Publishing) is an American graphic novel publisher. Founded by Terry Nantier in 1976 as Flying Buttress Publications, NBM is one of the oldest graphic novel publishers in North America. The compa ...

in February 2012. From September 17 to October 6, 2011, the

Gucci Gucci (, ; ) is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty, Inc. for fragran ...

store in

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

hosted the Gucci x Hirohiko Araki x Spur "Rohan Kishibe Goes to Gucci" Exhibition, a collaboration between the luxury Italian clothing brand, JoJo's creator and the fashion magazine ''Spur''. The exhibit celebrated the 90th anniversary of Gucci and featured a life-size figure of Rohan Kishibe, as well as numerous illustrations by Araki; including actual pieces of the brand's own 2011-2012 fall/winter collection and his own original fashion designs. For ''Spur'', Araki drew ''Kishibe Rohan meets Gucci.'', a full-color one-shot featuring Rohan Kishibe that ran in its October 2011 issue. ''Spur'' once again ran a ''JoJo'' spinoff by Araki, ''Jolyne, Fly High with Gucci'' starring

Jolyne Cujoh The ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'' manga series features a large cast of characters created by Hirohiko Araki. Spanning several generations, the series is split into eight parts, each following a different descendant of the Joestar family. Parts 7 ...

from Part 6, in their February 2013 issue. A free English translation is available on Gucci's

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

page. To raise awareness of the ongoing reconstruction efforts of the Hiraizumi ruins, that were damaged by the March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and declared a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

in June, Araki drew artwork depicting the ruins. A "Hirohiko Araki JoJo Exhibition" opened in Araki's native Sendai at the end of July 2012 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'', it then moved to Tokyo in October. He drew the album cover for

Sayuri Ishikawa is a Japanese enka singer who made her professional debut in 1973. With a career nearing five decades, she is one of the most-recognized and successful enka singers in history. Ishikawa is a popular contestant on the annual NHK ''Kōhaku Uta Gas ...

's 2012 album '' X -Cross-'', where she performs one of the series' iconic poses and is drawn wearing jewelry from the manga, the cover of the 2012 reprint of

Tamaki Saitō is a Japanese psychologist and critic. He specializes in the psychiatry of puberty and adolescence. Saitō is Director of Medical Service at Sofukai Sasaki Hospital in Funabashi, Chiba. Saitō is notable for his study of ''hikikomori'', a ter ...

's ''Lacan for Surviving'', and the cover of the 2015 compilation album for composer Akira Senju. A book explaining Araki's methodology on creating manga, titled , was released on April 17, 2015, in Japan; an English translation was later released on June 6, 2017. A stage adaptation of Araki's 1994 one-shot ''Under Execution, Under Jailbreak'' ran from November 20 to 29, 2015, at the Galaxy Theatre, then touring the country in December. The play also included elements of his 1996 one-shot ''Dolce, and His Master.'' Araki created an official poster for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, titled ''The Sky above The Great Wave off the Coast of Kanagawa''. The piece is heavily inspired by Hokusai's famous

woodblock print Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is create ...

, ''

The Great Wave off Kanagawa is a woodblock print by Japanese ''ukiyo-e'' artist Hokusai, created in late 1831 during the Edo period of Japanese history. The print depicts three boats moving through a storm-tossed sea, with a large wave forming a spiral in the centre ...

''.

Works

Manga

* * * * * * * * * * * * * ( Spin-off of ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'') * (Spin-off of ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'') * (Spin-off of ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'') * (Spin-off of ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'') * (Spin-off of ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'') * (Spin-off of ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'')

Other

* '' Famicom Jump II: Saikyō no Shichinin'' (February 1991, seventh boss monster design) * ''Kamedas'' (1993, an alternate story of ''

Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo , often shortened to , and known in English as ''KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops'', is a Japanese comedy manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Akimoto. It takes place in the present day, in and around a neighborhood police station ( k� ...

'', an illustration) * ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'' (November 4, 1993, novel written by Mayori Sekijima and Hiroshi Yamaguchi, illustrated by Araki) * ''JoJo 6251'' (December 10, 1993, art and guidebook) * ''JoJo A-Go!Go!'' (February 25, 2000, artbook) * ''Music is the Key of Life'' (December 13, 2000, album by Sugiurumn, cover) * ''GioGio's Bizarre Adventure II: Golden Heart/Golden Ring'' (May 28, 2001, novel written by Gichi Ōtsuka and Tarō Miyashō, supervised and illustrated by Araki) * ''Life Ground Music'' (February 27, 2002, album by Sugiurumn, cover) * ''Spy! Boy Alex series of Her Majesty the Queen'' (2002, cover) * ''

'' (2006, 30th anniversary special illustration) * "

Catwalk A fashion show (French ''défilé de mode'') is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase their upcoming line of clothing and/or accessories during a fashion week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the Spring/Summer and Fal ...

" (April 26, 2006, single by

Soul'd Out Soul'd Out (usually styled as SOUL'd OUT) was a Japanese hip-hop trio, consisting of Diggy-MO' (MC), Bro.Hi (MC/Human Beat Box), and Shinnosuke (DJ). Their name is a portmanteau of "soul" and "sold out", and the group is sometimes referred to by ...

, cover) * Uniqlo (2006, T-shirt design) * ''

Fist of the North Star is a Japanese manga series written by Buronson and illustrated by Tetsuo Hara. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' for 245 issues published from 1983 to 1988 and initially collected in 27 ' ...

'' (2006, special tribute illustration in ''

Weekly Comic Bunch is a Japanese manga anthology marketed to a ''seinen'' audience that was edited by Coamix and published weekly by Shinchosha from 2001 throughout 2010 and became monthly since 2011. The collected editions of their titles are published under th ...

'') * ''

'' (September 7, 2007, front cover) * ''The Book: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 4th Another Day'' (November 26, 2007, novel written by Otsuichi, supervised and illustrated by Arashi) * "

" (2008, cover) * "Breeeeze Girl" (June 24, 2009, a single by

, cover of the limited edition) * ''

Naruto ''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...

'' (2009, tenth anniversary special illustration) * ''Shameless Purple Haze: Purple Haze Feedback'' (September 16, 2011, novel written by

Kouhei Kadono is a Japanese author, best known for the ''Boogiepop'' series which has received multiple manga adaptations, a live action film, and two television anime. Biography Born on December 12, 1968, Kadono graduated from Hosei University. In 1998 ...

, illustrated by Araki) * ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Over Heaven'' (December 16, 2011, novel written by

Nisio Isin , stylized as NISIOISIN to emphasize the palindrome, is a pseudonymous Japanese novelist, manga author, and screenplay writer. Nisio debuted in 2002 with the novel ''The Beheading Cycle'' (the first in his '' Zaregoto'' series), which earned hi ...

, cover) * JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 3' (February 5, 2019, cover) * ''Ikinobiru tame no Lacan'' (Lacan for Survival) (2012,

book about Jacques Lacan, cover of the paperback edition) * ''Jorge Joestar'' (September 19, 2012, novel written by Ōtarō Maijō, illustrated by Araki) * '' X -Cross-'' (September 19, 2012, an album by

, cover) * ''Hirohiko Araki Works 1981-2012'' (2012, artbook) * ''JoJomenon'' (October 5, 2012, artbook) * ''JoJoveller'' (September 19, 2013, artbook set) * ''JoJonium'' (December 4, 2013 - March 4, 2015, covers of the large format rerelease of ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'') * ''

Loopified ''Loopified'' is the debut album by Swedish band Dirty Loops. It was released in Japan on April 16, in the UK on May 19, and in the US August 19, 2014. Track listing American release The American release omitted the last two songs and included ...

apanese Complete Edition' (October 8, 2014, album by

Dirty Loops Dirty Loops is a band from Stockholm, Sweden, made up of Jonah Nilsson (vocals and piano), Henrik Linder (bass) and Aron Mellergård (drums). Their arrangements borrow from jazz and jazz fusion, gospel, funk, electronica, pop, and disco. They ar ...

, cover) * ''Main Themes'' (February 25, 2015, an album by Akira Senju, cover) * * ''

Stormbreaker ''Stormbreaker'' is a young adult action-adventure book written by British author Anthony Horowitz, and is the first novel in the ''Alex Rider'' series. The book was released in the United Kingdom on the 4th of September 2000, and in United S ...

'' (novel, illustrations for

Fantasy Press Fantasy Press was an American publishing house specialising in fantasy and science fiction titles. Established in 1946 by Lloyd Arthur Eshbach in Reading, Pennsylvania, it was most notable for publishing the works of authors such as Robert A. He ...

) *''Learning Japanese History Through Manga, Volume 2'' (October 28, 2016, cover) *''Learning Japanese History Through Manga, Volume 18'' (October 28, 2016, cover) *''UOMO'' (August 24, 2018, cover) *''The Sky above The Great Wave off the Coast of Kanagawa'' ( 2020 Tokyo Paralympics poster)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Araki, Hirohiko JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Manga artists from Miyagi Prefecture People from Sendai 1960 births Living people