is a

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 culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

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 ...

Life

Okazaki started drawing in high school and submitted her illustrations to different magazines. For her, this was both a training for art school, which she wanted to apply for, and a way to make money from the prize money. She had saved more than 1 million yen when graduating from high school. The magazine ''Fanroad'' by the publisher

Rapport Rapport () is a close and harmonious relationship in which the people or groups concerned are "in sync" with each other, understand each other's feelings or ideas, and communicate smoothly. The word stems from the French verb which means liter ...

published her first manga. She enrolled in and graduated from

Tama Art University or is a private art university located in Tokyo, Japan. It is known as one of the top art schools in Japan. History The forerunner of Tamabi was Tama Imperial Art School (多摩帝国美術学校, Tama Teikoku Bijutsu Gakkō) founded in 1935. ...

with a major in design. After university, she worked for the advertising company

Hakuhodo is a Japanese advertising and public relations company. It is headquartered at Akasaka Biz Tower in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo. History Hakuhodo is one of the oldest advertising agencies in Japan and was founded by Hironao Seki at Nihonbashi-Hon ...

, doing conceptual and design work. Her career as a manga artist became more successful in 1994, when she won a newcomers' award of '' Bouquet'' magazine, published the short story "Bathroom Gūwa" and started becoming a regular contributor for the magazine afterwards. Okazaki herself considers this to be her proper debut as a professional manga artist. She was a regular contributor for ''Cookie'' from its first issue, the successor to ''Bouquet''. She continued working in advertising until 2001, when she decided to completely focus on her career as a manga artist. Her first longer series was ''

Suppli is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mari Okazaki. It was published by Shodensha's Josei manga, ''josei'' manga magazine ''Feel Young'' from October 8, 2003, to November 7, 2009; a sidestory also ran in the magazine in 2010. ...

'', which she published from 2003 to 2009 in the

josei , also known as and its abbreviation , is an editorial category of Japanese comics that emerged in the 1980s. In a strict sense, ''josei'' refers to manga marketed to an audience of adult women, contrasting ''shōjo'' manga, which is marke ...

magazine ''

Feel Young ''Feel Young'' is a monthly josei manga magazine published by Shodensha in Japan. Manga artists whose stories have run in this magazine include Moyoco Anno, Mitsue Aoki, Mitsukazu Mihara, Kiriko Nananan, Mari Okazaki, Erica Sakurazawa, Ebine Ya ...

'' and which is set in an advertising company. While working on ''Suppli'', she gave birth to three children. Okazaki worked occasionally for

seinen is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word ''seinen'' literally means "youth", but the term "''seinen'' manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like ''Weekly Ma ...

magazines. From 2014 to 2021, her first longer series for a seinen magazine was published in ''

Monthly Big Comic Spirits Monthly usually refers to the scheduling of something every month. It may also refer to: * ''The Monthly'' * '' Monthly Magazine'' * ''Monthly Review'' * '' PQ Monthly'' * '' Home Monthly'' * '' Trader Monthly'' * ''Overland Monthly'' * Menstruati ...

'', the historical manga ''

A-un ''Om'' (or ''Aum'') (; sa, ॐ, ओम्, Ōṃ, translit-std=IAST) is a sacred sound, syllable, mantra, or an invocation in Hinduism. ''Om'' is the prime symbol of Hinduism.Krishna Sivaraman (2008), ''Hindu Spirituality Vedas Through Ved ...

''. The series is her most critically acclaimed work so far. It was commended by manga authors

Ryoko Yamagishi is a Japanese manga artist. She is one of the Year 24 Group, a collection of female artists who innovated (girls') manga throughout the 1970s. Her major works include and '' Terpsichora''. Biography Ryoko Yamagishi was born on September 2 ...

, Yuki Suetsugu and

Masami Yuki , real name Shūji Satō (佐藤修司 ''Satō Shūji'', born December 19, 1957, in Kutchan, Abuta District, Hokkaidō), is a Japanese manga artist. Yuki graduated from Kutchan High School. He is a member of the artist group known as Headgear. In ...

and writers

Rio Shimamoto is a Japanese writer. She has won the Gunzo Prize for New Writers, the Noma Literary New Face Prize and the Naoki Prize, and her work has been adapted for film. Biography Shimamoto was born in 1983 in Tokyo, Japan. She made her literary debu ...

and

Kazuki Kaneshiro is a Zainichi Korean novelist who was born in Kawaguchi, Saitama. Later in his life he acquired Japanese citizenship. Due to early influence from his Marxist-Leninist father, he studied at the Chongryon-affiliated elementary school and middle sc ...

. ''A-un'' was one of the Jury Recommended Works at the 23rd

Japan Media Arts Festival The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held since 1997 by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. The festival begins with an open competition and culminates with the awarding of several prizes and an exhibition. Based on judging by a ...

in 2020. Several of her manga, among them ''Kanojo ga Shinjatta'' and ''Shibuya ku Maruyama cho'', have been adapted as live-action films or TV series. Her work has been translated into English, French and Polish.

Works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okazaki, Mari 1967 births Japanese female comics artists Female comics writers Women manga artists Living people Manga artists from Nagano Prefecture Japanese women writers