is 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 ...

. Okano attended a graphic design school after graduating from high school and has never worked as a manga assistant. Her first serialized work was ''Esther, Please'' in 1982. In 1989, she won the

Shogakukan Manga Award The is one of Japan's major manga awards, and is sponsored by Shogakukan, Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga and features candidates from a number of publishers. It is the oldest manga award in Japan, being ...

in the '' shōjo'' category for ''

Fancy Dance Fancy dance, Pan-Indian dancing, Fancy Feather or Fancy War Dance is a style of dance some believe was originally created by members of the Ponca tribe in the 1920s and 1930s, in an attempt to preserve their culture and religion. It is loosely bas ...

''. ''

Onmyōji was one of the official positions belonging to the of the Ministry of the Center under the ritsuryō system in ancient Japan, and was assigned as a technical officer in charge of divination and geomorphology based on the theory of the yin-a ...

'', an original work by

Baku Yumemakura is a Japanese science fiction and adventure writer. His works have sold more than 20 million copies in Japan spread across more than 280 titles. He is published in a variety of formats including feature films, television shows, movies and comic b ...

, was drawn by Reiko Okano and received the

Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Named after Osamu Tezuka, the is a yearly manga prize awarded to manga artists or their works that follow the Osamu Tezuka manga approach founded and sponsored by Asahi Shimbun. The prize has been awarded since 1997, in Tokyo, Japan. Current ...

in 2001. She went on to produce a sequel version, ''Onmyōji: Tamatebako'', in the comic magazine ''

Melody A melody (from Greek language, Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a Linearity#Music, linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most liter ...

''. She is married to director

Makoto Tezuka , officially romanized as Macoto Tezka, is a Japanese film and anime director, born in Tokyo. He fashions himself as a visualist and is involved in the creation of moving images beyond film and animation. He partially owns Tezuka Productions an ...

Works

*'' Calling'' (コーリング) * * *

References

1960 births Living people Women manga artists Manga artists from Ibaraki Prefecture Japanese female comics artists Female comics writers Japanese women writers {{manga-artist-stub