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 ...

and is associated with the

Year 24 group The is a grouping of female manga artists who heavily influenced ''shōjo'' manga (Japanese girls' comics) beginning in the 1970s. While ''shōjo'' manga of the 1950s and 1960s largely consisted of simple stories marketed towards elementary s ...

that heavily influenced the development of

shōjo manga is an editorial category of Japanese comics targeting an audience of adolescent females and young adult women. It is, along with manga (targeting adolescent boys), manga (targeting young adult and adult men), and manga (targeting adul ...

in the 1970s.

Career

She made her debut as a professional manga artist in 1968 with the short story "Paula no Namida" in the magazine '' Weekly Margaret''. She became known for publishing short stories for this and other major magazines targeted at girls like ''Shōjo Comic'', ''

Bessatsu Shōjo Comic , known as before 2000, is a monthly Japanese manga magazine published by Shogakukan. It was conceived as a or "special issue" of its sister magazine ''Shōjo Comic''. It is released on the 13th of each month. Serializations Current * '' ...

,'' ''Seventeen'' and ''

Shōjo Friend was a shōjo manga magazine formerly published by Kodansha, beginning in 1962. Kodansha used the knowledge gained from publishing magazines aimed at young girls, including ''Nakayoshi'' and '' Shōjo Club'', as well as the experience from publi ...

''. One of her short stories appeared in ''Funny'', one of the earliest magazines for

josei manga , 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 ...

(then called "women's

gekiga , literally "dramatic pictures", is a style of Japanese comics aimed at adult audiences and marked by a more cinematic art style and more mature themes. ''Gekiga'' was the predominant style of adult comics in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s. It is ...

"). Her series ''Tanjō!'', published from 1970 until 1971, gained attention for its depiction of

teenage pregnancy Teenage pregnancy, also known as adolescent pregnancy, is pregnancy in a female adolescent or young adult under the age of 20. This includes those who are legally considered adults in their country. The WHO defines adolescence as the period bet ...

. From 1978 until 1987 she published her most famous series ''

The Star of Cottonland is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yumiko Ōshima. It was serialized by Hakusensha in ''LaLa'' magazine from 1978 to 1987 and collected in seven ''tankōbon'' volumes. The story is about an abandoned kitten called Chibi-ne ...

'' in ''LaLa''.

Style

According to Mizuki Takahashi, Ōshima is considered the most influential artist of the Year 24 group because of her visual innovation in shōjo manga, especially in panel design around representing emotions in drawing. Ōshima often places text that represents

inner monologue Intrapersonal communication is the process by which an individual communicates within themselves, acting as both sender and receiver of messages, and encompasses the use of unspoken words to consciously engage in self-talk and inner speech. Intr ...

outside of

speech bubbles Speech balloons (also speech bubbles, dialogue balloons, or word balloons) are a graphic convention used most commonly in comic books, comics, and cartoons to allow words (and much less often, pictures) to be understood as representing a charac ...

and instead flowing freely. She also was innovative in giving panels a delicate, thin frame that is at times even broken. Takahashi writes: "The panels are not sequential, which forces readers to look at the whole page in order to understand the atmosphere of a scene rather than just read ahead in the story." Many of her stories are centered on girls' anxieties during

adolescence Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the t ...

, the difficulties of dealing with becoming an adult physically and emotionally and needing to suppress one's child self.

Reception and legacy

She received the 1973

Japan Cartoonists Association Award is an annual award for manga, sponsored by the Japan Cartoonists Association. The prize was first awarded in 1972. Prizes Recipients of the Grand Prize receive a gold plaque, a medal, and a cash prize of ¥500,000. Recipients of the Excellence P ...

for excellence for '' Mimoza Yakata de Tsukamaete''. She received the 1978

Kodansha Manga Award is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, the event is sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in three categories: '' shōnen'', '' shōjo'', and general. The awards began in 1977, initially w ...

for shōjo for ''

'', and the 2008

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 ...

Short Story Award for "Cher Gou-Gou...mon petit chat, mon petit ami," a short story in the ongoing series ''

Gū-gū Datte Neko de aru is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yumiko Ōshima. It was adapted into a live action film in 2008. It was further adapted into a Japanese television drama broadcast by WOWOW. Season 1 of the drama aired in the fall of 2014 ...

''. In 2021, she was honoured with the title

Person of Cultural Merit is an official Japanese recognition and honor which is awarded annually to select people who have made outstanding cultural contributions. This distinction is intended to play a role as a part of a system of support measures for the promotion of ...

. She is credited with popularizing the ''kemonomimi'' (

catgirl A is a female kemonomimi character with feline traits, such as , a cat tail, or other feline characteristics on an otherwise human body. Catgirls are found in various fiction genres and in particular Japanese anime and manga. Catboy is a term f ...

) character type through her creation of Chibi-neko from ''The Star of Cottonland''. Several artists have been influenced by her work. Manga artist

Fusako Kuramochi is a Japanese manga artist. While still in high school, she made her professional debut with , published in the Autumn 1972 issue of ''Bessatsu Margaret''. She won the magazine's gold medal for amateur manga artists. Afterwards, Kuramochi stud ...

and writer

Banana Yoshimoto is the pen name of Japanese writer . From 2002 to 2015, she wrote her name in hiragana (). Biography Yoshimoto was born in Tokyo on July 24, 1964, and grew up in a liberal family. Her father is the poet and critic Takaaki Yoshimoto, and her sist ...

cite her as an influence. Manga critic Tomoko Yamada cites "Natsu no owari no totancho" (1977) as one of her favorite manga.

Selected works

* , 1968 * , 1970–1971 * , 1972 * , 1973 * ''Joka e'' ("To Joker") (1973) - An allegorical love triangle involving a boy who is accidentally transformed into a girl * , 1974 * , 1975 * , 1975 * , 1976 * , 1977–1978 - A story about a sensitive young woman, Ira Miura, who wishes to have a

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

boyfriend A boyfriend is a male friend or acquaintance, often specifying a regular male companion with whom a person is romantically or sexually involved. A boyfriend can also be called an admirer, beau, suitor and sweetheart. The analogous female te ...

* , 1978–1987 - A story about a kitten, Chibi-neko, who thinks she is a little girl * , 1979 * , 1983 * , 1989 * , 1990 * , 1995 * , 1996–ongoing

References

External links

*
Profile
at The Ultimate Manga Guide

at Mangayomi {{DEFAULTSORT:Oshima, Yumiko 1947 births Anime character designers Living people Women manga artists Manga artists from Tochigi Prefecture Winner of Kodansha Manga Award (Shōjo) Winner of Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize (Short Story Award) Japanese female comics artists Female comics writers Japanese women writers Persons of Cultural Merit