was a Japanese

manga artist A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a Cartoonist, comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the indus ...

. He was best known for penning ''

Sennin Buraku is a manga series by Kō Kojima which ran in the adult magazine '' Weekly Asahi Geinō'', published by Tokuma Shoten in Japan. It is the longest running comic with only one artist, being published weekly since October 1956, and the longest ...

'' (running since 1956 in ''

Weekly Asahi Geinō , often shortened to simply ''Asahi Geinō'' or , is a shūkanshi founded by Hirotomo Takei and published by Tokuma Shoten in Japan. It was first published under the title in January 1946, though the title and size were changed to the current on ...

''), the longest running comic by a single artist. He attended the private in Koishikawa (now part of Bunkyō, Tokyo), after which he began attending Taiheiyō Fine Arts Academy before dropping out partway through school. Ko was born in

Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, Toy, toys, arcade cabinets, and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, Vending machine, vending machines, and Juk ...

. From his

elementary Elementary may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Elementary'' (Cindy Morgan album), 2001 * ''Elementary'' (The End album), 2007 * ''Elementary'', a Melvin "Wah-Wah Watson" Ragin album, 1977 Other uses in arts, entertainment, an ...

years through

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

, Kojima began drawing manga, and in 1949 he made his professional debut as a member of the Dokuritsu Mangaha. That group broke up in 1959, and in 1964 he joined the Japan Manga Artist Cooperative and the Manga Shūdan, participating in both groups regularly. Due to the adult and modern nature of his works, as well as his unusual drawing style, his works became very popular, garnering him the 1968 Bungeishunjū Manga Prize from the literary magazine ''

Bungeishunjū is a Japanese publishing company known for its leading monthly magazine '' Bungeishunjū''. The company was founded by Kan Kikuchi in 1923. It grants the annual Akutagawa Prize, one of the most prestigious literary awards in Japan, as well a ...

'' for his work ''Nihon no Kaa-chan''. Other works include the long running ''Sennin Buraku'', as well as '' Hige to Boin'', which ran from 1974 to 2014 in Shogakukan's ''

Big Comic Original is a Japanese manga magazine published by Shogakukan, aimed at an older adult and mostly male audience. It is a sister magazine to the manga magazine '' Big Comic'', the biggest difference being that it goes on sale twice a month in the weeks ...

manga magazine 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 history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics an ...

. The main character of the latter series is a

sake Sake, , or saki, also referred to as Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indeed any East Asi ...

-brewing

kappa Kappa (; uppercase Κ, lowercase κ or cursive ; , ''káppa'') is the tenth letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless velar plosive sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, has a value of 20. It was d ...

. Kojima made regular appearances on the Tokyo 12ch (now

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.Moyoco Anno is a Japanese mangaka, manga artist and fashion writer, with numerous books published in both categories. Her work ''Sugar Sugar Rune'' won the Kodansha manga award for children in 2005. Anno is married to director Hideaki Anno of ''Neon Genesi ...

(who is married to anime director

Hideaki Anno is a Anime, Japanese animator, filmmaker, Film producer, producer, and voice actor. His most celebrated creation, the Neon Genesis Evangelion (franchise), ''Evangelion'' franchise, has had a significant influence on the anime television industr ...

) is Kojima's niece.

References

External links

Official Site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kojima, Ko 1928 births Japanese comic strip cartoonists Japanese satirists Satirical comics artists Satirical comics writers Manga artists from Tokyo People from Taitō 2015 deaths Recipients of the Medal with Purple Ribbon