is a Japanese-born American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

and comic book creator. He is best known as the creator of the comic series ''

Usagi Yojimbo is a comic book series created by Stan Sakai. It is set primarily at the beginning of the Edo period of Japanese history and features anthropomorphic animals replacing humans. The main character is a rabbit '' rōnin'', Miyamoto Usagi, whom ...

''.

Early life

Sakai was born Masahiko Sakai (坂井雅彦) in

Kyoto, Japan Kyoto ( or ; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it the ninth-most pop ...

, to Akio and Teruko Sakai. His father was a second-generation Japanese American from

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

, who was stationed in Japan with the U.S. occupation forces. Sakai and his family moved back to Hawaii when he was two years old, and Sakai was raised in the Kaimuki neighborhood of

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

. He studied Fine Arts (disciplines) at the University of Hawaii before continuing his training at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

Career

He began his career by lettering comic books (notably '' Groo the Wanderer'' by

Sergio Aragonés Sergio Aragonés Domenech ( , ; born 6 September 1937 in Sant Mateu, Castellón, Spain) is a Spanish-Mexican-American cartoonist and writer best known for his contributions to ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' magazine and creating the comic book ''Groo t ...

and

Mark Evanier Mark Stephen Evanier (; born March 2, 1952) is an American comic book and television writer, known for his work on the animated TV series '' Garfield and Friends'' and on the comic book '' Groo the Wanderer''. He is also known for his columns and ...

) and wrote and illustrated ''The Adventures of Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy''; a comic series with a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

setting, influenced by ''Groo the Wanderer''. The characters first appeared in '' Albedo Anthropomorphics #2'' in 1984, and they were subsequently featured in issues of '' Critters'', '' Grimjack'', ''

Amazing Heroes ''Amazing Heroes'' was a magazine about the comic book medium published by American company Fantagraphics Books from 1981 to 1992. Unlike its companion title, '' The Comics Journal'', ''Amazing Heroes'' was a hobbyist magazine rather than an anal ...

'' and ''

Furrlough ''Furrlough'' is a furry fandom, furry comic book originally published by Antarctic Press and continued by Radio Comix. It is edited by Elin Winkler and is nicknamed (dubbed) "Your Funny Animal Anthology". First published in 1991, ''Furrlough'' o ...

''. Sakai became famous with the creation of ''

'', the epic saga of Miyamoto Usagi, a

samurai The samurai () were members of the warrior class in Japan. They were originally provincial warriors who came from wealthy landowning families who could afford to train their men to be mounted archers. In the 8th century AD, the imperial court d ...

rabbit living in late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth-century Japan. First published in 1984, the comic continues to this day, with Sakai as the lone author and nearly sole artist ( Tom Luth serves as the main colorist on the series, and Sergio Aragonés has made two small contributions to the series: the story "Broken Ritual" (''Usagi Yojimbo'' vol. 1, issue 33, published by Fantagraphics) is based on an idea by Aragonés, and he served as a guest inker for the black-and-white version of the story "Return to Adachi Plain", from ''Usagi Yojimbo'' vol. 3, issue 10, published by Dark Horse, and reprinted in the collection ''Seasons''.). He also created a futuristic spinoff series '' Space Usagi''. His favorite movie is ''Satomi Hakkenden'' (1959). The Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles's Little Tokyo presented an exhibit entitled "Year of the Rabbit: Stan Sakai's ''

''" from July 9 through October 30, 2011. Sakai wrote and illustrated the story "I'm Not in Springfield Anymore!" for '' Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror #7'' and illustrated the back cover of ''Treehouse of Horror #6''. Sakai2017

Sakai was the artist for ''Riblet'', the back-up feature in the ''

Bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...

'' spinoff miniseries and trade paperback, '' Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails''. In 2013, Sakai illustrated the limited comic book series ''47 Ronin'', an adaptation of the famed story of the 47 Ronin written by

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...

Publisher Mike Richardson and with ''

Lone Wolf and Cub is a Japanese manga series created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima. It was serialized in Futabasha's manga magazine '' Weekly Manga Action'' from September 1970 to April 1976, with its chapters collected in 28 ' volumes. ...

'' writer Kazuo Koike as an editorial consultant. The seventh episode of the 2012 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' animated series' fifth season, "Yojimbo", was written by Sakai and features Miyamoto Usagi, who has appeared in a few TMNT shows to date. In 2020, it was announced that Sakai would serve as an executive producer on the then-upcoming

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

original animated series '' Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles'', which is based on ''Usagi Yojimbo''. In April 2022, Sakai was reported among the more than three dozen comics creators who contributed to Operation USA's benefit anthology book, ''Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds'', a project spearheaded by

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...

Special Projects Editor Scott Dunbier, whose profits would be donated to relief efforts for Ukrainian refugees resulting from the February

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. Sakai's contribution is an original ''

'' story in which the main character comes to the aid of refugees fleeing the invasion of their land by a warlord, themes that speak to the events in Ukraine.

Awards

* 1990 Parents' Choice Award for "Skillful weaving of facts and legends into his work" * 1991

Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at Comic-Con Internati ...

from

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

for "Lifetime Achievement in the Field of Cartooning" * 1996

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

for " Best Letterer" (''Groo'' and ''Usagi Yojimbo'') * 1996

for "Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition" (''Usagi Yojimbo'') * 1999

for "Best Serialized Story" (''Usagi Yojimbo'' "Grasscutter") * 1999 Haxtur Award for "Best Short Story n Spain (''Usagi Yojimbo'' "Noodles" panish Edition * 2000 Haxtur Award for "Best Script n Spain (''Usagi Yojimbo's'' "Grasscutter" panish Edition * 2001 Ursa Major Award for "Best Anthropomorphic Comic Book or Strip" * 2002 National Cartoonists Society Comic Book Division Awards (''Usagi Yojimbo'') * 2002 Ursa Major Award for "Best Anthropomorphic Comic Book or Strip" * 2003 Ursa Major Award for "Best Anthropomorphic Comic Book" * 2003 La Plumilla de Plata (Silver Inkpen Award) in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

for his lifetime achievements and contributions to comic books. * 2004 Ursa Major Award for "Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work" (''The Art of Usagi Yojimbo'') and "Best Anthropomorphic Comic Book" (''Usagi Yojimbo'') * 2005 Ursa Major Award for "Best Anthropomorphic Comic Book" (''Usagi Yojimbo'') * 2007

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be a successor to the Kirby Awards, which were ...

for "Best Letterer" * 2011 Cultural Ambassador Award * 2012

for "Best Lettering" (''Usagi Yojimbo'') * 2014 Inkwell Award for The All-in-One Award (''47 Ronin, DHP, and Mouse Guard'') * 2015

for "Best Lettering" (''Usagi Yojimbo'') * 2016

for "Best Cartoonist" (''Usagi Yojimbo'') * 2018

for "Best Lettering" (''Usagi Yojimbo'') * 2020

for "Best Archival Collection/Project" (''Usagi Yojimbo'') * 2020

for "Best Lettering" * 2020 Ringo Award for "Best Cartoonist" (''Usagi Yojimbo'') * 2020 Ringo Award for "Best Presentation" (Grasscutter Artist Select) * 2020 Ringo Award for "Best Single Issue or Story" (''Usagi Yojimbo'' #6) From 1993 through 2005, Stan Sakai has received twenty-one

nominations. He has also been nominated for the

Comics Buyer's Guide ''Comics Buyer's Guide'' (''CBG''; ), established in 1971, was the longest-running English-language periodical reporting on the American comic book industry. It awarded its annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards from 1983 to circa 2010. The publ ...

Award for Favorite Writer in 1999 and 2000. In 2020, Sakai was inducted into the Eisner Award Hall of Fame.

Bibliography

''Usagi Yojimbo''

Other works

* ''47 Ronin'' (2014, Dark Horse) – collects #1–5, story by Mike Richardson, colors by Lovern Kindzierski, and letters by L. Lois Buhalis and Tom Orzechowski * ''The Adventures of Nilson Groundthumper and Hermy'' (2014, Dark Horse) – collect stories from '' Albedo Anthropomorphics'' #1 and #5; ''Critters Special'' #1; '' Critters'' #5, 16, and 27; ''Usagi Yojimbo'' (vol. 1) #19; ''Usagi Yojimbo Color Special'' #1–3; ''Usagi Yojimbo'' (vol. 2) #9; and ''

Dark Horse Presents ''Dark Horse Presents'' was a comic book published by Dark Horse Comics from 1986 in comics, 1986. Their first published series, it was their flagship title until its September 2000 in comics, 2000 cancellation. The second incarnation was publishe ...

'' (vol. 2) #30; colors by Ryan Hill and Tom Luth

Notes

References

* *

External links

* *
Sakai's LiveJournal page
*
Stan Sakai – Video interview by the Japanese American National Museum, Discover Nikkei project
(September 28, 2010) {{DEFAULTSORT:Sakai, Stan Usagi Yojimbo 1953 births Living people American comics artists American comics writers Comic book letterers Eisner Award winners Eisner Award winners for Best Letterer/Lettering American people of Japanese descent Mirage Studios Artists from Kyoto Artists from Honolulu Hawaii people of Japanese descent