Mizuki Shigeru and his monster world

Ten years ago today, Japan lost one of its most popular cartoonists. Shigeru Mizuki, who was posthumously inducted into the Will Eisner Comics Award Hall of Fame in 2025, is remembered for rekindling interest in comics. monster — a supernatural creature from Japanese folklore — which he often used to depict the horrors of war. His most famous cartoon is Kitaro’s Kitaroa series about a one-eyed boy ghost. In our latest Spotlight article, we review cartoonist legend.

Mizuki, 3 years old (left) and 18 years old (right) | Wikimedia

Mizuki Shigeru’s early life

Mizuki was born in Osaka on March 8, 1922, formerly known as Murashiger, and grew up in the coastal city of Sakaiminato City, Tottori Prefecture. When he was a child, he pronounced his name Shigeru as “Gegeru”, thus earning the nickname “Gege”, which was later used as the inspiration for his most famous manga. From an early age, he showed a talent for illustration and was fascinated by the local monsters he learned about from Fusa Kageyama. Kageyamabo is an old woman who sometimes works at his house and shares ghost stories with him. He calls her NonNonBa.

He was also known as a brawler who led a gang of children. “On the first day of elementary school, he found the toughest kid in the class and beat him to make sure everyone understood who was the boss,” his daughter Naoko Haraguchi told reporters. Zoom Japan. “He was tall and strong and soon became the leader of a group of similar troubled kids. They often fought with other gangs for control of the area. They didn’t hesitate to use sticks and throw stones and he often came home covered in blood.”

Mizuki (right) and his father, 1943 | Wikimedia

the horror of war

In 1942, at the age of 21, Mizuki enlisted in the army. He was initially assigned to the bugle corps, but soon requested a transfer. He was sent to Rabaul, New Britain (now Papua New Guinea), where he endured extremely traumatic wartime experiences. He lost many of his comrades to bombs and disease, while others committed suicide. Mizuki himself was on the verge of death from malaria. He made a miraculous recovery despite doctors advising him to stop eating and taking medication because his chances of survival seemed to have disappeared.

However, while recuperating in the hospital, Mizuki was hit by a bomb and lost his arm. talking japan times Talking about the incident in 2005, he said, “The moment I was hit, I screamed in pain, but the next moment, I forgot everything. People say that when you are bombed, time freezes and the place becomes a vacuum. Your memory is temporarily lost, and when the explosion happens around you, you enter a different world.”

Relations with the Tolai people

After losing his arm, Mizuki befriended the local Tolai people and communicated with them using Pidgin. Unlike other soldiers, he respected them, and therefore, they welcomed him into their community. They reportedly fed him and helped him recover in exchange for military supplies such as cigarettes and blankets. He developed a particularly close relationship with Topetoro, a Tole man. Mizuki later commemorated their friendship with the manga artist Fifty Years of Topetororeleased in 1995.

According to Mizuki, while in Papua New Guinea, he was offered a farm, a house and even a bride. He seriously considered staying in Japan after the war, but a military doctor advised him to return to Japan first to see his parents. The occupation of his home country shortly after the war discouraged him from returning to Papua New Guinea. However, more than a quarter of a century later he did visit again, reuniting with Topetoro and others who had been welcomed during the conflict. In 2003, the people of New Guinea named a road in Rabaul after him to commemorate Shuimu’s long-term relationship with the Tolai people.

Illustrations from the Mizuki version of the Kitarosamhibai drama | Lost Media Wiki

The birth of Kitaro

After returning to Japan, Mizuki worked several odd jobs, such as selling fish and driving a tricycle. He later worked as a landlord at Waterwood Manor, which was the inspiration for his pen name. One of his tenants introduced him to Shangzhi plum — a traditional form of Japanese street theater using picture cards — Mizuki began producing illustrations for the medium. In 1954, his boss asked him to create some stories based on the story. Kitaro in the cemeterya 1930s novel about the supernatural adventure of a one-eyed monster written by Masami Ito.

With the rise of television in Japan and the decline of the shishikiju industry, Mizuki decided to try his hand at becoming a Kashiwa (Rental Comics) creator, released his debut work, rocket man1957. Three years later, Kitaro in the cemetery Published as a series of rental books before final serialization weekly shounen magazine. Name changed Kitaro’s Kitaro in 1967 because sponsors of a future animated series were concerned about the negative impact of including “cemetery” in the title. The show’s tone has also been deliberately adjusted to be less dark and more action-oriented. Both the manga and animated series have achieved huge and lasting success.

Cover and inside images of Toward Our Noble Death (2022 reprint) | Drawn and quarterly publications

war story

1971, a year after the original series Kitaro’s Kitaro Finally, Mizuki released a critically acclaimed biographical comic about adolf hitlerIt tells the story from his early life in Austria to his downfall at the end of World War II. Another war-related comic that was praised by critics is towards our noble deathdescribes Mizuki’s experience as a soldier participating in the New Guinea campaign. His fellow soldiers were instructed to die for their country to avoid the shame of survival. “No one is looking at me,” said one soldier facing death on the battlefield. “No one will remember my words…I will only be forgotten…”

The war was also widely reported Showa 1926-1939: A History of Japana comic series that combines Mizuki’s personal experiences with historical events. Narrated by Nezumi Otoko, a half-human, half-monster character Ge Ge Ge Ge Ge Ge Ge Tai Lang, It provides readers with a candid perspective on 20th-century Japanese history, particularly the outbreak of World War II, the conflict itself, and its aftermath. It is a strong rebuke of a period of history that has left a deep and unresolved legacy for its people. Mizuki’s message is clear: “Never forget the price you paid for the world you live in now. Never forget the lessons of history.”

Nonnonba Cover | Illustration and Quarterly Publication

international success

In the 2010s, Mizuki’s popularity spread overseas as many of his stories were translated (often by Jocelyn Allen), including Kitaro, towards our noble death and Feifeiba“Mizuki” is a charming memoir about Mizuki’s experience growing up in Japan and the grandmotherly figure who told him tales of monsters. Feifeiba was the first comic to win the award Fauve d’Or Award for Best Comics at the Angoulême International Comics Festival. This is one of several awards Mizuki received during his lifetime. Other notable honors include the Osamu Tezuka Cultural Award and the Cultural Merit Award.

Mizuki’s biggest supporter throughout his career has been his wife Murafue. The two tied the knot in 1961, having met just five days earlier. She managed the household in abject poverty and later assisted her husband directly in his work. In 2008, she published wife ikBdetailing her and Mizuki’s lives, especially their financial struggles before Mizuki’s success. The book sold over 500,000 copies and was adapted into Japan Broadcasting Corporation Grilled series In 2010, starring Nao Matsushita and Osamu Mukai.

Mizuki and his wife Murafue’s wedding photos (left) and later life (right) | Kitaro Wiki

“Living at this time is the only thing worse than death.”

On November 30, 2015, Mulla lost her life partner. Mizuki died of multiple organ failure at the age of 93. A few weeks ago, he suffered a head injury after a fall at home and required emergency surgery. His daughter Haraguchi described him as a “workaholic at heart” who “drew and gave interviews almost to the last minute.” “He never succeeded in being lazy,” she added, referring to his “Seven Rules of Happiness,” which included “laziness.” Shortly before Haraguchi’s death, he discovered notes written by Mizuki while looking through some old documents in his office. “Reading this book,” she said, “was like reading my father’s mind as he screamed against his fate.”

This notebook was written in 1942, just before he was sent to war. “Fifty to 100,000 people are dying every day in this war,” he wrote. “What’s the point of art? What’s the point of religion? We are simply not allowed to think about these things. To be a painter, to be a philosopher, to be a man of letters, all it takes is a laborer. This is a time depicted in the earth tones of a cemetery. A time when humanity is buried, when people are just lumps in the ground. I sometimes think that being alive at this time is the only thing worse than death.”

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