A dramatist. Born in Fukui in 1944. He drew manga while working at a signboard shop in Osaka and debuted in 1961 in a rental manga magazine. After moving to Tokyo, he worked as an assistant to Shigeru Mizuki before making his major debut. His representative works include "Otoko Gumi", "Crying Freeman", and "Sanctuary". His major solo exhibitions include "Ryoichi Ikegami s Kiwami" (Echizen City Takefu Public Hall Memorial Hall, 2019) and "Ryoichi Ikegami's Body and Soul Exhibition" (Kunstmuseum de la Angoulême, 2023).
In 1995, he won the Inkpot Award. In 2001, he won the Shogakukan Manga Award for "HEAT"̶a special Honor Award at the 2023 Angoulême International Cartoon Festival.
In 2024, he won the Shogakukan Manga Award for "Trillion Game".
He is a professor at Osaka University of Arts.

A manga artist born in Osaka in 1947 and raised in Chiba, Japan. She made her professional debut in 1967 with “The Rose of Versailles,” which became a massive hit when it was serialised in 1972. It became a social phenomenon and was adapted into a stage version by the Takarazuka Revue, a live-action film and an animated television series. Her other notable works include “Dear Brother” and “Héroïque : The Glory of Napoleon." At the age of 45, she chose to pursue a music career and enrolled in the vocal department of the Tokyo College of Music in 1995. She has remained active as a vocalist, producing operas, among other works.
In 1991, she was selected for the Nika Exhibition, and her first collection of poems, “Lonesome Bone,” was published in 2020, demonstrating her versatility.
In 1980, she received the Japan Cartoonists Society Excellence Award for “The Window of Orpheus." She was honoured with the Medal with Dark Blue Ribbon and awarded the Order of the Legion of Honour.

An illustrator born in Russia in 1990. He currently resides in Japan. He worked for a game company during his student days designing avatars and items for massive multiplayer online RPGs. Following this, he served as a director at a motion comic production company. He arrived in Japan in 2014 and began his freelance career. In 2015, he won an award at the International Manga Awards. He has contributed to various designs, including characters for the film “Birthday Wonderland” (2019), character design for the anime “Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045” (2020-23), and direction and illustration for the anime series adaptation of “Dead Dead Demon's DeDeDeDeDestruction” (2024). He is involved as both a storyboard and drawing director.

A manga artist born in Hiroshima in 1968. She made her professional debut in 1995 with “Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms” (2004), which won the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Award New Artist Prize and the Grand Prize in the Manga Division of the Japan Media Arts Festival. In 2009,
"In This Corner of the World" won the Excellence Award in the Manga Division of the Japan Media Arts Festival. This work has been dramatised on television twice, and an animated film (directed by Sunao Katabuchi) was released in 2016. From 2013 to 2014, she illustrated the serial novel “Koujin” (Miyuki Miyabe) for the Asahi Shimbun newspaper. Her major group exhibitions include The Citi exhibition: Manga (British Museum, 2019). She is a visiting professor at Hijiyama University, Department of Fine Arts.

A manga artist born in Wakayama in 1936, he made his professional debut in 1955. In 1960,
“Typhoon Goro” became a significant hit. He then moved to Tokyo and founded “Saito Production”.
In 1968, he began serialising his masterpiece, “Golgo 13”, which is synonymous with Japanese Gekiga. This work won two Shogakukan Manga Awards. In 2017, a special exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of the serialisation, ‘Saito Takao: Golgo 13’ , toured the country. Received Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize Special Award in 2018. Awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon and the Order of the Rising Sun,Gold Rays with Rosette.
He passed away in 2021. His works are housed at the Yokote City Masuda Manga Museum. In 2022, he was honoured with the Japan Cartoonists Association Award and the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award.
He is ranked as Shorokui (Senior Sixth Rank) on the Shinkai, which is the rank conferred on Shinto deities in Japan.

A manga artist born in Osaka in 1948. She made her professional debut at the age of 16 when she won the first Kodansha New Comic Award. Since then, she has published over 500 titles throughout her fifty-year career. Many of her works are based on historical themes, including her magnum opus “Rainbow over Heaven,” which began serialisation in 1983 and was completed in 2015, featuring Emperor Jito as the main character. She has also worked on comic adaptations of myths, biblical texts, and renowned operas. Her representative works include “Asunaro Zaka,”
“The Maidens of Aries,” and “The Hunter's Constellation.” In 1974, she won the Kodansha Publishing Culture Award for “Ashita Kagayaku” and “Hime ga Iku!.”In 2006, she received the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award at the Japan Cartoonists Association Awards.
She serves as a Director of the Japan Cartoonists Association and a Professor at Osaka University of Arts.

A manga artist born in Tokyo in 1939. He spent his childhood in Manchuria. He made his professional debut in 1956 with a book-length work and began serialisation in magazines in 1958, followed by “Ashita no Joe” in 1968, marking a milestone in postwar manga history. His other significant works include “Harris Whirlwind,” “Ore wa Teppei,” and “Ashita Tenki ni Naare.” Based on his own wartime experience, he widely appeals for peace. In 1977, he won the Shogakukan Manga Award for “Notari Matsutaro," and in 2001, he received the Japan Cartoonists Association Award and the Minister of Education Prize. He was also awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon and the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette. In 2024, he became the first cartoonist to be honoured with the Order of Cultural Merit. He is also the President of the Japan Cartoonists Association.

A manga artist born in 1940 in Manchuria and raised in Kagoshima, Japan. He made his professional debut in 1959. He was part of the Gekiga boom period through his representative works, including the “Jukyoden” series. In 1980, he moved to the U.S. to write for Marvel Comics. After returning to Japan, he created and exhibited his work under a different alias, primarily at the Genso Exhibition.
In 2003, he was appointed as Cultural Exchange Envoy by the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan for Sweden. His major solo exhibitions include “Baron Yoshimoto: 60th Anniversary of Painting” (Yayoi Art Museum, 2019) and “Baron Yoshimoto GEKIGACORE” (GR2 Gallery, 2020). He received the Tokyo Governor Prize in 2013 at the Genso Exhibition and the Japan Cartoonists Association Prize, awarded by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, in 2019.
He serves as a board member of the Japan Cartoonists Association.

A manga artist born in 1939 in Osaka. He debuted as a rental book cartoonist during his second year of high school. He moved to Tokyo but returned to Osaka in 1961, where he worked as a designer and became independent in 1964. He has also drawn some satirical manga that has appeared in magazines such as “Heibon Punch”. In 1968, he moved back to Tokyo and made his debut in a boys' magazine.
He drew cooking and gourmet manga, which became hits. His best-known works include “Hochojin Ajihei” and “Ippon Boucho Mantaro”. He has lived in Shonan-dai, Fujisawa City since 1972. From 2017 onwards, he has continuously organised events for local revitalisation with the municipality, including exhibitions of his works and talk shows. He also works to convey the memory of war through picturestory shows. He serves as a board member of the Japan Cartoonists Association.

A manga artist and animator born in 1947 in Hokkaido. He was expelled from university after participating in the student movement. After relocating to Tokyo, he worked as an animator at Mushi Productions, then at Soueisha as a character designer and animation director for “Mobile Suit Gundam”. He also directed the film adaptation of the “Crusher Jaw” series. Later, he became a manga artist and published works including "Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin” and “The Venus Wars’ , among others. From 2024, the retrospective exhibition “Divine Animator and Draftsman, Yoshikazu Yasuhiko" will be touring the country. He was awarded the Nebula Award in 1981 and 2012, the Japan Cartoonists Association Award in 1990, the Japan
Academy Prize Association Special Award in 2021, and the Yasushi Inoue Memorial Culture Award Special Prize in 2024. He serves as a board member of the Japan Cartoonists Association.