Shinji Nagashima

Shin'ichi Nagashima (永島 眞一, Nagashima Shin'ichi, July 8, 1937 â€" June 10, 2005), better known by the pen name Shinji Nagashima (永島 慎二, Nagashima Shinji), was a Japanese manga artist born in Tokyo, Japan. His pseudonym came about due to a publisher's error when printing his name, and he continued using the pseudonym after that.

His oldest son is classical guitarist Shiki Nagashima.

History

From the time he was in junior high school, Nagashima aspired to become a manga artist. After dropping out of school during junior high, he worked as a paperboy and a tofu salesman. He made his professional debut as a manga artist in 1952 with his story Sansho no Piri-chan (さã‚"しょのãƒ"リちゃã‚").

After becoming acquainted with Osamu Tezuka due to occasionally living at Tokiwa-sō, he became Tezuka's assistant. While there, he formed the group Musashi Production with artists including Atsushi Sugimura (who was working under the pseudonym Kontarō), Kyūta Ishikawa and Kuni Fukai (who was working under the pseudonym Hirō Fukai).

He soon became friends with several members of the Gekiga Kōbō, including Yoshihiro Tatsumi and Takao Saito, while living in a provincial temple. After the breakup of Gekiga Kōbō, Nagashima began working for Saitō Production and his work began to reflect a more cinematic and dramatic feel. During this time, he began a somewhat wandering lifestyle living in Shinjuku.

In 1961, Nagashima published The Harsh Story of a Manga Artist (漫ç"»å®¶æ®‹é…·ç‰©èªž, Mangaka Zankoku Monogatari), a story which showed the "other side" of the manga industry and which brought Nagashima to the forefront of that industry.

He continued publishing new works in a variety of magazines such as COM and Garo, and due to his unusual style began to be called the "father of shōnen manga". From 1964 to 1966, he worked at Mushi Production working on anime television series such as Jungle Taitei, and later again worked for Mushi as a character designer on Wansa-kun (1973).

Nagashima won the Shogakukan Manga Award for his Hanaichi Monme (花いちもã‚"め) in 1972. Two years later, he won the Japan Cartoonists Association Award for Manga Lunch Box (漫ç"»ã®ãŠã¹ã‚"とう箱, Manga no Obentō Hako).

Beginning in the 1980s, he began releasing fewer series, and went into semi-retirement. He was diagnosed with diabetes, which subsequently caused him to begin having dialysis treatments in 2000. Nagashima died of heart failure on June 10, 2005 at a Tokyo hospital.

Works

• Beloved Pet Dog Taro (愛犬タロ, Aiken Taro) (1956, Shōjo)
• The Harsh Story of a Manga Artist (漫ç"»å®¶æ®‹é…·ç‰©èªž, Manga artist Zankoku Monogatari) (1961â€"1964, Keiji)
• Wonderful Parent and Child (ステッキ親子, Sutekki Oyako) (1962, Akahata)
• The Seven Runts (チãƒ"ッコセブン, Chibikko Sebun) (1964, Atom Club)
• Genta and Okkaa (源太とおっかあ, Genta to Okkaa) (1967, Shōnen King)
• Wanderer (フーテン, FÅ«ten) (1967â€"1970, COM, Garo, Play Comic)
• JÅ«dō Icchokusen (æŸ"é"一直線) (1967, written by Ikki Kajiwara, Shōnen King, was later adapted into a drama starring Ken'ichi Sakuragi)
• A Flower Blooms in the Forest of the Heart (心の森に花のå'²ã, Kokoro no Mori ni Hana no Saku) (1968â€"1969, Wakamono)
• The Young Ones (若者たち, Wakamono-tachi) (1970)
• Manga Youth History (まã‚"が若者史, Manga Wakamonoshi) (1971, Perfect Liberty)
• Image Calendar (イメージ・カレンダー, ImÄ"ji Karendā) (1971â€"1973, high school course books)
• Hanaichi Monme (花いちもã‚"め) (1971, Weekly Shōnen Sunday)
• Street of Angels (天使のいる街, Tenshi no Iru Machi) (1972, Shinfujin)
• Sabu the Tease (いじめっ子サブ, Ijimekko Sabu) (1972, Shōnen King)
• The Young Traveler (旅人くã‚", Tabibito-kun) (1972â€"1973)
• Miracle Girl Limit-chan (ミラクルå°'女リミットちゃã‚", Mirakuru Shōjo Rimitto-chan) (1973â€"1974)
• Night on the Galactic Railroad (銀河鉄é"の夜, Ginga Tetsudō no Yoru) (1996, based on the novel by Kenji Miyazawa, NHK Publishing)
• The World of Shinji Nagashima (永島慎二の世界, Nagashima Shinji no Sekai) (2006, Chikuma ShÅ«pansha)

Essays

• The Republic of Shinji Nagashima (永島慎二共å'Œå›½, Nagashima Shinji Kyōwakoku) (1981, Daiwa Shobō)
• Midnight Laundry (真夜中のせã‚"たく, Mayonaka no Sentaku) (1983, Kizukisha Bijutsu Shuppan)
• Like a Stranger in Asagaya (阿佐谷界隈怪人ぐらいだあ, Asagaya Kaiwai Kaijin Gurai daa) (1984, Obunsha)

References

External links

• Shinji Nagashima at Anime News Network's encyclopedia