is a Japanese

manga artist A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist bef ...

. His name is romanized as Tohru Fujisawa on the

Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed ...

English-language '' Great Teacher Onizuka'' books and as Toru Fujisawa on the

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', '' Afternoon'', '' Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' ...

bilingual releases. His first serialized work was ''Adesugata Junjo Boy'', published from 1989 in ''

Weekly Shōnen Magazine is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published on Wednesdays in Japan by Kodansha, first published on March 17, 1959. The magazine is mainly read by an older audience, with a significant portion of its readership falling under the male hig ...

''. Fujisawa's best-known work is '' Great Teacher Onizuka'' (''GTO'') about a biker, Eikichi Onizuka, and his attempt to become and remain a teacher. It is a sequel to '' Shōnan Jun'ai Gumi!'' and its side story ''

Bad Company Bad Company are an English rock supergroup that was formed in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs, drummer Simon Kirke and bassist Boz Burrell. Bad Company ''AllMusic'' Peter Grant, who managed the rock band Led Zeppelin, a ...

''. In 1998, Fujisawa won the

Kodansha Manga Award is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, the event is sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in three categories: '' shōnen'', '' shōjo'', and general. The awards began in 1977, initially ...

for ''Great Teacher Onizuka''.

Personal

Fujisawa was born and raised in

Hokkaido is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...

and started drawing as a child. Fujisawa originally wanted to be in animation but decided

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) 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 prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

would give him more freedom. He based '' Shonan Junai Gumi'' at a seaside location after growing up inland. At the age of 17, he moved to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...

by himself to become a

. He wrote science fiction ''

Dōjinshi , also romanized as ', is the Japanese term for self-published print works, such as magazines, manga, and novels. Part of a wider category of '' doujin'' (self-published) works, ''doujinshi'' are often derivative of existing works and created ...

'' and submitted them to publishers. He is a fan of ''

Initial D is a Japanese street racing manga series written and illustrated by Shuichi Shigeno. It was serialized in Kodansha's '' seinen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Young Magazine'' from 1995 to 2013, with the chapters collected into 48 ' ...

'' and was inspired by '' Akira''. He is also a fan of the

beat 'em up The beat 'em up (also known as brawler and, in some markets, beat 'em all) is a video game genre featuring hand-to-hand combat against a large number of opponents. Traditional beat 'em ups take place in scrolling, two-dimensional (2D) leve ...

video game ''Spartan X'' (''Kung-Fu Master''). In 2010, he married actress Ayano Sugiyama.

Works

* ''Love You'' (1989, ''Magazine Fresh!'',

) * ''Adesugata Junjo Boy'' (艶姿純情Boy, 1989, ''

'', Kodansha) * '' Shonan Junai Gumi'' (湘南純愛組!, 1990–1996, ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'', Kodansha) * ''

'' (1996, ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'', Kodansha) * '' Great Teacher Onizuka'' (1997–2002, ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'', Kodansha) * ''

Rose Hip Rose ''Rose Hip Rose'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tooru Fujisawa. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Young Magazine Uppers'' from 2002 until the discontinuation of the magazine in October 2004. The story would continue with ...

'' (2002–2003, ''

Young Magazine Uppers was a semimonthly seinen manga magazine, published in Japan from April 1, 1998, until October 19, 2004, by Kodansha. List of serialized manga * ''Piano no Mori'' by Makoto Isshiki (1998-2004), (moved to Weekly Morning after the cancellation of t ...

'', Kodansha) * ''Wild Base Ballers'' (2003, ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'', Kodansha. Artwork by Taroh Sekiguchi) * ''Himitsu Sentai Momoider'' (ひみつ戦隊モモイダー, 2003/2006-2007, ''

Weekly Young Jump is a Japanese ''seinen'' manga magazine published by Shueisha. Launched in 1979, it is published under Shueisha's ''Jump'' line of magazines. The chapters of series that run in ''Weekly Young Jump'' are collected and published in ''tankōbon'' v ...

'', ''Young Jump Extra Edition Mankaku'',

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The fol ...

) * '' Tokko'' (特公, 2004, ''

Monthly Afternoon is a Japanese monthly ''seinen'' manga anthology published by Kodansha under the ''Afternoon'' line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of January 25, 1986. ''Afternoon'' has spawned many successful manga series such as ...

'',

) * '' Rose Hip Zero'' (2005–2006, ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'', Kodansha) * ''Magnum Rose Hip'' (2006, ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'', Kodansha) * '' Kamen Teacher'' (仮面ティーチャー, 2006–2007, ''Weekly Young Jump'', Shueisha) * ''Reverend D'' (2006-2007/2008/2009, ''Monthly Comic REX'', Ichijinsha) * ''Animal Joe'' (アニマルJOE, 2006/2008, '' Big Comic Spirits'',

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics ( manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the ...

) * ''Unhappy!'' (あんハピっ!, 2008, ''Comic Charge'',

Kadokawa Kadokawa may refer to: *Kadokawa Corporation, the holding company of the Kadokawa Group **Kadokawa Content Gate and Kadokawa Mobile, both former names for BookWalker **Kadokawa Future Publishing, a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation and the publi ...

) * ''Tooi Hoshi kara Kita ALICE'' (遠い星から来たALICE, 2008, ''Big Comic Spirits'', Shogakukan) * '' GTO: 14 Days in Shonan'' (2009-2011, ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'', Kodansha) * ''Repoman Soul!'' (レポマン魂！, 2010, ''Weekly Young Jump'', Shueisha) * ''Soul Reviver'' (ソウルリヴァイヴァー , 2011-2014, ''Monthly Hero's, Hero's Inc.) * ''Ino-Head Gargoyle'' (井の頭ガーゴイル, 2012-2014, ''Weekly Young Magazine'', Kodansha) * ''GT-R - Great Transporter Ryuji'' (2012, ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'', Kodansha) * '' Kamen Teacher BLACK'' (2013-2014, ''Weekly Young Jump'', Shueisha) * '' GTO: Paradise Lost'' (2014-ongoing, ''Weekly Young Magazine'', Kodansha) * ''Oishii Kamishama'' (2014-2015, ''

Weekly Shōnen Sunday is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan since March 1959. Contrary to its title, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' issues are released on Wednesdays. ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' has sold over 1.8billion copies since 1986, ...

'', Shogakukan) * ''Soul Reviver South'' (ソウルリヴァイヴァー SOUTH, 2014-2016, ''Monthly Hero's'' Hero's Inc.)

References

External links

* *
Tooru Fujisawa manga
at Media Arts Database

* https://twitter.com/fujifuji0001?lang=en {{DEFAULTSORT:Fujisawa, Tooru Living people Manga artists from Hokkaido Winner of Kodansha Manga Award (Shōnen) 1967 births