is a Japanese

manga artist A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a Cartoonist, comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the indus ...

. He is well known for science fiction comics,

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...

comics and horror/ mystery comics based on pseudohistory and

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

. The indirect influence by

Cthulhu Mythos The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American Horror fiction, horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent and protégé of Lovecraft, t ...

also appears here and there in his works.

Biography

Morohoshi grew up in Adachi-ku, Tokyo. After graduating from high school, he worked for the Tokyo metropolitan government for three years. In 1970, Morohoshi made his professional debut with his short story in '' COM''. In 1974, his short story was selected in the 7th Tezuka Award. His breakthrough came in the same year, when he started publishing the series in ''

Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump (magazine line), Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many Action (fiction), action scenes and a fair ...

''. He published and in the same magazine afterwards. In 1979, he published the ''Mud Men'' series in '' Monthly Shōnen Champion Zōkan''. In 1983, he published (The Monkey King and other Chinese Legends) based on ''

Journey to the West ''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the Classic Chinese Novels, great Chinese novels, and has been described as arguably the ...

'' in Futabasha’s ''Super Action''. This work won him the grand prize of the fourth

Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Named after Osamu Tezuka, the is a yearly manga prize awarded to manga artists or their works that follow the Osamu Tezuka manga approach founded and sponsored by Asahi Shimbun. The prize has been awarded since 1997, in Tokyo, Japan. Current ...

in 2000.

Style and themes

Morohoshi takes inspiration from ancient history, mythology and folklore, influenced by the essays of Tatsuhiko Shibusawa. ''Yōkai Hunter'' revolves around archeologists discovering strange incidents around Japan, ''Mad Men'' shows myths from

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

clashing with modernity and ''Saiyū Yōenden'' is based on the classic Chinese fantasy novel ''

''. His drawing style is inspired by Western artists such as

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

, whom he cites as his favourite painter, but his work also includes references to

Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (; ; born Jheronimus van Aken ; – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch people, Dutch painter from Duchy of Brabant, Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, gene ...

Francisco Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish Romanticism, romantic painter and Printmaking, printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Hi ...

and Giorgio de Chirico. Morohoshi's style is perceived as unique in the manga industry. In a roundtable discussion between Morohoshi, Yukinobu Hoshino and

Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu'', – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Considered to be among the greatest and most influential cartoonists of all time, his prolific output, pioneering techniques an ...

, Tezuka said that he could not imitate Morohoshi's painting. For this reason, manga critics have considered him to be part of a New Wave of manga artists in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Legacy

Morohoshi has been a key influence to two important anime directors of the 1980s and 1990s,

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, filmmaker, and manga artist. He co-founded Studio Ghibli and serves as honorary chairman. Throughout his career, Miyazaki has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Anime, Japanese ani ...

and Hideaki Anno. Miyazaki mentioned that he was strongly influenced by Morohoshi. His 1997 film ''

Princess Mononoke is a 1997 Japanese animated historical drama, historical fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Set in the Muromachi period of Japanese history, the film follows Ashitaka, a young Emishi prince who journeys west to cure his curs ...

'' has references to ''Mud Men''. When Kentaro Takekuma interviewed Miyazaki, he said that he actually wanted Morohoshi to draw '' Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind''. According to Toshio Okada, who was a former representative director of Gainax, Hideaki Anno always said that he wanted to apply the scene where a giant appeared in Morohoshi's to his work, and his hope was realized in '' Neon Genesis Evangelion''. His style has inspired also musicians. Morohoshi's ''Mud Men'' triggered Haruomi Hosono of Yellow Magic Orchestra, and Hosono wrote "The Madmen" for the album '' Service''. Hosono said that his production company misspelled "Mudmen" with "Madmen". His work has gained some international attention since the 2000s. Manga of his have been translated into French and Spanish.

Awards

, - , style="text-align:center;", 1974 , style="text-align:left;", "Seibutsu Toshi" , The 7th Tezuka Award , , - , rowspan="2" style="text-align:center;", 1992 , style="text-align:left;", ''Boku to Furio to Kōtei de'' , The excellence prize of The 21st Japan Cartoonists Association Award , , - , style="text-align:left;", ''Morokai Shii: Ikairoku'' , The excellence prize of The 21st Japan Cartoonists Association Award , , - , style="text-align:center;", 2000 , style="text-align:left;", ''Saiyū Yōenden'' , The grand prize of the 4th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize , , - , style="text-align:center;", 2008 , style="text-align:left;", ''Shiori to Shimiko'' , Excellent prize of the 12th Japan Media Arts Festival Manga section , , - , style="text-align:center;", 2014 , style="text-align:left;", ''Uriko-hime no Yoru, Cinderella no Asa'' , Award for the Media Arts division at the 64th Annual

MEXT The , also known as MEXT, is one of the eleven ministries of Japan that compose part of the executive branch of the government of Japan. History The Meiji period, Meiji government created the first Ministry of Education in 1871. In January 2001 ...

Art Encouragement Prizes ,

Selected works

Manga

Novels

*''Kyōko no Kyō wa Kyōfu no Kyō'' (2004) *''Kumo no Ito wa Kanarazu Kireru'' (2007)

Illustrations for books

*''Rōkō ni Ari'' (Author: Ken'ichi Sakemi)

Adaptations

Film

*'' Hiruko the Goblin'' (1991, Film Director:

Shinya Tsukamoto is a Japanese filmmaker and actor. With a considerable cult following both domestically and abroad, Tsukamoto is best known for his body horror/Japanese cyberpunk, cyberpunk film ''Tetsuo: The Iron Man'' (1989), which is considered the defining ...

) *''Kidan'' (2005, Film Director: Takashi Komatsu) *''Kabeotoko'' (British title: ''The Wall Man'') (2007, Film Director: Wataru Hayakawa)

TV drama

*''Fukushū Club'' (1991, Fuji Television, in ''Yo nimo Kimyo na Monogatari'') *''Shiro'' (1992, Fuji Television, in ''Yo nimo Kimyo na Monogatari'') *''Shiori to Shimiko no Kaiki Jikenbo'' (2008,

Nippon Television JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as (NTV) or Nippon TV, is a Japanese television station serving the Kantō region as the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned and operated by the , a sub ...

)

Radio drama

*''Saiyū Yōenden'' (1989) *''Zoku Saiyū Yōenden'' (1990) *''Yumemiru Kikai'' (2000)

OVA

*''Ankoku Shinwa'' (''The Dark Myth'') Chapter 1/Chapter 2 (1990)

Video games

*''Ankoku Shinwa: Yamato Takeru Densetsu'' (1988)

References

External links

*
List of works
at ne.jp/asahi
Daijiro Morohoshi Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morohoshi, Daijiro 1949 births Cthulhu Mythos writers Japanese horror artists Japanese horror writers Living people Manga artists from Nagano Prefecture