is a Japanese '' shōjo''

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 ...

.Nichigai Associates Editorial Department (1997), p. 25 She is well known for her works of

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

manga stories. Ariyoshi's representative work is ''

Swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...

'' (21 volumes, Part 1, 1977–1980, and Part 2, 1980–1981), which depicted the heroine Masumi's growing up to the world-famous

ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. Ballet dancer ...

and got the great hit, won the high reputation among readers. Ariyoshi's other representative works are ''Swan -The Prayer of Swan-'' (1982–1983) and ''Applause'' which also depicted growing up of the young ballerinas with talent and potential.

Life and works

Ariyoshi was born in Kumamoto City,

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture t ...

.Weekly Bunshun ed. (2022), p. 130 She started contributions of her stories to commercial manga magazine and received letter of encouragement from editor of magazine.Weekly Bunshun ed. (2022), p. 134 After graduation of high school, she went to Tokyo when she was 19.Weekly Bunshun ed. (2022), pp. 135-136 Next year, she made debut with her work ''Kitty and a Girl (Koneko to Shōjo)'' in ''Weekly

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

'' in 1971.Weekly Bunshun ed. (2022), p. 138 In 1976, she started the story ''Swan'' in the weekly ''Margaret, 1976, 47th issue''. magazine. The story completed after five years.Weekly Bunshun ed. (2022), pp. 138-139

Selected manga works

Artbook

* ''Ballet Dancer'' (), Shinsho-kan January, 1986 * ''Ariyoshi Kyoko Gashū SWAN'' (), Heibonsha Co.Ltd. July, 2023

Reception

Ariyoshi's manga work "Swan" was highly evaluated. It is considered the monument of ballet manga. Total sales of this series is over 20 millions copies.

References

Bibliography

* Nichigai Associates Editorial Department (April 21, 1997), ''Dictionary of Manga and Anime artists''. Nichigai Associates Co., Ltd. * Weekly Bunshun ed. (February 20, 2022) ''Career Book of House of Manga Artists'', Bungei Shunju,

External links

Kyoko Ariyoshi manga listing
at Media Arts Database People from Kumamoto Manga artists 1950 births Living people {{manga-artist-stub