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TV Program Offers Peek Into GeGeGe no Kitarō Creator's Unpublished Diary
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
NHK's Close-up Gendai+ (Today's Close-up) news program will air an episode dedicated to late manga creator Shigeru Mizuki (GeGeGe no Kitarō, NonNonBâ, Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths) on January 5. The "Oi Kitarō! Washi no Kōfuku-ro wo Kiitekure ~Mikōkai Mizuki Shigeru no Nikki~" (Hey, Kitarō! Listen About My Happiness: Shigeru Mizuki's Unpublished Diary) special will provide a look into the creator's unpublished diary found in his work space.
The program will also provide a peek at Mizuki's unpublished manga plans and reveal his real feelings. The special will discuss secrets related to Kitarō and expose Mizuki's thoughts on the the question "What is happiness?"
Voice actress Masako Nozawa, who played Kitarō in the GeGeGe no Kitarō anime, will appear in and host the episode. Japanese mystery novelist Natsuhiko Kyōgoku, who has written about Mizuki, will also appear in the special. Mizuki's manga has had a strong influence on Kyogoku's work.
The prolific manga creator passed away in November 2015. He was 93. Mizuki received a Lifetime Achievement Award at Tokyo Anime Award Festival this past February.
Mizuki was born in Osaka in 1922, and he grew up in Tottori Prefecture. He was drafted into the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II, where he injured — and later lost — his left arm. He penned multiple manga based on his experiences in World War II, such as Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths and Watashi no Hibi. The creator ended his latest manga, the autobiographical Watashi no Hibi (My Everyday), in May 2015.
Mizuki was also famous for his manga about yōkai — Japanese supernatural creatures. His manga and research into yōkai is largely responsible for the popularity that yōkai stories have today. He starred in a documentary about yōkai that aired on Japanese television in September 2015.
Mizuki was the first Japanese creator to win a major award at France's Angoulême International Comics Festival when he won the Fauve d'Or: Prix du Meilleur Album in 2007 for NonNonBâ. He was also honored as a Person of Cultural Merit by the Japanese government in 2010.
North American publisher Drawn & Quarterly has released many of Mizuki's works in English, such as NonNonBâ, Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths, and Showa: A History of Showa Japan (Comic Showa-Shi), the latter two of which were nominated for a Harvey Award in 2012 and 2014, respectively. Drawn & Quarterly also published a one-volume selection of Mizuki's GeGeGe no Kitarō series under the title Kitaro in 2013, and it is publishing seven more volumes of the series. The company also published Mizuki's biographical Hitler manga in November 2015.
Mizuki's Showa 1939-1944: A History of Japan and Showa 1944-1953: A History of Japan manga won the 2015 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia in July 2015.
Source: Comic Natalie
