Mizuki 100th Project

Manga’s most beloved creator ventures into Japan’s mythical past and emerges with a menagerie unlike any other

Shigeru Mizuki is no stranger to the supernatural and its portents. Kitaro and Tono Monogatari reimagined the obscure folktales of his youth, bringing them to life with whimsy. Mizuki the cartoonist certainly left an indelible mark on comics as world literature. Mizuki the fine artist, on the other hand, rounds out the full scope of his fascination with the otherworldly and fantastic, bringing these worlds to life in robust color.

Yokai: The Art of Shigeru Mizuki showcases his expertise of not only folklore, but celebrates him as a naturalist. Elements of Mizuki’s lush compositions--flora, fauna, and everything in between--showcase his mastery of form and love for nature. These popular renderings of a disappearing, rural Japan are his contribution to the preservation of a cultural heritage that would have otherwise been forgotten. The grotesque realism central to his body of work is offset by the ingenuity of his fancy for the macabre. Pieces in this deluxe, full-color edition call to mind the playful pop-sensibility of Maurice Sendak informed by the technical prowess of traditionalists like Dürer and Doré. And like any other Mizuki classic, each oeuvre is a unique snapshot of spirit, human or otherwise, in constant transition.

Yokai: The Art of Shigeru Mizuki includes supplementary writing by acclaimed Mizuki scholar and translator Zack Davisson.

Shigeru Mizuki (1922-2015) was one of Japan’s most respected artists. A creative prodigy, he lost an arm in World War II. After the war, Mizuki became one of the founders of Japan’s latest craze--manga. He invented the yokai genre with GeGeGe no Kitaro, his most famous character, who has been adapted for the screen several times, as anime, live action, and video games. In fact, a new anime series has been made every decade since 1968, capturing the imaginations of generations of Japanese children. A researcher of yokai and a real-life ghost hunter, Mizuki traveled to over sixty countries to engage in fieldwork based on spirit folklore. In his hometown of Sakaiminato, one can find Shigeru Mizuki Road, a street decorated with bronze statues of his Kitaro characters.