is a Japanese manga artist

Mangaka

is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...

 from Nishi-ku, Hiroshima

Nishi-ku, Hiroshima

is one of the eight wards of the city of Hiroshima, Japan. The Hiroshima-Nishi Airport is located in Nishi-ku....

, known for her Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms

Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms

is a one-volume manga written and illustrated by Fumiyo Kōno. The two connected stories were first published in Japan by Futabasha in Weekly Manga Action in 2003 and 2004, then collected in a single tankōbon volume in 2004. The stories about a family of survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima...

. She was born in Hiroshima

Hiroshima

is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...

 in 1968 and began drawing manga when she was in junior high school. She states that she began drawing manga because her parents would not often buy her manga. Kōno studied science at Hiroshima University

Hiroshima University

, located in the Japanese cities of Higashihiroshima and Hiroshima, was established 1949 by the merger of a number of national educational institutions.-History:Under the National School Establishment Law, Hiroshima University was established on May 31, 1949...

 and moved to Tokyo, becoming an assistant to Katsuyuki Toda, Aki Morino, and Fumiko Tanigawa. Kōno made her commercial debut in 1995 with Machikado Hana Dayori. She feels that Osamu Tezuka

Osamu Tezuka

was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...

 and Fujiko Fujio

Fujiko Fujio

was a nom de plume of a manga writing duo formed by two Japanese manga artists. Their real names are and . They formed their partnership in 1951, and used the Fujiko Fujio name from 1954 until dissolution of the partnership in 1987....

 were among her early influences, but then she was inspired by Sanpei Shirato

Sanpei Shirato

, known by the pen name , is a Japanese manga artist and essayist known for his social criticism as well as his realistic drawing style and the characters in his scenarios. He is considered a pioneer of gekiga. The son of the Japanese proletarian painter Toki Okamoto, his dream to become an artist...

's literary style and at present, she takes inspiration from Yu Takita's versatility. She graduated from University of the Air

Open University of Japan

is a distance learning university which has students all over Japan; it accepted its first students in 1985.Although founded by the national government initiative with a single-issue law and heavily subsidised by the government, it was established by as a , the University classified as a private...

 in 2001 with a major in Humanities.

Selected works

(serialized 1995–1996 and 2002–2003, collected 2007, Futabasha), 1 volume (serialized 1997–2004, collected 2009, Futabasha), 2 volumes

• • Pippira Nōto 1 (2000 Futabasha)
  • Pippira Nōto: Kanketsuhen (2004 Futabasha) (serialized 1999–2001, collected 2005, Ohzora Shuppan) (serialized 2001–2004, collected 2005, Futabasha) (2009 reprint Futabasha) (serialized 2001–2002, Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers) (2003–2004, serialized in Manga Action, Futabasha) (serialized 2002 and 2004, collected 2004, Futabasha) (serialized 2004–2006, collected 2006, Futabasha) (serialized 2007-2009, collected 2008–2009, Futabasha)

Awards

• Kōno won the 2004 Japan Media Arts Festival
  Japan Media Arts Festival
  The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs since 1997. The festival for a nominal year was usually held during February or March next year, rather than at the end of the nominal year. For instance, the 2010 Japan Media Arts Festival, where...
  
   Grand Prize (Manga Division) for Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms
• Kōno won the 2005 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Creative Award for Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms
• Kōno won the 2009 Japan Media Arts Festival
  Japan Media Arts Festival
  The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs since 1997. The festival for a nominal year was usually held during February or March next year, rather than at the end of the nominal year. For instance, the 2010 Japan Media Arts Festival, where...
  
  Excellence Prize (Manga Division) for Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni

External links