, born June 20, 1976 in Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, is a Japanese gensaku-sha (manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 writer). He's best known for writing the manga Eyeshield 21

Eyeshield 21

is a manga about American football written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata. It has been adapted into an anime movie in 2004 , an anime television series in 2005, several video games and a trading card game from Konami. The manga is serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump...

, in collaboration with artist Yusuke Murata

Yusuke Murata

, is a Japanese manga artist. He's best known for illustrating the American football manga Eyeshield 21, in collaboration with writer Riichiro Inagaki. During the creation of this series, his art style developed dramatically. Eyeshield 21 was completed in June 2009.He was once the assistant and...

. Eyeshield 21 was completed in June 2009.

He won the 7th "Story King" section in Weekly Shōnen Jump

Weekly Shonen Jump

is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The first issue was released with a cover date of July 2, 1968, and it is still circulating. One of the longest-running manga magazines in Japan, it has a circulation of 2.8 million copies...

 No.51 2001. His previous works include Any number of times on the 13th of June, Square Freeze and LOVE LOVE Santa, which were published in Big Comic Spirits.

In an interview with Shonen Jump (magazine)

Shonen Jump (magazine)

Shonen Jump, officially stylized SHONEN JUMP and abbreviated SJ, is a shōnen manga anthology published in North America by Viz Media. It debuted in November 2002 with the first issue having a January 2003 cover date...

 he stated that he didn't know much about college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

, but that he was a fan of professional American football

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

. He said he was a fan of the St. Louis Rams

St. Louis Rams

The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...

 especially Marshall Faulk

Marshall Faulk

Marshall William Faulk is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League. He is currently an analyst for NFL Total Access, Thursday Night Football, and NFL GameDay Morning on the NFL Network...

, and cited seeing Faulk run as the inspiration for his character Sena Kobayakawa

Sena Kobayakawa

is the main protagonist in the manga and anime series Eyeshield 21. He is a dynamic character who, at the start of the series, willingly becomes a gopher for other people to avoid being bullied more...

in Eyeshield 21.