Takao Saito
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese manga
and gekiga
artist. He is best known for creating the successful series Golgo 13
.
. During his school days in Osaka he was the best in his class in drawing and fighting, and also considered becoming a boxer
. After graduation from Junior High School in Osaka, he decided to become a manga artist, influenced by movies like King Kong
and War of the Worlds
.
He debuted with his first manga Baron Air (空気男爵) in 1955. In 1958 he moved to Tokyo, where he started a comic story atelier (劇画工房) together with 7 other artists (Masahiko Matsumoto, Aki Masa Sato, Fumi Ishikawa Yasu, Masaru Sakurai, Susumu Mon, Tsu Motomi, Qi Mahi). Since April 1960, he has run Saito Production, a company with currently 19 employees. In 1971 he also started to give courses in drawing manga.
In 1976, he won the 21st Shogakukan Manga Award
for seinen/general manga for Golgo 13.
invited to celebrate the 50th anniversary of both Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday magazine and Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine
at the Tokyo Imperial Hotel.
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...
and gekiga
Gekiga
is Japanese for "dramatic pictures." The term was coined by Yoshihiro Tatsumi and adopted by other more serious Japanese cartoonists who did not want their trade to be known as manga or "irresponsible pictures." It's akin to Will Eisner who started calling his comics "graphic novels" as opposed...
artist. He is best known for creating the successful series Golgo 13
Golgo 13
is a manga series written and illustrated by Takao Saito, published in Shogakukan's Big Comic magazine since January 1969. In 1976, the manga won the 21st Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga...
.
Early life and career
Takao Saito was born on November 3, 1936 in Wakayama PrefectureWakayama Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the Kii Peninsula in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Wakayama.- History :Present-day Wakayama is mostly the western part of the province of Kii.- 1953 Wakayama Prefecture flood disaster :...
. During his school days in Osaka he was the best in his class in drawing and fighting, and also considered becoming a boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
. After graduation from Junior High School in Osaka, he decided to become a manga artist, influenced by movies like King Kong
King Kong
King Kong is a fictional character, a giant movie monster resembling a gorilla, that has appeared in several movies since 1933. These include the groundbreaking 1933 movie, the film remakes of 1976 and 2005, as well as various sequels of the first two films...
and War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds (1953 film)
The War of the Worlds is a 1953 science fiction film starring Gene Barry and Ann Robinson. It was the first on-screen loose adaptation of the H. G. Wells classic novel of the same name...
.
He debuted with his first manga Baron Air (空気男爵) in 1955. In 1958 he moved to Tokyo, where he started a comic story atelier (劇画工房) together with 7 other artists (Masahiko Matsumoto, Aki Masa Sato, Fumi Ishikawa Yasu, Masaru Sakurai, Susumu Mon, Tsu Motomi, Qi Mahi). Since April 1960, he has run Saito Production, a company with currently 19 employees. In 1971 he also started to give courses in drawing manga.
In 1976, he won the 21st Shogakukan Manga Award
Shogakukan Manga Award
The is one of Japan's major manga awards, sponsored by Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga since 1955 and features candidates from a number of publishers.The current award categories are:...
for seinen/general manga for Golgo 13.
Selected works
- Golgo 13Golgo 13is a manga series written and illustrated by Takao Saito, published in Shogakukan's Big Comic magazine since January 1969. In 1976, the manga won the 21st Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga...
(1968) - Kage GariKage Gariis a jidaigeki manga series by Takao Saito from 1969. It follows the adventures of three ronin - Jubei , Sunlight , and Moonlight - who dedicate their lives to hunt down "shadows", the ninja spies of the Tokugawa shogunate....
(1969) - Survivor
- Barom OneBarom Oneis a Japanese manga series written by Takao Saito. Original story was serialized for about a year from 1970 in .In 1972, TV tokusatsu series were created titled Chojin Barom 1 by Toei, and broadcast by Yomiuri TV in every Sunday 19:30-20:00pm from April 2 to November 26...
(1970) - 4-issue James Bond manga published in 1964
- Japan SinksJapan Sinksis a 2006 Tokusatsu film directed by Shinji Higuchi, and a remake of the 1973 screenplay based on the Komatsu novel. It stars Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Kou Shibasaki, Etsushi Toyokawa, and Mao Daichi, and was released on July 15, 2006....
(1970)
Legacy
Takao Saito was among the 158 manga artistsMangaka
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...
invited to celebrate the 50th anniversary of both Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday magazine and Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine
Weekly Shonen Magazine
, also known as Shōnen Magazine, is a shōnen manga magazine published by Kodansha, first published on 17 March 1959. Despite some unusual censorship policies , it's mainly read by an older audience, with a large portion of its readership falling under the male high school or college...
at the Tokyo Imperial Hotel.