is a female Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 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...

 and a member of Year 24 group

Year 24 group

refers to one of two female manga artist groups which are considered to have revolutionized shōjo manga . Their works often examine "radical and philosophical issues", including sexuality and gender issues, and many of their works are now considered "classics" of shōjo manga...

.

She made her debut in 1968 with Paula's Tears in Weekly Margaret.

She received the 1973 Japan Cartoonists Association Award

Japan Cartoonists Association Award

is an annual award for manga, sponsored by the Japan Cartoonists Association. The awards began in 1972.-Recipients:-External links:* *...

 for excellence for Mimoza Yashiki de Tsukamaete. She received the 1978 Kodansha Manga Award

Kodansha Manga Award

is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in four categories: children's, shōnen, shōjo, and general. The awards began in 1977, initially with categories for shōnen and shōjo. The first award for the...

 for shōjo

Shojo

The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...

 for The Star of Cottonland

The Star of Cottonland

is a shōjo manga by Yumiko Ōshima. It was serialized by Hakusensha in the magazine LaLa from 1978 to 1987 and collected in seven tankōbon volumes. The story is about an abandoned kitten called Chibi-neko who is adopted by a young man named Tokio and grows up believing she is human...

, and the 2008 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Short Story Award for "Cher Gou-Gou...mon petit chat, mon petit ami," a short story in the ongoing series Gū-gū datte Neko de aru. She is credited with popularizing the kemonomimi (catgirl

Catgirl

A catgirl is a female character with cat traits, such as cat ears, a cat tail, or other feline characteristics on an otherwise human body. Catgirls are found in various fiction genres, and in particular Japanese anime and manga where they are more commonly referred to as Neko or Nekomimi , in...

) character type through her creation of Chibi-neko from The Star of Cottonland.

Selected works

, 1968, 1970–1971, 1972, 1973

• Joka e ("To Joker") (1973) - An allegorical love triangle involving a boy who is accidentally transformed into a girl, 1974, 1975, 1975, 1976, 1977–1978 - A story about a sensitive young woman, Ira Miura, who wishes to have a gay
  Gay
  Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
  
   boyfriend
  Boyfriend
  A boyfriend is a person's regular male companion in a romantic or sexual relationship, although normally not in long-term committed relationships, where other titles A boyfriend is a person's regular male companion in a romantic or sexual relationship, although normally not in long-term committed...
  
  , 1978–1987 - A story about a kitten, Chibi-neko, who thinks she is a little girl, 1979, 1983, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1996–ongoing

External links

• Profile at The Ultimate Manga Guide
• List of works at Mangayomi