Junji Ito

For the Japanese mixed martial artist, see Junji Ito (fighter).
In this Japanese name, the family name is Ito.
Junji Ito
Native name 伊藤 潤二
Born (1963-07-31) July 31, 1963
Gifu Prefecture, Japan
Nationality Japanese
Occupation Writer, penciller, inker, manga artist
Notable work Tomie
Uzumaki
Gyo

Junji Ito (伊藤 潤二 Itō Junji, born July 31, 1963) is a Japanese horror manga artist. Some of his most notable works include Tomie, a series chronicling an immortal girl who drives her stricken admirers to madness, Uzumaki, a three-volume series about a town obsessed with spirals, and Gyo, a two-volume story where fish are controlled by a strain of sentient bacteria called "the death stench." His other works are Itou Junji Kyoufu Manga Collection, a collection of different short stories with the occasional appearance of a certain character named Souichiro and his family, and Itou Junji No Neko Nikki: Yon and Mu, a light-hearted story about moving in a new house with his cats.

Biography

Junji Ito was born in the Gifu prefecture of Japan in 1963. He was inspired from a young age by both his older sister's drawings[1] and the work of Kazuo Umezu. Ito first began writing and drawing manga as a hobby while working as a dental technician in the early 90's.[2] In 1987, he submitted a short story to Gekkan Halloween that won an honorable mention in the Kazuo Umezu Prize (with Umezu himself as one of the judges).

In addition to Kazuo Umezu, Ito has cited Hideshi Hino, Koga Shinsaku, Yasutaka Tsutsui, and H.P. Lovecraft as being major influences on his work.[3]

Some of the recurring themes of Ito's work include body horror, seemingly ordinary characters who begin to act out of irrational compulsion, the breakdown of society, deep sea organisms, and the inevitability of one's demise.

Ito's universe is also very cruel and capricious; his characters often find themselves victims of malevolent unnatural circumstances for no discernible reason or punished out of proportion for minor infractions against an unknown and incomprehensible natural order.[4]

Film director Guillermo del Toro cited on his official Twitter account that Ito was originally a collaborator for the video game Silent Hills (of which both Del Toro and game designer Hideo Kojima were the main directors), however a year after its announcement the project was cancelled by Konami, the IP's owner.

Original cover for Uzumaki #1.

Works

Manga

Video games

Silent Hills (サイレントヒルズ Sairentohiruzu) (concept artist) (cancelled)

Adaptations

Tomie was adapted into a series of films, beginning in 1999. Several other works of Ito's have subsequently been adapted for film and television:

Anime

Notes

  1. ↑ "Junji Ito (伊藤潤二) Information". junjiito.mutagene.net. http://junjiito.trilete.net. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
  2. ↑ Ito 2007: 207
  3. ↑ Ito 2007: 207
  4. ↑ "Black Illumination - the unhuman world of Junji Ito" by Eugene Thacker, Japan Times, 30 Jan. 2016
  5. ↑ Kyōfu Hakubutsukan at WorldCat
  6. ↑ Museum of Terror at Dark Horse Comics
  7. ↑ "Vertical Licenses Blame!, Dissolving Classroom, Immortal Hounds Manga". Anime News Network. February 13, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  8. ↑ http://mediaarts-db.jp/an/anime_series/14840

References

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