Tsunoda, Jirou

Best known for his horror manga and starting the "occult manga" boom of the 70's, Tsunoda has had a long, varied career in the manga biz, with a diverse body of work ranging from shounen comedy to josei erotica.

He got started in the 50's, working as an assistant for Shimada Keizou while still in high school. His debut, "Shin Momotarou", got published in 1955. Around this time he became a frequent guest at the legendary Tokiwa-sou.

In 1958 he had a first hit with the shoujo comedy Rumi-chan Kyoushitsu. Other succesful gag mangas such as 1965's Black Dan followed. In 1971 he worked on the hugely popular Karate Baka Ichidai, but personal differences with scenarist Kajiwara Ikki led to him being replaced by Kagemaru Jouya in 1973.

It was around this time he started working on his two best known works, the horror manga Kyoufu Shinbun and Ushiro no Hyakutarou. These two hits led to a boom of "occult manga" and established him as one of Japan's leading horror mangaka. They also led to a second career as a parapsychologist.

Since then a major deal of his works are, of course, horror manga, but he has also written a number of succesful josei and shougi manga.

Tsunoda has seven siblings, two of them also being Japanese celebrities - his older brother Takashi is a renowned lute player, his younger brother Hiro is a singer songwriter. Furthermore, his son is manga scenarist Bitou Gou.

(Source: MU)