Jirou Tsunoda  

角田 次朗

Renowned for his horror manga and contributing to the "occult manga" craze of the 70s, Tsunoda has had an extensive career in the manga industry with a diverse portfolio ranging from shounen comedy to josei erotica. He began working as an assistant for Shimada Keizou while still in high school and made his debut with "Shin Momotarou" published in 1955. Around this time, he was a frequent visitor at the legendary Tokiwa-sou. His first hit came in 1958 with the shounjo comedy Rumi-chan Kyoushitsu, followed by other successful gag mangas such as Black Dan in 1965. In 1971, he worked on the popular Karate Baka Ichidai but left due to personal differences with scenarist Kajiwara Ikki. He then began working on his two most renowned works, the horror manga Kyoufu Shinbun and Ushiro no Hyakutarou, which led to a boom in "occult manga" and established him as one of Japan's leading horror mangaka. These successes also paved the way for his second career as a parapsychologist. While many of his works are now horror manga, he has also produced successful josei and shounen manga. Tsunoda is the oldest of seven siblings, two of whom are Japanese celebrities - his older brother Takashi is a renowned lute player, and his younger brother Hiro is a singer-songwriter. Additionally, his son Bitou Gou is a manga scenarist.