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Join us for a special conversation with Ito Junji and his first editor, Nakaguma Ichiro. The program offers insight into how editorial guidance and artistic vision come together to bring unforgettable narratives to life.
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About the speakers
Ito Junji (b. 1963) is one of Japan’s most famous horror manga artists. Originally trained as a dental technician, he began publishing manga in the 1980s. His breakout work, Uzumaki, originally published from 1998 to 1999, introduced readers worldwide to his unique style of cosmic horror, strange beauty, and psychological fear. Influenced by Japanese folklore, American writer H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937), and manga artist Umezu Kazuo (1936–2024), Ito creates drawings that are detailed and haunting, often showing ordinary life as it slowly takes a terrifying turn. His work shapes how horror is seen in manga, film, and popular culture, in Japan and internationally. Although the artist initially drew all his manga by hand, he has since decided to draw digitally.
Nakaguma Ichiro (b. 1963) started working for Shogakukan in the editorial department of Big Comic Original in 1988. He then went on to work at other young adult magazines such as Big Comic Spirits, Young Sunday, and Big Comic. He was editor-in-chief of the manga magazine Big Comic Original from 2016 through 2020. He then served as editor-in-chief of Big Comic until 2022.
Contact info
Public Programs
publicprograms@famsf.org
415.750.7694
Sponsors
This program is generously supported by Yen Press.
