Yoshihiro Togashi is a Japanese manga artist. He began drawing manga at an early age; while
he attended college, the publishing company Shueisha recognized his talent. Togashi has
authored numerous manga series in different genres during the past three decades. He is
perhaps best known for writing and illustrating the YuYu Hakusho and Hunter × Hunter series,
both of which have been published in the popular Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine. Togashi is married
to Naoko Takeuchi, the author of Sailor Moon.
Biography Early life
Born in Shinjō, Yamagata, Togashi began drawing manga casually in his first to second year
of elementary school. In high school, Togashi joined the fine-arts club; he later enrolled
at Yamagata University where he studied education in the hope of becoming a teacher. During
college he submitted some of his manga work to Weekly Young Jump, published by Shueisha.
In 1986, at age 20, he authored a manga titled Buttobi Straight for which he received the
Tezuka Award, the most prestigious award for new comic artists in Japan. Another manga
by Togashi titled Jura no Mizuki was an honorable mention in Shueisha's first annual Hop Step
Award Selection magazine, published in 1988. After having given up his goal of becoming
a teacher, Togashi was contacted by an editor of Weekly Shōnen Jump during his senior year
of college, who asked him to move to Tokyo. Career
Togashi's earliest published works for Shueisha included Ōkami Nante Kowakunai!!, a collection
of comedy manga short-stories. Weekly Shōnen Jump published some of the stories prior to
a tankōbon release in 1989. Between 1989 and 1990, Togashi authored Ten de Shōwaru
Cupid, a four-volume romance manga involving the relationship between a normal, human boy
and a beautiful, devil girl. In 1990, Togashi made a name for himself with
his next series YuYu Hakusho. Based on his interests in the occult and in horror films,
the plot features the character Yusuke Urameshi, who is killed and brought back to life as
an "Underworld Detective". The manga, which lasted 175 chapters over 19 tankōbon from
1990 to 1994, went on to sell 49,000,000 copies in Japan, earned Togashi a Shogakukan Manga
Award in 1994, and received a hit anime adaptation. In 1995, he created Level E, a science fiction-comedy
manga. Comprising three volumes, it was first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump in 1995 and
ran until 1997. Level E was adapted into an anime television series in 2011.
Togashi's next major series Hunter × Hunter, an action-adventure manga, began serialization
in 1998. The story revolves around the protagonist Gon Freecss, a young boy in search of his
father, who is a legendary, elite member of society called a "Hunter". This manga also
performed very well commercially, with the first 20 volumes selling nearly 55,000,000
copies in Japan as of August 2011. In 2008, Togashi tied with One Piece author Eiichiro
Oda as the fifth favorite manga artist from a poll posted by the marketing research firm
Oricon. Personal life
Togashi is married to Naoko Takeuchi, the manga artist of Sailor Moon. The two were
introduced at a party hosted by Kazushi Hagiwara in August 1997. The following year, Takeuchi
assisted Togashi for short time by adding screentone to his manga Hunter × Hunter.
Togashi and Takeuchi were married on January 6, 1999. In attendance for the ceremony were
several fellow manga artists and voice actors from both the Sailor Moon and YuYu Hakusho
anime series. The couple have two children and have collaborated on a children's book
titled Oobo— Nu— Tochiibo— Nu—, which Takeuchi wrote and Togashi illustrated. Togashi
is also one of the favorite artists of Masashi Kishimoto, the author of Naruto.
Togashi enjoys board-game-style video games and bowling with his family. He also likes
watching horror movies, and considers Don't Look Up and Dawn of the Dead his favorites.
Togashi cites visual effects designer H. R. Giger as a major influence. Togashi suffered
from an immense amount of stress while working on YuYu Hakusho, which caused him inconsistent
sleep patterns and chest pain. Togashi has taken numerous breaks in recent years while
writing Hunter × Hunter, the first of which was due to illness. On March 29, 2011, Togashi
and his fellow manga artist posted messages on the official Shōnen Jump website in support
of the victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. He has a younger brother named
Togashi Hideaki, who is also a manga artist with one piece of work.
Works Manga
Sensēha Toshishita!! Jura no Miduki
Ōkami Nante Kowakunai!! Buttobi Straight
Tonda Birthday Present Occult Tanteidan
Horror Angel Ōkami Nante Kowakunai!!
Ten de Shōwaru Cupid YuYu Hakusho
Level E Hunter × Hunter
Other Yoshirin de Pon!
Biohazard 3: The Last Escape Official Guidebook Official Hunter × Hunter Guide
YuYu Hakusho Who's Who Underworld Character Book
YuYu Hakusho Illustrations Oobo— Nu— To Chiibo— Nu—
Hetappi Manga Kenkyūjo R References
External links Transcript of interview in American Monthly
Shonen Jump Profile at takeuchi-naoko.com
Yoshihiro Togashi at Anime News Network's encyclopedia