Asa Higuchi
Encyclopedia
is a female Japanese manga artist
, born in Urawa
, Saitama Prefecture
(now part of Saitama City). She graduated from Saitama Prefecture's prestigious Urawanishi High School and Hosei University
's department of psychology, with a major in sports psychology. During her high school days, she was a member of her school's softball team, which would go on to be an inspiration in her work Ōkiku Furikabutte
.
In 1998, Higuchi won noted seinen
manga
magazine Afternoon
s Shiki competition with her work Yuku tokoro. It was noted for the unique relationships shared by its characters and was subsequently published in the August issue of the magazine, thus marking her debut as a manga artist. She is currently working on Ōkiku Furikabutte
, which has spanned 13 volumes and being serialized in the monthly Afternoon. It won the 10th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize for best creative work in 2006, and the 31st Kodansha Manga Award
for general manga in 2007.
Mangaka
is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...
, born in Urawa
Urawa, Saitama
was a city in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, until it merged into the city of Saitama together with two other cities, Omiya and Yono, on May 1, 2001. In 2003, the former area of Urawa became Urawa-ku, Midori-ku, Minami-ku, and Sakura-ku, which are wards of the city of Saitama...
, Saitama Prefecture
Saitama Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Saitama.This prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, and most of Saitama's cities can be described as suburbs of Tokyo, to which a large amount of residents commute each day.- History...
(now part of Saitama City). She graduated from Saitama Prefecture's prestigious Urawanishi High School and Hosei University
Hosei University
is a private university based in Tokyo, Japan.The university originated in a school of law, Tōkyō Hōgakusha , established in 1880, and the following year renamed Tōkyō Hōgakkō . This was from 1883 headed by Dr. Gustave Emile Boissonade, and was heavily influenced by the French legal tradition...
's department of psychology, with a major in sports psychology. During her high school days, she was a member of her school's softball team, which would go on to be an inspiration in her work Ōkiku Furikabutte
Okiku Furikabutte
, often shortened to just , is a baseball manga series by Asa Higuchi, serialized in the monthly seinen Afternoon magazine since 2003. It has been adapted into a TV anime series, animated by A-1 Pictures, which premiered in Japan on TBS...
.
In 1998, Higuchi won noted seinen
Seinen
is a subset of manga that is generally targeted at a 20–30 year old male audience, but the audience can be older with some manga aimed at businessmen well into their 40s. In Japanese, the word Seinen means "young man" or "young men" and is not suggestive of sexual matters...
manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
magazine Afternoon
Afternoon (magazine)
is a Japanese seinen manga magazine published by Kodansha. It is a monthly anthology, and each issue typically has around thirty ongoing stories by various authors and runs about 800 pages...
s Shiki competition with her work Yuku tokoro. It was noted for the unique relationships shared by its characters and was subsequently published in the August issue of the magazine, thus marking her debut as a manga artist. She is currently working on Ōkiku Furikabutte
Okiku Furikabutte
, often shortened to just , is a baseball manga series by Asa Higuchi, serialized in the monthly seinen Afternoon magazine since 2003. It has been adapted into a TV anime series, animated by A-1 Pictures, which premiered in Japan on TBS...
, which has spanned 13 volumes and being serialized in the monthly Afternoon. It won the 10th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize for best creative work in 2006, and the 31st Kodansha Manga Award
Kodansha Manga Award
is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in four categories: children's, shōnen, shōjo, and general. The awards began in 1977, initially with categories for shōnen and shōjo. The first award for the...
for general manga in 2007.
Works
- Yuku tokoro (1998)
- Kazoku no Sore Kara (2000, serialized in Afternoon, Kodansha)
- Yasashii Watashi (2001–2002, serialized in Afternoon, Kodansha)
- Ōkiku FurikabutteOkiku Furikabutte, often shortened to just , is a baseball manga series by Asa Higuchi, serialized in the monthly seinen Afternoon magazine since 2003. It has been adapted into a TV anime series, animated by A-1 Pictures, which premiered in Japan on TBS...
(2004-ongoing, serialized in Afternoon, Kodansha)