Jiro Taniguchi

Jirō Taniguchi (谷口ジロー; Tottori, August 14, 1947-Tokyo, February 11, 2017) was a Japanese manga cartoonist. Considered a cult author and promoter of the dissemination of the manga outside of Japan in his career he won numerous awards such as the Tezuka, Shōgakukan, Alph'Art or Haxtur awards.

His works have been translated into several languages, including Spanish, such as My Father's Almanac (Chichi no koyomi), Chronicles of Wind (Kaze no shō), The Elm of the Caucasus, The Lone Gourmet (Kodoku no gurume), Land of Dreams or Far Out Neighborhood.

Biography

Jirō Taniguchi (2011)

Born into a humble family in Tottori (Chūgoku region), in a rural area rich in legends, close to nature and a castle in ruins that would be the usual background for his future works, the experiences of his childhood are fundamental themes of his production. He began working as an assistant to cartoonist Kyota Ishikawa. He debuted in the world of manga with Kareta Heya ( The Hoarse Room ), published in 1970 in Young Comic magazine.

"In fact, I have always drawn animal stories from my beginnings to today, although in the meantime, other types of stories have been mixed up."

Jirō Taniguchi (2013) [1]

From 1976 to 1979 he published several works together with screenwriter Natsuo Sekigawa such as Defenseless City, The West Wind Is White and Cute 3. From 1984 to 1991 Taniguchi and Sekigawa produced the five volumes of Botchan no Jidai (Botchan's Time). During this time, he refined his style of drawing, beginning to appear characters with square faces and compact bodies, a hallmark of the author. He also gradually turned towards a type of literature with more intimate themes, based on simplicity and contemplation of life. human.

“I feel attached to the small things that happen every day. I watch them carefully and reproduce those insignificant aspects that people do not tend to pay attention to. ”

Jirō Taniguchi (2003) [2]

In the 1990s he created several works including Aruku Hito (歩くひと), Chichi no koyomi (My Father's Almanac), Kodoku no gurume (The Lonely Gourmet), with a script by Masayuki Kusumi, and Keyaki no ki. At this time his work began to be published in Europe and he began to work with European scriptwriters, trying to adapt the Japanese narrative to the European one, including the use of color. An example is the series Ícaro created in 2001 from Moebius texts.

"I don't know why I've been so successful outside Japan. Perhaps because my work is approaching the Western comics, which I followed for more than 30 years and which have influenced my subconscious. "

Jirō Taniguchi (2012) [3]

Exhibition of Taniguchi and Mariano Fortuny (Space Louis Vuitton, Venice, 2014)

After a production of more than 50 albums, of genres such as crime, costumbrismo, mountaineering, science fiction, historical or fantastic, with a narrative, slow, reflective and naturalistic style, Taniguchi passed away in Tokyo on February 11 in 2017 at the age of 69. Months later The Millenary Forest was published posthumously, an unfinished work aimed at children, which emphasizes the necessary harmony between human beings and nature.

"I don't think there are young sleeve authors who emulate me. It is difficult for me to describe my own role in the Japanese manga industry. But my sleeves are not very digestible compared to many other current series for sleeve readers in general. The younger authors are mainly concerned about drawing sleeves that are sold well. They want to get to know each other, create a sales success and live well of it. However, I am pleased to note that the sleeves of the younger authors are becoming more and more diverse. The images are increasingly different from the drawing technique, as are the themes. There are increasingly innovative sleeves. But the drawers don't focus on me, but they want to create something completely different. "

Jiro Taniguchi (2018) [4]

Awards

Japanese train Chizu Express HOT 7000 decorated with Taniguchi works

Taniguchi won several awards for his work. Among others, the Tezuka Award for the Botchan no Jidai trilogy, the Shōgakukan Award for Inu wo kau (Having a Dog), and in 2003 the Alph'Art of the best screenplay at the Angoulême International Comics Festival (France) for Harukana machi-e (Far neighborhood) also awarded as best work at the Barcelona Comic Fair in 2004.

In 2005, together with the scriptwriter Utsumi, he won the Haxtur Award for Best Short Comic for El olmo del Cáucaso at the Asturias International Comic Fair (Seton: Lobo, el rey) and the Haxtur Award for Best Long Story at the International Comic Fair of the Principality of Asturias in 2007.

In 2008 and at the same International Comic Fair of the Principality of Asturias, he won the Haxtur Award for Best Drawing for his work Sandhill Stag. Seton (3).

Works