Author
Junijo Ito is a distinct writer as he is a novelist and a graphic artist. He was the illustrator of all his books.
Profile
Junijo Ito was born on July 31st 1963 in Sakashita ,Nakatsugwas, Gifu. He began to read at a young age inspired by his two older sisters who read Kazuo Umezu, a novelist and Manga artist. Manga is the Japanese word for cartooning. Junijo’s sisters also tried their hand at Manga. So at a young age Junijo was exposed to both. Ito began working as a dental technician and it was during this time, early 90s, he began to write a story and added life to it with his manga drawing. A lot of images that he carried from his childhood figured in his books and sometimes the story was based on what he had seen in his childhood. In 1987 Ito’s short story was sent to ‘Monthly Halloween’ and it won a lot of praise from thecommittee that adjudgedthe Kazuo UmezuPrize. Kazuo himself was a member of this committee and he was impressed with the Ito’s work.Later this story was titled ‘Tomie’ and was serialised. Junji Ito had done a manga adaptation of Mary Sheley’s Frankenstein. This adaptation fetched Ito the Eisner Award in 2019. Junji married Ishiguro Ayako, a picture book artist, in 2006 and has two children.
Genre
Junijo Ito almost followed Kazuo Umezu in his works. Like Umezu Ito’s stories were horror stories with descriptive horror cartooning. His stories could chill the reader to the core. He could create real terror as his visuals and the story were gruesome beyond any parallels. The world in Ito’s creations was unpredictable and cruel. The characters were generally victims of spiteful, unusual circumstances who were punished severely for some minor mistakes. His works included a lot of body horror.
Popular works by the author
Some of the popular works of Junji Ito are ‘Hanging Blimp’, ‘The Enigma of Amigara Fault’, ‘The Long Dream’, ‘The Thing That Drifted Ashore’, ‘Greased’, ‘Fashion Model’, ‘Slug Girl’, ‘Army of One’, ‘Dissection Girl’.
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