Name (in native language): 谷口 ジロー Zodiac: Leo He began to work as assistant of the late mangaka Kyota Ishikawa. He made his manga debut in 1970 with Kareta Heya (A Desiccated Summer), published in the magazine Young Comic. From 1976 to 1979, he created several hard-boiled comics with the scenarist Natsuo Sekigawa, such as City Without Defense, The Wind of the West is White and Lindo 3. From 1984 to 1991, Tanigushi and Natsuo Sekigawa produced the trilogy Bocchan No Jidai. In the 1990s, he came up with several albums, among which Aruku Hito (歩くひと), Chichi no koyomi (The Almanac of My Father), and Keyaki no ki. In 2001, he created the Icare (Icaro) series on texts by Mœbius. Jirô Taniguchi gained several prizes for his work. Among others, the Osamu Tezuka Culture Award (1998) for the trilogy Bocchan No Jidai, the Shogakukan prize with Inu wo Kau, and in 2003, the Alph'Art of the best scenario at the Angoulême International Comics Festival (France) for Harukana Machi-E. His work has been translated in many languages. Far from the violent storylines often associated with the manga, Taniguchi has developed a very personal style, more adult. Along with other writers, like Tsukasa Hōjō, his comics focus more on the Japanese society and culture, with a subtle analysis of its customs and habits.

Baku Yumemakura was born January 1st 1951 in Kanagawa, Japan. He graduated from Tokai University with a degree in Japanese literature. He debuted as an author in 1977, subsequently publishing a number of successful series including Psyche Diver, Chimera, and Hunting Master in addition many others. In 1989 he won Japan’s Science Fiction award for his novel, The Lion that Ate the Moon, and in 1998 won the 11th Shibata Renzaburo Award for God’s of the Mountain. His work, “Oyedo Chokakuden”, was awarded the Izumi Kyoka Prize for Literature in 2011 and in 2012 received the Yoshikawa Eiji award. In 2001, the manga adaptation of his seminal work, “Onmyoji”, won the 5th annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, while the adaptation of his work “Gods of the Mountain” won the award of excellence at the Japan Media Arts Festival. A number of his works have been adapted to film, including the Toho produced “Onmyoji” and “Onmyoji 2”. See also 夢枕 獏. Baku Yumemakura Wiki.