By TAKUMI TERUI/ Staff Writer
July 26, 2025 at 17:19 JST
Manga artist Junji Ito stands in front of an illustration from one of his works. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Horror manga artist Junji Ito was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame, it was announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2025.
The awards are known as the “Oscars” of the comic industry.
Among Ito’s representative works are “Tomie” and “Uzumaki” (Spiral).
A judges’ panel had decided on 21 inductees to the Hall of Fame, including Shigeru Mizuki (1922-2015). An additional seven artists, Ito among them, were voted in.
In the past, Ito, 61, won Eisner Awards on four occasions, including for the English version of “Frankenstein: Junji Ito Story Collection.”
Born in 1963 in Nakatsugawa, Gifu Prefecture, Ito became a dental technician after graduating from senior high school.
He debuted as a manga artist after winning an honorable mention for “Tomie” when the Kazuo Umezu Prize for rookie cartoon artists was announced in the magazine Monthly Halloween in 1986.
Other Japanese inductees in the Eisner Hall of Fame are Osamu Tezuka, Hayao Miyazaki, Moto Hagio, known for “The Poe Clan,” and Keiji Nakazawa, creator of “Barefoot Gen.”
Ito issued a statement saying he was deeply honored to join such an esteemed list of manga artists.
He added that he believed Japanese manga was being praised abroad because it has become known for its variety of genres and the depth of the stories told.
The awards are named after American cartoonist Will Eisner.
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