Special exhibition
Sugiura Manga Festa
Active in the world of children’s manga from the 1930s through until the 1950s, Sugiura Shigeru was a multitalented creator and influential manga artist. Influential senior to the very famous gag manga artist Akatsuka Fujio, as well as a musician, photographer and novelist in his own right, his works portray fantastic ideas that shake off common sense and a cheerfulness that leaves the reader smiling unconsciously.
The year 2009 marks one hundred and one years since the birth of Sugiura, and the Kyoto International Manga Museum has put together a commemorative exhibition, in celebration of his characters’ famous hand gesture with the index and little fingers raised, came the idea of celebrating “Birthday 101” with the keywords “niko-niko (smiling)”,“henteko (funny)” and “hogaraka (cheerfulness)”.
Designed to appeal to old fans as well as a new generation who have never known his works, this exhibition recaptures the happy, wonder of Sugiura World and will be held as outlined below. His pop and modern style never seems old to look at, and even now presents modern day audiences with fresh surprises.
| Date | March 20th (Friday) to May 24th (Sunday) 2009 |
| Location | Kyoto International Manga Museum, 2nd floor, main gallery |
| Entrance Fee |
Adults: 1,000yen High and junior high school students: 500yen Elementary school students: 200yen *This amount includes the entrance fee to the museum (500yen, 300yen and 100yen respectively) |
Sponsors:Kyoto International Manga Museum
Joint sponsorship (planning partners):Sugiura Shigeru Hyakuichinensai Jikko iinkai .
Shimazu Yotaro (manga researcher), Minamoto Taro (manga artist, manga researcher), Nakano Haruyuki (manga editor, nonfiction writer) and others.
Exhibition Details
- Original artwork, publications, supplementary volumes and books introducing the works of Shigeru Sugiura accompanied by commentary panels written by exhibition planning partners Shimazu Yotaro, Minamoto Taro and Nakano Haruyuki.
- Original illustrations dedicated to Sugiura Shigeru by self-acknowledged fans of his work from various creative fields.
- Exhibition panels introducing those who were close to Sugiura Shigeru, such as his mentor Tagawa Suiho (famous for his series Norakuro) and similarly pupils* of Tagawa, as well as others.
* Yamane Aooni (Meitantei Kage), Yamane Akaoni (Yotaro-kun), Takita Yu (Terashima-cho Kitan), Kurakane Shosuke (Anmitsu Hime) Hasegawa Machiko (Sazae-san) - A corner where you can look through and read ‘phantom’ works such as Ninjutsu Kassen (1954), Dangan Tommy (1958) and others which were not published as individual book volumes or reprinted after their initial serialization. 14 different works totaling over 1,000 pages.
- Commemorative photography corner where you can experience Sugiura World with character disguises and faceless cardboard cutouts etc. Additionally, in various places throughout the building, Sugiura characters have been set up so that not only the special exhibition hall, but the entire museum is brightened by the 101 Year Festival.
- A symposium on Sunday the 22nd of March by Taro Minamoto (manga artist, manga researcher and exhibition planning partner) will be followed on Sunday the 12th of April by a talk show with Kenzo Saeki (musician).
Sugiura Shigeru - Profile
Born in Tokyo in 1908 and died in the year 2000, after studying Western Painting at school Shigeru Sugiura studied under the tutorage of Tagawa Suiho known best for his series Norakuro. Sugiura continued to produce manga during the pre and post war period, and in particular, gained great popularity for his adventure themed manga aimed towards young boys. His well rounded works were known for a cheerful painting style and original fantastic ideas as well as contrary elements such as the depiction of an otherwise classical world through the use of puns and comic stories, and a surreal literary style reminiscent of the Spanish painter Salvador Dali. Though his works, he influenced the next generation of creators in a myriad of ways. Among others, the manga artist Akatsuka Fujio (1935-2008), novelist Tsutsui Yasutaka (1934-) and musician Hosono Haruomi (1947-). He has ardent fans in all fields. He produced a countless number of representative works such as Sarutobi Sasuke, Shonen Saiyuki and Shonen Jiraiya, to name but a few.