Okamoto Ippei (岡本一平) (June 11, 1886 – October 11, 1948) was a Japanese illustrator, cartoonist, and writer.

Okamoto Ippei
岡本一平
Born(1886-06-11)June 11, 1886
Died(1948-11-11)November 11, 1948
NationalityJapanese
Occupation(s)Mangaka, writer
SpouseOkamoto Kanoko

Biography

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Okamoto Ippei was the second son of the Confucian scholar Katei Okamoto. He studied Western-style painting at Tokyo School of the Arts under the instruction of Japanese painter Fujishima Takeji.[1] He started working as a scenery painter for Teikoku Theater in 1910. After getting married, he set up in Kyobashi with his family.[2]

Okamoto traveled to Europe and the United States and brought to Japan several comics. In 1912, he started to draw manga for the newspaper Asahi Shinbun.[1]

During the World War II, he moved to Hamamatsu and Gifu. He opened a school called Ippei Juku, where he was teacher of cartoonists Hidezo Kondo and Yukio Matsuura.[2]

Style

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Okamoto became popular as a manga artist in the Taisho era due to his style that combined manga with refined writing.[2] He included features of film in his comics.[3] Manga artist Osamu Tezuka mentioned Okamoto as one of his main influences.[3]

Personal life

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Okamoto Ippei met Kanoko Okamoto when she sent him a poem that fed his interest. They met in the fall of 1909.[4] In 1910, he married Kanoko Okamoto. He used to train younger drawers and after retiring, he helped his wife in her work as a novelist.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Collections Online | British Museum". www.britishmuseum.org. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d "Prominent People of Minato City (Ippei Okamoto)". www.lib.city.minato.tokyo.jp. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Novielli, Maria Roberta (2018). Floating worlds: a short history of Japanese animation. ISBN 978-1-351-33482-2. OCLC 1020690005.
  4. ^ Mori, Maryellen T. (1995). "The Splendor of Self-Exaltation. The Life and Fiction of Okamoto Kanoko". Monumenta Nipponica. 50 (1): 67–102. doi:10.2307/2385280. ISSN 0027-0741. JSTOR 2385280.