Toshie Kihara

Toshie Kihara (木原 敏江, Kihara Toshie; born February 14, 1948, in Meguro, Tokyo^[1]) is a Japanese manga artist and a member of the Year 24 Group.^[2][3] She made her professional debut in 1969 with the short story Kotchi Muite Mama! in Bessatsu Margaret.^[1] She is best known for her manga series Mari to Shingo [ja], serialized from 1977 to 1984 in LaLa, which follows a romance between two young men at the start of the Shōwa era.^[4][5] Several of her manga series have inspired musicals performed by the all-female Takarazuka Revue, including Angélique, an adaptation of the novels by Anne Golon;^[6][7] Torikaebaya Ibun, an adaptation of the Heian era tale Torikaebaya Monogatari;^[8] and Ōeyama Kaden.^[8]

In 1985, Kihara won the 30th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōjo (girls') category for Yume no Ishibumi [ja], a multi-volume collection of short stories with shōnen-ai (male-male romance) themes.^[1][9]

In 2017, to commemorate Kihara's 48th anniversary as a manga artist, Kawade Shobo Shinsha published a book containing a chronological list of all of her works; a lengthy interview with Kihara about her career; a round-table discussion between Kihara and her fellow Year 24 Group members, Moto Hagio and Yasuko Aoike; and contributions from other celebrated manga artists, such as Riyoko Ikeda and Yasuko Sakata.^[10]

The same year, Kihara's first solo art exhibition was held at the Span Art Gallery in Ginza, Tokyo, Japan, from November 3 to November 14, 2017.^[10] The exhibition was also held at the Niigata City Manga House in Niigata, Japan, from June 21 to October 9, 2018.^[11] Another exhibition dedicated solely to Mari to Shingo was held at the Span Art Gallery in two parts: first, from April 26 to May 8, 2019, and second, from June 22 to July 9, 2019. During its run, Kihara made several appearances at the gallery to sign autographs.^[12]