The well-known Japanese illustrator Shinji Mizushima died on 10. January the consequences of pneumonia, as announced on Tuesday. Mizushima was a big baseball fan, which is also reflected in his works. Fans and players from all over the world followed his story with great enthusiasm.
Shinji Mizushima was known in Japan for his baseball manga, which was published successfully for many years. His characteristic was that he worked real athletes into his works. His most famous series were “Dokaben” and “Abu-san”. Born in Niigata Prefecture, the illustrator worked after school at a seafood wholesaler. At the same time, he took part in a first manga competition, where he was one of the winners.
With baseball to star mangaka
Since 1970, he published his first baseball manga “Otoko Do Aho Koshien” in a weekly magazine, which was well received by readers. A year later, the baseball series “Yakyukyo no Uta” and “Dakoben” followed. In 1973 his next hit series “Abu-san” was released. These works popularized baseball as the subject of sports manga. At the same time, Mizushima benefited from the great popularity of the sport in Japan.
His work “Dokaben” features many characteristic characters from the sports manga genre, including Mizushima’s protagonist Taro Yamada, who is both a good batsman and an excellent catcher. The story begins in high school and ends in the world of professional baseball. The series has been successful for so long because it features a lot of real pro players and characters from other stories.
The last part of the story, the so-called Dream Tournament Arc, was first published in 2013 and ran until 2018. In his stories, the mangaka repeatedly showed foresight and mentioned events that actually happened later in a similar form. Overall, Shinji Mizushima published 205 manga volumes on the story over 46 years. In retrospect, however, the artist explained that the time did not seem so long to him. He enjoyed every day when he could create his works and bring his characters to life.
Artists with vision
His other successful story, Abu-san, tells the story of Yasutake Kageura, nicknamed Abu-san. He is a member of some very well-known baseball teams in history. After an active career lasting 37 years, the player then looks back on his life. Shinji Mizushima worked on the story for 41 years, until 2014.
Dokaben and Yakyukyo no Uta have also been adapted into anime and live-action. In 2002, Niigata honored the draftsman, in which the prefecture installed seven bronze statues of his characters, which in turn drew fans to the region. The artist has also received many awards from the Japanese government over the years. At the end of 2020 he announced his retirement from the drawing scene.
Shinji Mizushima remained very attached to baseball throughout his life, playing and coaching an amateur team. He also built up personal relationships with many well-known players, some of whom then appeared in his works.
Over half a century ago, in one of the mangaka’s works, the mangaka featured a female pitcher entering the male domain. Many women’s baseball fans credit the artist as a pioneer of women’s baseball. His 1972 story Yakyukyo no Uta focuses on pitcher Yuki Mizuhara, who asserts herself against her male teammates.
