Katsuji Matsumoto
| Katsuji Matsumoto | |
|---|---|
Katsuji Matsumoto in an undated photograph
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| Born |
July 25, 1904 Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan |
| Died | May 13, 1986 (aged 81) Izu, Shizuoka, Japan |
| Nationality | Japanese |
| Area(s) | Illustrator, comics creator, designer |
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Notable works
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Kurukuru Kurumi-chan The Mysterious Clover |
Katsuji Matsumoto (松本かつぢ, 1904–1986) was a Japanese illustrator and shōjo manga artist. Matsumoto's 16-page The Mysterious Clover (1934) is recognized as a pioneering work in the field of manga, but he is best known for his shōjo manga Kurukuru Kurumi-chan, serialized from 1938 to 1940, and again from 1949 to 1954.
His illustrations were popular from the 1930s through the 1950s, and he contributed illustrations to numerous popular girls' novels by some of the period's most famous authors, including Yasunari Kawabata and Nobuko Yoshiya. He was also a prolific illustrator of children's books and created merchandise for babies, small children, and girls. The Gallery Katsuji Matsumoto in Tokyo is managed by his surviving children.
Matsumoto was born in Kobe, the son of Toraji (寅治) and Ishi (いし) Matsumoto, but moved with his family to Tokyo at the age of eight. At the age of 13, he began attending what was then called Rikkyō (St. Paul's) Middle School. Through the introduction of a teacher at Rikkyō, Matsumoto began drawing illustrations for the magazine Shinseinen (新青年, "New Youth") at the age of 17. Matsumoto withdrew from Rikkyō at the age of 18 and began attending the Kawabata ga gakkō (川端画学校, "Kawabata Art School"). During this time he contributed drawings to such magazines as Shōjo sekai (少女世界, "Girls' World") and Shōnen sekai (少年世界, "Boys' World"). It was during this period that Matsumoto was inspired by illustrator Kōji Fukiya to become an illustrator in the field of girls' media. (Matsumoto's younger sister, Ryōko (龍子), would eventually marry Fukiya.)
Following the devastation of Tokyo, including its publishing industry, in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, Matsumoto decided to try his fortunes overseas, and managed to obtain free passage to Shanghai. His hope was to eventually make his way to Paris. In Shanghai, he earned money by contributing illustrations and articles to the Shanhai nichinichi shinbun (上海日日新聞, "Shanghai Daily Newspaper"), but when he turned twenty years of age, he was forced to return to Japan to report for the draft. He was rejected for military service because he was flat footed.
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