:Macoto Takahashi
{{Short description|Japanese artist (1934–2024)}}
{{confused|Makoto Takahashi}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox artist
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Macoto Takahashi
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| image = Cropped_Photo_of_Macoto_Takahashi.jpg
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| native_name = 高橋真琴
| native_name_lang = ja
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1934|08|27|df=y}}
| birth_place = Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka, Empire of Japan
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| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|11|17|1934|08|27|df=y}}
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| nationality = Japanese
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| style = Shōjo manga
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}}
{{nihongo|Macoto Takahashi|高橋真琴|Takahashi Makoto|27 August 1934 – 17 November 2024}} was a Japanese painter, illustrator, and manga artist. His works of shōjo manga are noted for significantly influencing the aesthetic styles of that demographics.
Biography
Macoto Takahashi was born on 27 August 1934 in Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka, as the eldest son in a family of three boys.{{cite web |title=高橋真琴について｜高橋真琴 公式ウェブサイト 高橋真琴 |url=https://www.macoto-garou.net/profile.html |website=www.macoto-garou.net |access-date=9 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118154721/https://www.macoto-garou.net/profile.html |archive-date=18 January 2022 |format=by web.archive.org, the Wayback Machine}} While pursuing art in high school, he was torn between the painting styles of nihonga (traditional Japanese-style painting) and yōga (Western-style painting). He decided to pursue jojōga 叙情画 (lyrical painting) after discovering the works of jojōga artist Jun'ichi Nakahara in the magazine Himawari.{{sfn|Shamoon|2012|p=90}} He began his career in 1953 illustrating books aimed at the loan market (kashi-hon).{{sfn|Shamoon|2012|p=90}} He began to create manga in 1956 with the shōjo manga (girls' manga) series Paris-Tokyo.{{sfn|Shamoon|2012|p=90}} That same year, he contributed to the nascent gekiga scene by adapting Sherlock Holmes stories for the kashi-hon manga magazine Kage.{{cite web |date=28 January 2014 |title=Comics A Global History: Introduction, part 1 – 1950s gekiga. |url=http://www.danmazurcomics.com/2014/01/28/comics-a-global-history-introduction-part-1-1950s-gekiga/ |access-date=9 March 2021 |website=Dan Mazur's Comics}} In 1957, he released several short shōjo manga stories, including "The Seaside of Sorrow", "The Swan of Tokyo", "The Swan of the Rose", and "Norowareta Kopperia" (English: Cursed Coppéllia).{{Cite web |last=Srivastava |first=Tulisha |date=16 December 2024 |title=Macoto Takahashi, Shojo Manga Artist & Trailblazer, Dies at 90 |url=https://comicbook.com/anime/news/macoto-takahashi-shojo-artist-dies-90/ |access-date=17 December 2024 |website=ComicBook.com |language=en-US}}
In 1958, he established what would become his signature style of art influenced by both manga and jojōga with his manga series {{nihongo|Arashi o koete|あらしをこえて||{{Lit}} "Beyond the Storm"}}, published in the magazine Shojo.{{sfn|Fujimoto|2012|p=24}} This style was distinguished chiefly by its depiction of characters with traits typical of models in jojōga illustrations: thin bodies and large, sparkling eyes, with Takahashi having been referred to as "the king of eye sparkles".{{sfn|Fujimoto|2012|p=24}}{{sfn|Shamoon|2012|p=93}}{{cite web |last1=Loveridge |first1=Lynzee |title=Manga Giants Riyoko Ikeda, Suzue Miuchi, Macoto Takahashi Appear on TV Program |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2018-07-24/manga-giants-riyoko-ikeda-suzue-miuchi-macoto-takahashi-appear-on-tv-program/.134600 |website=Anime News Network |access-date=11 March 2021 |date=24 July 2018}} Other distinguishing traits include the superposition of panels, full-length portraits that fill the entirety of the page, backgrounds that arouse strong emotion, and non-narrative imagery. This style significantly influenced shōjo manga, and quickly became the standard visual conventions of that demographics.{{sfn|Fujimoto|2012|p=24}}{{sfn|Shamoon|2012|p=93}} Takahashi also made the theme of ballet popular in shōjo manga with Norowareta Kopperia (Cursed Coppelia).{{sfn|Monden|2014|p=268}}
During the 1960s, Takahashi stopped creating shōjo manga, because he considered himself incapable of adopting the point of view of a girl.{{cite book|language=en |author1=Fusami Ogi |chapter=How Women's Manga Has Performed the Image of ASIAs, Globally and Locally |title=Women's Manga in Asia and Beyond |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |series=Palgrave Studies in Comics and Graphic Novels |year=2019 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-97229-9_7 |page=100|isbn=978-3-319-97228-2 |s2cid=159401888 }} He shifted to illustration, creating album cover artwork, stationery, and covers of shōjo manga magazines,{{sfn|Fujimoto|2012|p=25}}{{sfn|Shamoon|2012|p=90}} and became particularly popular with the Gothic Lolita subculture.{{cite book|language=en |author1=Emerald L King |author2=Lucy Fraser |chapter=Girls in Lace Dresses: The Intersections of Gothic in Japanese Youth Fiction and Fashion |title=New Directions in Children's Gothic: Debatable Lands |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-31569-587-7 |page=109}} Beginning in 1992, Takahashi mounted an annual exhibition of his work at his home in Sakura.{{Cite web |last=Akcasu |first=Audrey |date=29 December 2015 |title=Father of shojo manga hosts yearly one-man exhibit with new and classic artwork【Images】 |url=https://soranews24.com/2015/12/30/father-of-shojo-manga-hosts-yearly-one-man-exhibits-with-new-and-classic-artwork%E3%80%90images%E3%80%91/ |access-date=17 December 2024 |website=SoraNews24 |language=en-US}} In 2018, artwork by Takahashi was featured in designs created by the fashion house Comme des Garçons.{{cite web |last1=Loveridge |first1=Lynzee |title=Artist Macoto Takahashi Featured in Comme des Garcons Fashion Show |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2017-10-03/artist-macoto-takahashi-featured-in-comme-des-garcons-fashion-show/.122223 |website=Anime News Network |access-date=11 March 2021 |date=3 October 2017}} In the 2020s, Takahashi created a series of paintings based on different countries, incorporating influences such as the French revolutionary calendar, national and seasonal flowers, and local architecture.{{Cite web |last=Bochew |first=Emmanuel |date=17 December 2024 |title=The Pioneer of Shojo Style, Macoto Takahashi |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interview/2022-09-09/the-pioneer-of-shojo-style-macoto-takahashi/.189181 |access-date=17 December 2024 |website=Anime News Network |language=en}}
On 16 December 2024, it was announced through Takahashi's official Twitter account that he died from gastroesophageal junction cancer on 17 November 2024. He was 90 years old.{{cite web |title=少女画家の高橋真琴さん死去 90歳 少女の瞳に星描くスタイル確立…近年は＜アナスイ＞など絵柄が起用され話題 |url=https://news.yahoo.co.jp/pickup/6522980 |website=Yahoo News Japan |access-date=16 December 2024 |language=Japanese |date=16 December 2024}} His funeral was held on 25 November.{{Cite web |date=17 December 2024 |title=Shōjo Manga Pioneer Macoto Takahashi Dies at 90 |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2024-12-17/shojo-manga-pioneer-macoto-takahashi-dies-at-90/.219155 |access-date=17 December 2024 |website=Anime News Network |language=en}}
Works
- {{Cite book|title=Sakura Namiki|trans-title=The Rows of Cherry Trees|year=1957}}{{Cite book |last=Tabachnick |first=Stephen E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AxkuDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Macoto+Takahashi%22&pg=PA65 |title=The Cambridge Companion to the Graphic Novel |date=3 July 2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-23908-0 |pages=65 |language=en}}
- {{nihongo|Akogare – Takahashi Macoto gashū|あこがれ―高橋真琴画集}}, 1995, Seibidō Shuppan. Reprinted 2006, BOOK-ING, {{ISBN|978-4-8354-4265-5}}{{cite book |title=あこがれ―高橋真琴画集 |id = {{ASIN|4835442652|country=jp}}}}
- {{nihongo|Shōjo romance – Takahashi Macoto no sekai|少女ロマンス―高橋真琴の世界}}, 1999, Parco Shuppan, {{ISBN|978-4-89194-599-2}}{{cite book |title=少女ロマンス―高橋真琴の世界 |id={{ASIN|4891945990|country=jp}} }}
- {{nihongo|Macoto no ohime-sama|MACOTOのおひめさま}}, 2001, Parco Shuppan, {{ISBN|978-4-89194-624-1}}{{cite book |title=MACOTOのおひめさま |id={{ASIN|4891946245|country=jp}} }}
- {{nihongo|Paris-Tokyo + Sakura namiki|パリー東京, さくら並木}}, 2006 (reprint), Shogakukan, {{ISBN|978-4-7780-3023-0}}{{cite book |title=完全復刻版 「パリー東京」「さくら並木」 |id={{ASIN|4778030230|country=jp}} }}
- {{nihongo|Takahashi Macoto no shōjo nurie, Nihon no ohime-sama|高橋真琴の少女ぬりえ 日本のおひめさま}}, 2006, Kodansha, {{ISBN|978-4-06-213677-8}}{{cite book |title=高橋真琴の少女ぬりえ 日本のおひめさま |id={{ASIN|4062136775|country=jp}} }}
- {{nihongo|Yumemiru shōjotachi|夢見る少女たち}}, 2013, PIE International, {{ISBN|978-4-7562-4380-5}}{{cite book |title=夢見る少女たち |id={{ASIN|4756243800|country=jp}} }}
- {{nihongo|Macoto no bigaku|真琴の美学}}, 2015 (reprint), Fukkan dot-com, {{ISBN|978-4-8354-5196-1}}{{cite book |title=真琴の美学 |id={{ASIN|4835451961|country=jp}} }}
- {{nihongo|Takahashi Macoto Coloring Book|高橋真琴 ぬりえブック}}, 2016, Genkōsha, {{ISBN|978-4-7683-0730-4}}{{cite book |title=Takahashi Shikoto Coloring Book |id={{ASIN|4768307302|country=jp}} }}
- {{nihongo|Romantic Otome Style|ロマンティック 乙女スタイル}}, 2017, PIE International, {{ISBN|978-4-7562-4964-7}}{{cite book |title=ロマンティック 乙女スタイル |id={{ASIN|4756249647|country=jp}} }}
References
{{reflist}}
= Bibliography =
- {{Cite journal |last1=Fujimoto |first1=Yukari |author-link=Yukari Fujimoto |date=2012 |title=Takahashi Macoto: The Origin of Shōjo Manga Style |journal=Mechademia |volume=7 |issue=1 |translator=Thorn, Rachel |pages=24–55 |doi=10.5749/minnesota/9780816680498.003.0002|isbn=978-0-8166-8049-8}}
- {{Cite journal |last1=Monden |first1=Masafumi |date=June 2014 |title=Layers of the Ethereal: A Cultural Investigation of Beauty, Girlhood, and Ballet in Japanese Shōjo Manga |journal=Fashion Theory |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=251–295 |doi=10.2752/175174114X13938552557808|s2cid=191664287 }}
- {{Cite book |last1=Shamoon |first1=Deborah Michelle |date=2012 |chapter=The Formation of Postwar Shōjo Manga, 1950–1969 |title=Passionate Friendship: The Aesthetics of Girls' Culture in Japan |location=Honolulu|publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press |isbn=978-0-82483-542-2}}
External links
- {{anime News Network|people|172223|Macoto Takahashi}}
- [https://macotocouture.com/ Macoto Couture] (Macoto Takahashi's shop)
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Takahashi, Macoto}}
Category:20th-century Japanese illustrators
Category:20th-century Japanese male artists
Category:20th-century Japanese painters
Category:21st-century Japanese illustrators
Category:21st-century Japanese male artists
Category:21st-century Japanese painters
Category:Deaths from esophageal cancer in Japan