The paneling, the symmetry, the iconography - and those eyes! Kaze Shinobu is truly the greatest mangaka on the face of the planet, and I’m going to tell you why.

While many in the West may only know Kaze from his one-shot, “Being a Guy is All True Grit,” also known as “Violence Becomes Tranquility”, featured in Heavy Metal’s March 1980 issue, or “Heart & Steel” featured in Epic Illustrated’s June 1983 issue, he greatly influenced many mangaka through the 1970s and into the 1990s with his fusion of Western cartooning and Japanese manga techniques. Unlike early Japanese mangaka who based their styles on American comics and animation - famously Tezuka Osamu used many Disney elements in his kashihon (rental book/manga) early in his career - Kaze deliberately took techniques from Western artists and created a new style of manga that would seep into the minds of fellow mangaka at Dynamic Pro, Go Nagai’s studio, and gradually spread into the zeitgeist of Japanese manga culture.

The Beginnings

Tomoaki Saito, a.k.a. Kaze Shinobu, was born in 1952 near Yokosuka, Kanagawa, the location of a large U.S. naval base, which is just outside the greater Tokyo metropolis. As a child, his friend moved away, leaving behind a stack of manga which included Tetsujin 28-gō by Mitsuteru Yokoyama and Astro Boy by Tezuka Osamu. Moved by the stories and art, he began drawing at a young, although unknown, age. In his first year of high school, he had a friend making doujinshi (self-published manga) who happened to know Go Nagai (Getter Robo, Mazinger Z, Devilman, Cutie Honey, etc.). They would make visits to Nagai on the weekends to show their art and manga, which would be the beginning of a life-long friendship and partnership between Kaze and Nagai. Upon graduation from high school, Kaze was immediately hired by Nagai as one of his assistants at Dynamic Pro, and together, they came up with his pen name: Kaze Shinobu. This was likely based on Fu-ma Ninja (Wind Ninja) by Sanpei Shirato and the fact that Kaze was obsessed with ninja and martial arts. The “Fu” in “Fu-ma” is also read as Kaze and Ninja is also read as “Shinobu” in Japanese.

Kaze’s first project was working on Kikkai-kun and Gakuen Taikutsu Otoko (The Most Boring Guy in School) which were gag manga written and designed by Go Nagai. Then in 1971, just one year after becoming an apprentice to Nagai, he debuted under his own name in Gekkan Shonen magazine with Hyakuen Byouin (One Dollar Hospital), another gag manga (it should be noted that his debut as a “professional” mangaka was extremely quick. Most mangaka work as assistants for years before being given their big break as a lead artist). This experience with gag manga would pop up in his later manga so much so that editors would have to reign him in from turning serious manga stories into gag-littered silliness.

East Meets West

In 1974, one of the assistants at Dynamic Pro brought in a copy of Lone Sloan by Philippe Druillet and, although he couldn’t read it, the art, the color, and the style blew his mind. He thought, “Why can’t this style be incorporated into action manga?” You have to remember that, at the time, Bruce Lee, Kung Fu, and Japanese yakuza and action movies were everywhere, and Kaze was obsessed with them. After watching Enter the Dragon (1973), Kaze immediately ran out to a martial arts supply store to buy nun chukka. And it wasn’t just Druillet either. Kaze found inspiration from western artists like Alex Nino, Alphonse Mucha, Moebius, and José Gonzales. From Japan, avant-garde artist Yokoo Tadanori would influence Kaze’s choice of vibrant coloring and film directors Kazuki Ohara and Suzuki Seijin would influence his storytelling. From 1974 to 1976, Kaze released several one-shot manga stories, mostly gag manga, for various magazines while still assisting at Dynamic Pro. However, with an arsenal of Western and Japanese influences, he was also working on the early stages of what would become his masterpiece and cult favorite, Chijo Saikyo no Otoko Ryu (Ryu, Strongest Man on the Face of the Planet).

Cults, the Cosmos, and Kung Fu

It’s 1977 Japan: Sci-fi and horror films, novels, and manga are all the rage, numerous cults are emerging offering meaning and redemption in the frantic climb of economic growth, anti-establishment protest activity is running rampant, and disenchanted youth have given up on salaryman suits for motorcycles, rock 'n’ roll, and some sort of place in a society that has seemingly left them behind.

Kaze Shinobu brings eighty-two pages of what would become Ryu, Strongest Man on the Face of the Planet (hereinafter just Ryu) to the editors of Weekly Shonen magazine and Dynamic Pro. The plot: A young martial arts pupil, Ryu, is having a homosexual love affair with his master Dokyo. However, when Kayama, a female love interest enters the picture, it causes a rift, turning master and pupil against each other. The fight is fierce, but the pupil becomes victorious. However, his guilt runs so deep that he punches through the planet destroying all of earth and humanity. Oh yeah, and there’s silly gags sprinkled in here and there to boot.

The editor’s response: Not a chance. Too many gags, and manga readers are not ready for homosexual content. Make it more serious, more esoteric, more in line with 1970s pop culture. And that’s what Kaze did, creating one of the wildest stories to date with a unique artistic approach that had never been seen before - the symmetry of Druillet, the vibrancy of Yokoo, and the mystique of Moebius melded with the manga standards of Dynamic Pro, now a huge presence in the Japanese manga scene, and where Kaze continued to work as an assistant.

There’s no need to lay out the full story of Ryu, but it’s important to note the elements that appear in it to fully appreciate Kaze’s genius as a mangaka. Religious iconography, martial arts, futurism and technology, social collapse, and even appearances by Bruce Lee, Miyamoto Musashi, and Jesus - all packed into 412 pages of pure awesomeness! It became a cult classic for manga connoisseurs with reprints in 1996, 2002, and 2021. In 2001, Dragon HG magazine released Ryu, Strongest Man on the Face of the Planet R-01, “The Return of Ryu,” and, in 2002, Ryu, Strongest Man on the Face of the Planet Episode 0, a prequel, as the name implies. Collectors like me have searched high and low to find all of the appearances of Ryu in all its forms.

Guns, Guns, Guns!

In 1946, upon the direction of the Allied Occupation Forces, Japan outlawed ownership of guns by private citizens (with the exception of hunting arms, which are strictly regulated). Due to this move, the replica and air gun market emerged, and Kaze became obsessed with collecting them. Following the success of Ryu, in September 1977, Kaze released a fifty-page one-shot, “The Boy Who Has Government 45,” in Monthly Manga Shonen. It’s a supernatural story of a nervous, nerdy boy who must take on adversaries at his school that are killing teachers and students by using mind control. The boy spent some time in America, where he had the opportunity to shoot an actual gun, so he’s given a real .45 caliber Colt to strike down the ne’er-do-well. It’s violent and psychedelic, and it has all of the influences of Druillet and others that inspired Ryu. There’s even a picture in the back of the tankobon edition by the same name (1997 edition) of Kaze wielding one of these replica guns while sporting thick glasses and an intense screaming expression. There are rumors that he eventually did get to shoot real guns while at San Diego Comic-Con in the ‘80s with Go Nagai.

Violence & Peace, the Heavy Metal Connection

Between 1977 and 1988, Kaze only released twenty-some one-shot stories that were published in sci-fi magazines, manga magazines, and manga anthologies - SF Magazine, SF Adventure, Weekly Sunday magazine, and Petit Flower, just to name a few. But luckily for us English readers, we got “Being a Guy is All True Grit” (a.k.a “Violence Becomes Tranquility”) in the March 1980 issue of Heavy Metal magazine. It was a ten-page one-shot of psychedelic, esoteric, and vibrant manga blasted straight into the eyes of western comic book fans. Minds were blown. This would later be reprinted in the tankobon Violence & Peace. “Who was this ‘Shinobu Kaze’?” (as he penned his name for English publication). “What is this psychedelic Japanese samurai manga without almost any action or fighting? What does it all mean?!”

Around this time there were several Japanese mangaka trying to break into the North American market, and Go Nagai was one of them. I’m guessing that Nagai, as a longtime friend, brought Kaze along for the ride. I’ve seen pictures of Kaze at SDCC in the early ‘80s, but there’s just not enough information out there, so it’s difficult for me to say how he got there or what he did there. Additionally, “Heart & Steel,” made specifically for the U.S. market, was published in Epic Illustrated in 1981. Otherwise, Kaze was never translated into English, other than illegal fan scanlations of course.

Rumors have it that he was very introspective, sometimes meditating in a teepee in his living room for hours at a time, that he was a strict vegetarian at a time when it was not en vogue, and that he was a recluse that avoided people in general. Looking at the religious and spiritual elements of many of his manga, none of this surprises me. To blow minds, one’s mind must be blown already. Refer to mangaka Keiichi Koike for proof of this, my friends.

Martial Arts, Wrestling, and Greek Mythology?

In 1988, Kaze released Kenka Hissatsu-ken Koppo (Fighting Killer Fist Koppo), his first full-length manga in over a decade. While written in manga format, it’s kind of a guide to the mystical and lesser-known fighting art of Koppo which uses pressure points, leverage, and other techniques to crush all enemies and competitors. It wasn’t catchy, action-packed, sexy, or all that interesting to be honest, but it was Kaze doing what Kaze did - everything, his own way. Then, in a similar vein to fighting, Kaze teamed up with manga author Hisao Maki to publish Tiger Mask the Star in the tabloid Tokyo Sports, a wrestling manga set mostly in New York City with gangsters, bar fights, and appearances by trademarked wrestlers like Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant. But Kaze’s subsequent troubles didn’t come from the WWF and the McMahon family, they came from Tsuji Naoki, the original creator of Tiger Mask in manga form. Two tankobon were released, volume one generously, but volume two is quite rare. I’ve heard it was yanked off shelves and pulped due to the illegal copyright issues surrounding it. But again, I speak only rumors.

By this time, the ‘90s horror boom was in full effect - movies, magazines, novels, and manga were all riding the wave. Despite producing shojo horror one-shots in the past like Midori no Oba-san ga Kowai (My Aunt Midori is Scary), Kaze decided to stick with his fighting theme and started Roppongi Soldier (1995), a professional kickboxer - and ladies’ man - turned private investigator. This would become a three-tankobon series, which unfortunately is difficult to find these days; the third volume in particular. The backdrop was the post-bubble Roppongi district of Tokyo with all its nightlife and debauchery. Ken Washitsu has to weave his way through gangsters, ladies of the night, a female wrestler, and a Frankenstein’s monster serial killer. Roppongi Soldier is essentially a 1970s gekiga manga, published too late for the ‘90s, when titles like Dragon Ball, Slam Dunk, and Initial D were flying off the shelf.

After that, there was Zeus Girishia Shinwa (Zeus: Greek Mythology, 1996). It opens with Armageddon, where Snake (Kurt Russel) from Escape from New York and Léon (Jean Reno) from Léon: The Professional make brief appearances in true Kaze gag fashion, and it goes on to follow Gaya and the birth - and sometimes child murder - of the gods and demi-gods of legend and lore. I was a Japanese history major, so the whole Greek mythology arc just confused the hell out of me. But again, all the hallmarks of Kaze are there. In the art: symmetry, unique paneling, ultra-close-ups of the eyes. And in the story: social collapse, space-time melding, and religious iconography.

The Mystery

After a few more one-shots, Kaze teamed up with the national broadcasting and media organization NHK in 1998 to produce a manga on the wonders of science, Denshi Rikkoku Nihon no jijoden: Toranjisuta e no Chōsen (Autobiography of Japan, the Nation of Electronics: The Challenge of the Transistor). It’s a history of Japanese technology and innovation from the 1940s through to the emergence of the Japanese aerospace program. Very un-Kaze and very boring for a manga from someone known for their dynamic (no “Dynamic Pro” pun intended) art.

Then, in 1998, POOF! He vanished in a cloud of smoke. Kaze Shinobu leaves the manga industry. He will pop up twice to do a short one-shot and some work on Go Nagai’s Iron Jeeg, but basically he’s ghosted himself. Nowhere to be found.

I always imagined him in a cave in the Northern Japanese Alps meditating and contemplating the afterlife and total ascendence. Living at a small mountain Buddhist temple (see his Buddhist imagery in Ryu). A monk standing on the corner, ringing a small bell and accepting handouts for his next meal and transport to the next town. But alas! He re-emerged in 2021 for the reprint of Ryu, Strongest Man on the Face of the Planet for the appended interview and explanation of the creation process. So, he lives! And so does his legacy as The Greatest Mangaka on the Face of the Planet.

Author Bio:

Shawn Honnold has lived in Tokyo for the past 21 years and is a voracious reader and collector of manga, which eventually led him to open an online book shop that specializes in weird, rare, and wild manga, art books, magazines, and all things adjacent. His personal collection focuses on gekiga manga from the ‘60s-‘80s, retro manga, vintage magazines, and key artists and mangaka that have influenced him over the years. His favorite mangaka are: Kaze Shinobu, Katsuhiro Otomo, Seisaku Kanoh, Mieko Kawasaki, Go Nagai, and Ryoichi Ikegami, just to name a few.
 
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