{"id":32598,"date":"2024-06-18T16:29:38","date_gmt":"2024-06-18T07:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=32598"},"modified":"2024-06-18T16:29:40","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T07:29:40","slug":"hideo-kojima-and-junji-ito-reveal-which-books-and-manga-shaped-them-as-creators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/hideo-kojima-and-junji-ito-reveal-which-books-and-manga-shaped-them-as-creators\/","title":{"rendered":"Hideo Kojima and Junji Ito reveal which books and manga shaped them as creators"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Death Stranding and former Metal Gear Solid series director Hideo Kojima<\/strong> and iconic horror manga artist Junji Ito <\/strong>recently met up to share their influences, particularly the manga and books that had a formative impact on them as creators. The video and text interview were featured on Japanese news site AERA dot<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Junji
Junji Ito (facing camera) in conversation with Hideo Kojima (Source: AERA dot’s YouTube Channel<\/a>)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Fans will probably be aware that Kojima and Ito have known each other for a while. They were both going to be working on Silent Hills (the game that got the infamous P.T. demo) alongside Guillermo Del Toro, however the project was later scrapped (Source: Del Toro\u2019s X account<\/a>). Eagle-eyed players may also have noticed Ito\u2019s cameo in Kojima\u2019s Death Stranding, and seen occasional tweets<\/a> from the veteran game director praising Ito\u2019s manga. In the video interview, Kojima reveals that the two have known each other for a long time, recalling that he met Ito not long after he moved to Tokyo after the 1995 Kobe Earthquake.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hideo<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Both Ito and Kojima were born in 1963 and thus watched many of the same TV series as children, such as Ultraman and Kamen Rider. The discussion quickly switched to the books that had a significant impact on them growing up. Kojima mentions that discovering famous Japanese novelist Kobo Abe in junior high school had a profound impact on him. \u201cWhat particularly inspired me was The Woman in the Dunes<\/a>,\u201d he adds, referencing Abe\u2019s well-known 1962 novel about a man who becomes the prisoner of a woman living in a house inside a sand dune (the book has been translated into English).  The story\u2019s claustrophobic setting and messages about the human condition contained inside a sci-fi-like story impressed Kojima: \u201cAbe\u2019s method of twisting time, space and the environment to enclose something human in it was a fresh surprise.\u201d \u201cThe story has a surrealist flavor\u201d agrees Ito. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back when Kojima got to explore Criterion Collection\u2019s closet<\/a> (and understandably looked like he never wanted to leave), among his picks was Hiroshi Teshigahara\u2019s 1964 adaptation of The Woman in the Dunes. \u201cI\u2019m a Kobe Abe fan so I watched it after reading the book\u201d he explains in the video. \u201c(It\u2019s) a really good movie.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Woman
Eiji Okada in Woman in the Dunes (Source: Bloodvine<\/a>).<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Unsurprisingly, Ito reveals that the first manga he ever read was horror, namely Miira Sensei by renowned horror manga artist Kazuo Umezu<\/a>, which tells of a schoolgirl whose mummified nun teacher wants to drink her blood. This prompted him to read \u201call kinds of bizarre manga.\u201d He was particularly impressed with Umezu\u2019s 1968 manga Butterfly Grave- praising the entire story\u2019s development and composition \u201cI was shocked by how perfect it was.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He describes Umezu, as well as Shinichi Koga (best known for Eko Eko Azarak\/ The Wizard of Darkness) and Hideshi Hino (Hino Horrors) as horror manga artists who were big influences on his work. Ito also got into reading Sci-Fi and states that Taku Mayumura\u2019s 1985 novel \u201c24-hour intruder\u201d is still among his favorite books (as a side note, Mayumura\u2019s sci-fi novel \u201cAdministrator\u201d is available in English). Ito was particularly impressed by the illustrations in the novel, which were drawn by Takashi Yorimitsu.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Takashi
Takashi Yorimitsu’s illustrations for the Japanese editions of German Sci-Fi series Perry Rhodan (Source: Mozu Books<\/a>)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe (Yorimitsu) had a considerable influence on my manga. At the time, most of the illustrations in children’s books were cartoonishly deformed like those of Tezuka Osamu but Yorimitsu’s drawings were very realistic and sexy,\u201d Ito explains, referencing Yorimitsu\u2019s depictions of women. Kojima notes that he can see the similarity in the beautiful girls that Ito draws. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kojima goes on to describe Ito\u2019s horror manga as having a literary feel like that of Stephen King\u2019s novels. Ito adds that he works in a haphazard way, explaining that unexpected ideas often come to him when he is trying to work out the story\u2019s flow and resolve problems in the narrative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to find out more about Ito\u2019s manga and inspirations, please see our interview with him last year about WORLD OF HORROR<\/a>– a roguelite RPG inspired by his work. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Death Stranding video game director Hideo Kojima and Uzumaki manga creator Junji Ito discuss the works that strongly inspired them growing up<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":32603,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-32598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nHideo Kojima and Junji Ito reveal which books and manga shaped them as creators - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Death Stranding video game director Hideo Kojima and Uzumaki manga creator Junji Ito discuss the works that strongly inspired them growing up\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/hideo-kojima-and-junji-ito-reveal-which-books-and-manga-shaped-them-as-creators\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hideo Kojima and Junji Ito reveal which books and manga shaped them as creators - 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