Kan Takahama

is a Japanese manga artist born in Amakusa, Kumamoto Prefecture. Debuting in 2001, she became known for her short stories published in the alternative magazine Garo, later collected and republished in her award-winning Kinderbook. Her unique style often depicts the darker sides of everyday life through simplistic character designs and illustrations that blend manga and Franco-Belgian comics. She is internationally known for the manga Nyx no Lantern, winner of the 24th Osamu Tezuka Cultural Award in 2020.

Biography Early life and education Kan Takahama was born on April 6, 1977, in the city of Amakusa, in the Kumamoto Prefecture. She studied contemporary art at the University of Tsukuba.

Career Takahama's first opportunity with a publishing company came by surprise, while playfully drawing manga on scrap paper and drinking with friends one evening one friend of hers decided that she liked Takahama's short story so much that she asked for it to be redrawn on a proper piece of paper, she then sent it off to the publishing company Kodansha. Takahama was contacted soon after, being offered a job working with the company, she previously had never considered becoming a mangaka. The same year Takahama also received a 1st grand prize of excellence from Garo for a piece titled Binari Sun. She continued to publish regularly in Garo through 2001 and 2002 and these short stories were collected in the Yellowbacks volume, which was published in Japan by Seirindô in February 2002. They were later published in France, Spain and the USA as Kinderbook. Garo magazine stopped publishing after Takahama had been working there for two years. She failed to gain the rights to her published manga and she has never been paid for her work with them.

While working at Garo several readers told Takahama that her style was similar to that of French comics, she disagreed at first until the president of Garo at the time suggested her works specifically resembled the works of Frédéric Boilet. After purchasing one of his works titled Yukiko's Spinach she discovered the similarities between her work and his, specifically the focus on capturing daily life. His ideas led her to reach out to him believing she could bring something to his project. After working together to produce the story 'Mariko Parade''', the two met at the Angoulême International Comics Festival in 2002, in search of a publisher where the major publisher Casterman took interest. After this collaboration, Takahama published her first story in French for the magazine Bang!, titled Bons Baisers d'Angoulême. The story was a good-humoured account of her visit to the Angoulême festival.

In 2016, Takahama began to publish the first in what is her current longest and most complex series of manga, titled Nyx no Lantern. The series finished in 2019 and consisted of 6 volumes. The story focused on a young orphan gifted with clairvoyance set between Japan and France during the years of the Paris Universal Exposition of 1878. The series was well received and won the 2018 excellence award at the Japan Media Arts Festival, as well as the 24th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2020.

Personal life Takahama has spoken about her struggles with alcohol early into her career as a mangaka due to her sudden fame and attention from the media, staying up late to be part of international interviews and answering the same questions constantly. She described alcohol as the only way she could get through this process. She has since recovered and currently lives up in the mountains in Amakusa with her husband, drawing and producing manga.

Works

Monokuro Kinderbook/, Seirindō, 2002, Yūgaku shorin, 2007 (Kinderbook, Casterman collection “Sakka”, 2004) , Ohta Publishing, 2003 (Mariko Parade, Casterman "Scriptures" collection, 2003), with Frédéric Boilet , Yūgaku shorin, 2004 (Bitter Water, Casterman collection “Sakka”, 2009) , Kawade shobō shinsha, 2006 (Bitter Water, Casterman collection “Sakka”, 2009) , Ohta Publishing, 2010 (2 espressos, Casterman "Scriptures" collection, 2010) , Short stories, Leed Publishing, 2015 , Takeshobō, 2013 (Tokyo, love and freedoms, Glénat “Seinen” collection, 2017) , Leed Publishing, 2014 (The Last Flight of the Butterfly, Glénat collection “Seinen”, 2017) , Leed Publishing, 2016 (The Nyx lantern, Glénat “Seinen” collection, 2019)

Awards

Manga Open Excellence Award from Weekly Morning magazine for Mont Saint-Michel 2001: 1st Grand Prize of Excellence from Garo magazine for Binari Sun 2004: The Comics Journal Best Short Story Award for Yellowbacks 2018: Excellence Award from the Japan Media Arts Festival for Nyx no Lantern 2020: 24th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize for Nyx no Lantern''