Waki Yamato 大和 和紀 |
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Born |
Sapporo, Japan |
March 13, 1948
Nationality | Japanese |
Area(s) | Manga artist |
Notable works
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Haikara-san ga Tōru Asaki Yume Mishi |
Awards | 1st Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo - Haikara-san ga Tōru |
Waki Yamato (大和 和紀 Yamato Waki?, born March 13, 1948 in Sapporo) is a Japanese manga artist. She debuted in 1966 with the short story Dorobou Tenshi.
Since this debut, Yamato steadily created and published a variety of works in the genre of shōjo manga. Among her early time works, Mon Cherie CoCo, 1971, was adapted into an anime television series, and her work, Haikara-san ga Tōru, 1975 to 1977, was very successful, winning the 1st Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo in 1977. It was also made into a musical for the Takarazuka Revue, an anime series (which reached an international audience through TV broadcasts in Italy and France), and a live-action movie. Through these early works, she established her position as one of the most popular manga artists.
After the success of Haikara-san ga Tōru, she continued to create many manga, including the comedy Aramis '78 (series), Yokohama Monogatari (The Story of Yokohama), and N. Y. Komachi (The Belle of New York). The latter two were historical manga, set during the Meiji period.
The heroines of these stories were active girls who traveled overseas. Yamato's early work Reidii Mitsuko (Lady Mitsuko), 1976, was based on the true story of Mitsuko Aoyama, who was the mother of Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi.
Similarly, in Yokohama Monogatri, Uno visits California, marries her Japanese lover there and returns to Yokohama, while Mariko visits London to meet her Japanese husband. In N. Y. Komachi tomboy Shino travels to New York and becomes a camerawoman. At the end she settles in America with her husband Danny.