#Majutsu koushi series#

: 124–125 Matsumoto first ventured into manga in Shōjo Gahō, creating a series of illustrated narratives featuring a lively Chinese girl named Poku-chan, which was irregularly published between November 1930 and March 1934. Matsumoto's first forum for steady work was the magazine Shōjo Gahō ( 少女画報, 'Girls' Illustrated'), to which he contributed from 1928 to 1938. : 94, 121 Early career and marriage A panel from Poku-chan and the Artist circa 1931 He was rejected for military service because he was flat footed. In Shanghai, he earned money by contributing illustrations and articles to the Shanhai nichinichi shinbun ( 上海日日新聞, 'Shanghai Daily Newspaper'), but when he turned twenty years of age, he was forced to return to Japan to report for the draft. : 94, 121 His hope was to eventually make his way to Paris.

#Majutsu koushi free#

(Matsumoto's younger sister, Ryōko ( 龍子), would eventually marry Fukiya.) : 92įollowing the devastation of Tokyo, including its publishing industry, in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, Matsumoto decided to try his fortunes overseas, and managed to obtain free passage to Shanghai. : 121 It was during this period that Matsumoto was inspired by illustrator Kōji Fukiya to become an illustrator in the field of girls' media. : 121 During this time he contributed drawings to such magazines as Shōjo sekai ( 少女世界, 'Girls' World') and Shōnen sekai ( 少年世界, 'Boys' World'). : 121 Matsumoto withdrew from Rikkyō at the age of 18 and began attending the Kawabata ga gakkō ( 川端画学校, 'Kawabata Art School'). Through the introduction of a teacher at Rikkyō, Matsumoto began drawing illustrations for the magazine Shinseinen ( 新青年, 'New Youth') at the age of 17. : 121 At the age of 13, he began attending what was then called Rikkyō (St. Matsumoto was born in Kobe, the son of Toraji ( 寅治) and Ishi ( いし) Matsumoto, but moved with his family to Tokyo at the age of eight. The Gallery Katsuji Matsumoto in Tokyo is managed by his surviving children. He was also a prolific illustrator of children's books and created merchandise for babies, small children, and girls. His illustrations were popular from the 1930s through the 1950s, and he contributed illustrations to numerous popular girls' novels by some of the period's most famous authors, including Yasunari Kawabata and Nobuko Yoshiya. Matsumoto's 16-page The Mysterious Clover (1934) is recognized as a pioneering work in the field of manga, but he is best known for his shōjo manga Kurukuru Kurumi-chan, serialized from 1938 to 1940, and again from 1949 to 1954. Katsuji Matsumoto ( 松本かつぢ, Matsumoto Katsuji, 1904–1986) was a Japanese illustrator and shōjo manga artist.