Machiko Satonaka (里中 満智子, Satonaka Machiko, born 24 January 1948) is a Japanese manga artist. She made her professional debut in 1964 during her second year of high school with the one-shotPia no Shōzō ("Portrait of Pia"). She has since created nearly 500 manga in a variety of genres. Two of her most notable works are Ashita Kagayaku ("Tomorrow Will Shine"), which won the 1974 Kodansha Publishing Culture Award, and Karyūdo no Seiza ("Constellation of the Hunter"), which won the 1982 Kodansha Manga Award. In addition to creating manga, Satonaka teaches at the Osaka University of Arts as the head of the Character Creative Arts Department and serves on the board of various manga-related organizations in Japan.
Early life
Machiko Satonaka was born on 24 January 1948 in Osaka, Japan.[1] As a child, her elementary school banned students from reading manga such as Astro Boy because of its violent and unscientific content; her teachers even burned manga in front of her class. Satonaka—who admired the works of Osamu Tezuka, Shotaro Ishinomori, Tetsuya Chiba, and Hideko Mizuno—was filled with a desire to "protect manga" and to "contribute to raising its status" in society by becoming an artist herself.[2]
Career
In 1964, during her second year of high school, Satonaka made her professional debut with the one-shotPia no Shōzō ("Portrait of Pia"), published in Kodansha's Shōjo Friend magazine; for this, she received the inaugural Kodansha New Faces Award.[1] The editorial staff of Shōjo Friend subsequently advertised Satonaka as "a genius girl".[3] She dropped out of school against her parents' wishes and moved to Tokyo to pursue her career.[4]
As of 2019, Satonaka has created nearly 500 manga for both shōjo (young girls) and josei (adult women) in a variety of genres, including romantic comedies, fantasy epics, and historical dramas.[5][6] Her longest-running manga, Tenjō no Niji ("Celestial Rainbow"), depicts the life of the Japanese Empress Jitō and was serialized for more than 30 years.[7] Two of her works—a short story collection titled Machiko's One Thousand and One Nights and an anthology of Biblical tales titled The Old Testament—are available in English on the digital manga website Manga Reborn.[8][9][10] Masami Toku, a scholar and professor of art education at California State University, Chico, described Satonaka as an artist who "consistently protested against a stereotypical male view of women, which often demanded that they remain young and immature, and instead wholeheartedly affirmed women's growth and maturity."[11]
In addition to creating manga, Satonaka serves as the head of the Osaka University of Arts Character Creative Arts Department;[12] the director of the Japan Cartoonists Association;[13] the director of the Manga Japan foundation;[14] the chairperson of the Digital Manga Association;[15] a representative of the NPO Asia Manga Summit Administering Authority;[16] and a member of the Cabinet Secretariat of Japan Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters.[1]
Machiko's One Thousand and One Nights (まちこの千夜一夜, Machiko no Senya Ichiya), published by Shoeisha in 1995;[33] translated for the digital manga website Manga Reborn in 2013[34]
The Old Testament (マンガ旧約聖書, Manga Kyūyaku Seisho), published by Chuokoron-Shinsha in 2011;[35] translated for the digital manga website Manga Reborn in 2014[36]
Awards
1964: Kodansha New Faces Award for Pia no Shōzō[1]
1974: Kodansha Publishing Culture Award in the children's manga category for Ashita Kagayaku[24] and Hime ga Iku![25]
^くだん書房：目録：マンガ：雑誌：講談社：週刊少女フレンド1964年. Kudan Shobō (in Japanese). Retrieved 7 January 2020. Text: 「『週刊少女フレンド 』1964年8月30日（36）– 里中満智子『ピアの肖像』（デビュー作）」 Translation: "Weekly Shōjo Friend, 30 August 1964 (36) – Machiko Satonaka's Pia no Shōzō (Debut Work)"
^くだん書房：目録：マンガ：雑誌：講談社：週刊少女フレンド1967年. Kudan Shobō (in Japanese). Retrieved 30 December 2019. Nana to Riri premiered in Weekly Shōjo Friend's 2 May 1967 (No. 18) issue and concluded in its 21 November 1967 (No. 47) issue, per the magazine's table-of-contents recorded by the vintage shōjo manga bookstore Kudan Shobō.
^くだん書房：目録：マンガ：雑誌：講談社：週刊少女フレンド1968年. Kudan Shobō (in Japanese). Retrieved 30 December 2019. Text: 「『週刊少女フレンド 』1968年8月13日（33）– 里中満智子『ララ・ハート』（新連載）」 Translation: "Weekly Shōjo Friend, 13 August 1968 (33) – Machiko Satonaka's LaLa Heart (New Series)"
^くだん書房：目録：マンガ：雑誌：講談社：週刊少女フレンド1969年. Kudan Shobō (in Japanese). Retrieved 30 December 2019. Text: 「『週刊少女フレンド』1969年5月27日号（22）– 里中満智子『LaLa・ハート』（最終回）」 Translation: "Weekly Shōjo Friend, 27 May 1969 (22) – Machiko Satonaka's LaLa Heart (Final Chapter)"
^くだん書房：目録：マンガ：雑誌：講談社：週刊少女フレンド1969年. Kudan Shobō (in Japanese). Retrieved 30 December 2019. Text: 「『週刊少女フレンド』1969年12月16日号（51）– 里中満智子『レディー・アン』（新連載）」 Translation: "Weekly Shōjo Friend, 16 December 1969 Issue (51) – Machiko Satonaka's Lady Ann (New Series)"
^くだん書房：目録：マンガ：雑誌：講談社：週刊少女フレンド1970年. Kudan Shobō (in Japanese). Retrieved 30 December 2019. Text: 「『週刊少女フレンド』1970年12月8日号（50）– 里中満智子『レディー・アン』（最終回）」 Translation: "Weekly Shōjo Friend, 8 December 1970 Issue (50) – Machiko Satonaka's Lady Ann (Final Chapter)"
Toku, Masami, ed. (2015). "Profile and Interview with Machiko Satonaka". International Perspectives on Shojo and Shojo Manga: The Influence of Girl Culture. New York: Routledge. pp. 175–181. ISBN978-1-138-54903-6.
