Rumiko Takahashi | Museum of Pop Culture

October 10, 1957

Having sold well over 100 million copies of her works, Rumiko Takahashi is one of the most widely known and successful creators of manga, and her work helped bring Japanese comics to the attention of the West.

Born in Niigata, Japan, Takashi didn’t actively pursue a career in comics until college when she enrolled in Gekiga Sonjuku, a manga school. Here she started publishing her first works including Bye-Bye Road and Star of Futile Dust, both in 1975.

It wouldn’t be until 1978, however, when Takahashi’s career would take off with her first full-length series titled Urusei Yatsura, loosely translated as “Those Obnoxious Aliens.” The comedic story features an alien princess who takes up with a rather idiotic schoolboy. In 1980 Takahashi started her second full-length series Maison Ikkoku, a romantic comedy set in a rooming house filled with eccentric tenants.

Many of Takashi’s manga have been adapted for television and film and released worldwide. Urusei Yatsura alone was made into a series, 6 feature films, and 11 direct-to-video films. She has won the Shogakukan Manga Award twice, once for Urusei Yatsura in 1980 and again for InuYasha in 2002.