Hagio Moto (1949 – ), a manga artist who built the golden age of shōjo manga (girl’s comics) in the 1970’s with her timeless masterpieces such as “Pō no Ichizoku (The Poe Clan; 1972-76)” and “Tōma no Shinzō (The Heart of Thomas; 1974),” celebrates the 50th anniversary of her first debut to the professional manga market in 1969. Her “Jūichinin Iru! (They Were Eleven)” in 1975 was the very first genuine science fiction work which is categorized as a shōjo manga, and made an immense impact among manga society at that time. Since then, Hagio has created many outstanding sci-fi works including “Hyaku-oku no Hiru to Sen-oku no Yoru (Ten Billions of Days and Hundred Billions of Nights; 1977-78)” and “Star Red (1978-79).” Hagio received the 27th Nihon SF Taishō (Japan SF Grand Prize) in 2006 for “Barbara Ikai (Otherworld Barbara; 2002-2005)” and in 2012, became the first shōjo manga artist who was awarded Shiju Hōshō or the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon of Japan.
As the first special exhibition of manga for the museum, this exhibition presents some 400 pieces of colored illustrations and original artworks selected from her science fiction works. Please enjoy the journey to the different world far far away, which was created by Hagio Moto.