Known for Tramps like Us, Kiss & Never Cry, and Ginban Knight.



Born: December 1st, (year unknown) in the Kanagawa Prefecture of Kantō Japan.

Interests: Writing, drawing, figure skating and blogging.



Married to: Shinji Asano (artist, painter).

Inspirational Influences: Year 24 Group, Moto Hagio, and her husband.



Her Aspirations: Ogawa grew up alongside her elder sister, who was nine years her senior. At a young age she saw her working for the infamous Moto Hagio as an assistant. Seeing this was difficult for Ogawa, and deterred her from pursuing her own dreams of being a mangaka. She heard how difficult the life of a mangaka was, and decided to pursue something more realistic.



Her Education and Career: She studied at the Tama Art University of Tokyo, Japan. After graduating she began working for the national newspaper, the Yomiuri Shimbun as a reporter. She worked with them until 1998.



New Beginnings: During her time at the newspaper she worked a night shift, which became increasingly difficult when her husband made his debut as an artist. Inspired by her husband’s accomplishments, she decided she wanted to work for herself, and began entering contests with her own manga submissions.

Her Early Work: In 1994 she won the first-manga award Mimi & Kiss from Kodansha. This spawned her debut work, Kiss the Unpainted the Face also published in 1994. Once she left the Yamiuri Shimbun she published another work Baby Pop in 1998. That year she began working as a mangaka full-time and has created many notable series since.

Critical Success: Ogawa’s most popular series, Kimi Wa Petto, not only received an award from Kodansha in 2003 in the Josei category (tying for first place alongside Chika Umino’s Honey and Clover), but was also reimagined for a theatrical release in South Korea in 2011, as well as for a TV drama in Japan in 2003.



Her Work Schedule: For her bi-weekly serials she drafts the story at home for the first week, then works on the animation at her workplace with the help of her assistants the following week.



Her Advice for Drawing: Her backgrounds are inspired directly from photos she takes. This makes them more realistic and accurate.



Her Personal Life: Ogawa appears to travel a lot, going to countries like South Korea and France, which she documents in her personal blogs. She notes that this was made possible when she decided to work independently, leaving the Yamiuri Shimbun. She also frequents art galleries, which is likely due to her having a painter husband. She will occasionally hold meet and greets in Japan, and continues to work on her manga throughout the year.



Her Health: She broke her right wrist in July of 2013 which caused a small hiatus in her work. But as of late 2013, she went through surgery and was back to work shortly afterwards.



Her Interests: Art galleries, traveling, food, the Silent Hill series and shoes (according to her blog posts).



Where is She Now? She is currently working on Ginban Knight which is serialized in the magazine Kiss by Kodansha. It is now on its sixth volume and is ongoing. She also blogs infrequently on her own personal pages, (links here and here).



Notable Works

Baby Pop (1998) 2 Volumes

Kimi wa Petto/Tramps like Us (2000) 14 Volumes

Baroque (2005) 6 Volumes

Kiss & Never Cry (2006) 11 Volumes

Ginban Kishi/Ginban Knight (2012) 6 Volumes ~ Ongoing

My Personal Thoughts on Ogawa’s Work

Ogawa’s work is mature, unconventional and honest. She draws from different scenarios, making for interesting dynamics among varying ages, classes etc. She’s not afraid to get her hands a little dirty, and it makes for more engaging reading that resonates with older audiences. Her art style reflects this, as her characters have drastic contrasts in style; their hair styles, dress and overall design makes them stand out amongst one another. She might not be the most prolific josei manga artist, but she definitely has note-worthy works that deserve to be looked at. Tramps like Us is one of my favourite manga series of all time, and I’ve admired her work ever since I stumbled across it years ago. Check out her work. You won’t be disappointed.

Sources

http://wol.nikkeibp.co.jp/as/cfl/0710/

http://ogawayayoi-ehsblog.blogspot.jp/

http://www.linkclub.or.jp/~asasin/archive.html