BY MASANOBU MATSUMOTO, PHOTOGRAPHS BY MIE MORIMOTO, TRANSLATED BY NAOKI MATSUYAMA
There was one thing I really wanted to ask Araki, and that was about the turning points in his career as a manga artist. I felt that the answer to that would provide a hint as to how the work of JoJo is linked to Araki’s own life. His answer was unexpected. “Maybe it’s when I was hospitalized for gastroenteritis.” He said that being forced to swallow a gastric camera was the most shocking experience of his life. “It made me aware that the period in which one is physically invincible doesn’t last forever. And it made me want to enjoy my daily life more, going travelling or cooking. My attention was no longer exclusively devoted to manga after that.”
Araki is deeply knowledgeable about music, particularly rock. It is his daily habit to work while playing music, and around his desk are piles of CDs. He said that he is currently going through a personal Elvis Presley revival phase.
His favorite cuisine to cook is Italian. For an online article in the past, he presented his pasta dishes, but he says “I kept working on these recipes and I finally have a few dishes that I feel are perfected.” What is it that draws Araki to cooking? “For example, slicing or chopping garlic changes its flavors and aromas. The order in which you mix lemon juice, salt, and olive oil also has an impact. This is similar to the ‘chemical reaction’ that happens when drawing, and I enjoy researching that. When you make Spaghetti Naporitan [a popular dish in Japan], the key is to put ketchup in two phases, once during the stir-frying and once at the end. In the case of drawing too, overlaying pink in the same manner enhances its beauty.”
“Part 5: Vento Aureo” from Shūkan Shōnen Jump, Vol. 5/6, 1996.
The protagonist is Giorgio Giovanna, who is a descendant of the arch-nemesis Dio. It is set in Italy, a country that Araki adores.
© HIROHIKO ARAKI & LUCKY LAND COMMUNICATIONS / SHUEISHA
The expression ‘chemical reaction’ captures Araki’s idiosyncrasy well. The ‘chemical reaction’ that happens in his drawings that are regarded as art. The encounters and collaborations with fashion and art are also one of the ‘chemical reactions.’ Countless fans visited to enjoy Araki’s large scale original artwork that the artist wished “would be looked at in detail.” The ‘chemical reactions’ must have happened in each of the viewers too.
Hirohiko Araki
Born 1960 in Miyagi prefecture. He made his debut with Poker Under Arms, which was selected as a runner up to the 1980 Tezuka Award. “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” began in 1987 on Shūkan Shōnen Jump (the series currently continues on Ultra Jump). In 2012, he held a large scale exhibition of his original artworks in Sendai and Roppongi, Tokyo. He received the Grand Prix in the Manga Division of the 2014 Japan Media Arts Festival.
The exhibition’s official visuals.
The Tokyo venue took Jotaro Kujo (left), the protagonist of Part 3, and the Osaka venue took Dio (right) as their respective motifs. These are the two strongest characters by Araki’s own admission. These two original artworks are also showcased in the exhibition.
© HIROHIKO ARAKI & LUCKY LAND COMMUNICATIONS / SHUEISHA
Hirohiko Araki JoJo Exhibition: Ripples of Adventure
The exhibition, which closed in Tokyo to wide acclaim, will move venues and open in Osaka (Osaka Culturarium at Tempoan) on November 25 (Sunday). This will be the first time that Araki’s original artworks are exhibited in Osaka.
Period: November 25, 2018 (Sunday) – January 14, 2019 (Monday/Holiday)
Venue: Osaka Culturarium at Tempozan (Next to Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan)
Address: 1-5-10 Kaigan-dori, Minato-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka
Opening hours: 10:00-20:00 *Last entrance half an hour before closing time
Closed days: None
Telephone:
Up to November 20 (Tue), 050(5542)8600 (Hello Dial Service, 8:00-22:00)
From November 21 (Wed), 06(6574)2323 (Osaka Venue Office, 9:30-20:00)
Tickets: Details about purchasing tickets can be found here.
Official website
*Exhibition details are subject to change without notice.
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