View source for Kazuo Umezu

{{Short description|Japanese manga artist (1936–2024)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Kazuo Umezu
| native_name        = 楳図 かずお
| native_name_lang   = ja
| image              = 2010TIBE Day1 Hall2 Opening Kazuo Umezu.jpg
| caption            = Umezu in 2010
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1936|9|03}}
| birth_place        = [[Mount Kōya|Kōya]], [[Empire of Japan|Japan]]
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|2024|10|28|1936|9|03}}
| death_place        = Japan
| occupation         = [[Manga artist]]
| years active       = 1950s–2024
}}
{{Anime}}

{{nihongo|'''Kazuo Umezu''' or '''Kazuo Umezz'''|楳図 かずお|Umezu Kazuo|birth name 楳図一雄; September 3, 1936 – October 28, 2024}} was a Japanese [[manga artist]], musician and actor. Starting his career in the 1950s, he is among the most famous artists of [[horror manga]] and has been vital for its development, considered the "god of horror manga". In 1960s [[shōjo manga|{{Transliteration|ja|shōjo}} manga]] like [[Reptilia (manga)|''Reptilia'']], he broke the industry's conventions by combining the aesthetics of the commercial manga industry with gruesome visual imagery inspired by [[Japanese folktales]], which created a boom of horror manga and influenced manga artists of following generations. He created successful manga series such as ''[[The Drifting Classroom]]'', ''[[Makoto-chan]]'' and ''[[My Name Is Shingo]]'', until he retired from drawing manga in the mid 1990s. He was a [[public figure]] in Japan, known for wearing red-and-white-striped shirts and doing his signature "Gwash" hand gesture.

== Life and career ==

=== Early life and career ===
Umezu was born on September 3, 1936,<ref name=":1"/> in [[Mount Kōya|Kōya]], [[Wakayama Prefecture]], but raised in the mountainous [[Gojō, Nara|Gojō]], [[Nara Prefecture]]. His mother motivated him to start drawing when he was seven years old.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.24981/2020-3 |title=MANGA!: Visual Pop-Culture in ARTS Education |date=August 2020 |isbn=9789895468379 |editor-last=Toku |editor-first=Masami |doi=10.24981/2020-3 |doi-broken-date=July 12, 2025 |editor2-last=Dollase |editor2-first=Hiromi Tsuchiya |s2cid=242662617}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Profile |url=http://umezz.com/en/ |access-date=October 15, 2022 |website=umezz.com}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Hodgkins |first=Crystalyn |title=Drifting Classroom Creator Kazuo Umezu Interviewed |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-12-09/drifting-classroom-creator-kazuo-umezu-interviewed |date=December 9, 2009 |access-date=October 15, 2022 |website=[[Anime News Network]] |archive-date=September 27, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240927025825/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-12-09/drifting-classroom-creator-kazuo-umezu-interviewed |url-status=live }}</ref> His father would tell him local legends about ghost and snake women before going to bed.<ref name=":0" /> He was inspired to start drawing manga by reading [[Osamu Tezuka]]'s ''[[Shin Takarajima (manga)|Shin Takarajima]]'' in fifth grade.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Arakane |first=Ryosuke |date=October 11, 2022 |title=Manga Artist Kazuo Umezu's Undying Urge to Create |url=https://tokion.jp/en/2022/10/11/interview-kazuo-umezu/ |access-date=October 15, 2022 |website=[[Tokion]] |archive-date=October 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221015222940/https://tokion.jp/en/2022/10/11/interview-kazuo-umezu/ |url-status=live }}</ref> He was part of a drawing circle with others called "Kaiman Club".<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Nicolas |title=Un florilège de kashihon #1 – Limited Animation |url=https://limitedanimation.net/2019/03/14/un-florilege-de-kashihon-1/ |access-date=October 15, 2022 |language=fr |archive-date=July 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731143440/https://limitedanimation.net/2019/03/14/un-florilege-de-kashihon-1/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1955, he published his first manga at the age of 18 with ''Mori no Kyōdai'' based on the fairytale [[Hansel and Gretel]] with the [[kashihon]] publisher Tomo Book.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> He would soon shift towards the [[gekiga]] movement and publish manga in the [[kashi-hon]] industry in [[Osaka]] of the time, which would allow him more freedom than serializing his manga in magazines. His specialty was to include [[paranormal]] elements in his stories.<ref name=":0" /> At the same time, he also started working on [[shōjo manga|{{Transliteration|ja|shōjo}} manga]]; he published in the magazine ''[[Shōjo Book]]'' and the kashi-hon anthology [[Niji (magazine)|''Niji'']].<ref name=":3" />

=== Breakthrough in the 1960s and 1970s ===
After moving to [[Tokyo]] in 1963 due to the decline of the kashihon industry,<ref name=":3" /> he developed his specific style, which blended the aesthetics of {{Transliteration|ja|shōjo}} manga with grotesque horror visuals and broke with conventions of {{Transliteration|ja|shōjo}} manga at the time.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Dollase |first=Hiromi Tsuchiya |date=2010 |title="Shōjo" Spirits in Horror Manga |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42772010 |journal=U.S.-Japan Women's Journal |issue=38 |pages=62–63 |jstor=42772010 |issn=2330-5037 |archive-date=November 20, 2023 |access-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120082904/https://www.jstor.org/stable/42772010 |url-status=live }}</ref> Horror manga like ''[[Nekome no Shōjo]]'' and ''[[Reptilia (manga)|Reptilia]]'' became a hit in the commercial {{Transliteration|ja|shōjo}} manga magazine ''[[Shōjo Friend]]'' in the mid 1960s.<ref name=":1" />

In the late 1960s, he also started publishing in [[shōnen manga|{{Transliteration|ja|shōnen}} manga]] magazines and he switched publishing houses, from [[Kodansha]] to [[Shogakukan]], when a new editor asked him to draw something other than horror manga.<ref name=":3" /> He became a well established author and was at times working at up to five serials at the same time.<ref>{{Cite web |script-title=ja:楳図かずおのおすすめ漫画ランキングベスト5！ホラー漫画の神様！ |url=https://honcierge.jp/articles/shelf_story/1940 |date=December 17, 2021 |access-date=October 16, 2022 |website=Honcierge |language=ja |archive-date=October 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221016004212/https://honcierge.jp/articles/shelf_story/1940 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1974 he won the 20th [[Shogakukan Manga Award]] for his series ''[[The Drifting Classroom]]'' about a school including its schoolchildren and teachers being teleported into an alternate post-apocalyptic universe.<ref name="ShogakukanAward">{{cite web |script-title=ja:小学館漫画賞: 歴代受賞者 |url=http://comics.shogakukan.co.jp/mangasho/rist.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080710085514/http://comics.shogakukan.co.jp/mangasho/rist.html |archive-date=July 10, 2008 |access-date=August 19, 2007 |publisher=[[Shogakukan]] |language=ja}}</ref>

In 1975, Umezu started becoming a public figure also apart from creating manga. He recorded songs based on his horror manga and released them as the solo album ''Yami no Album''.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |script-title=ja:インタビュー：楳図かずお |url=https://www.timeout.jp/tokyo/ja/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%BC%E3%83%88/%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%82%BF%E3%83%93%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%EF%BC%9A%E6%A5%B3%E5%9B%B3%E3%81%8B%E3%81%9A%E3%81%8A |date=July 22, 2011 |access-date=October 20, 2022 |website=[[Time Out Tokyo]] |language=ja |archive-date=October 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020084302/https://www.timeout.jp/tokyo/ja/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%BC%E3%83%88/%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%82%BF%E3%83%93%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%EF%BC%9A%E6%A5%B3%E5%9B%B3%E3%81%8B%E3%81%9A%E3%81%8A |url-status=live }}</ref>

His comedy manga ''[[Makoto-chan]]'', which he published from 1976 to 1981 in ''[[Weekly Shōnen Sunday]]'', became a hit. The hand gesture "Gwash" from the manga became Umezu's own trademark hand gesture as well in public.<ref name=":0" />

=== Late career ===
In the 1980s and 1990s, he focused on [[science fiction]] manga depicting a near future like ''[[My Name Is Shingo]]'' and [[Fourteen (manga)|''Fourteen'']].<ref name=":1" />

In 1995, he had to retire from regular publishing due to [[tendinitis]] after finishing ''Fourteen''. He then became even more of a public figure, appearing regularly on TV in a red and white striped shirt. He was also famous for the architecture of his candy-striped home in [[Kichijōji]], inspired by his ''Makoto-chan'' series.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |script-title=ja:楳図かずおさん 27年ぶりの新作で描いた"人類の未来とは" |url=https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/special/sci_cul/2022/01/story/story_220131/ |date=January 31, 2022 |access-date=October 20, 2022 |website=[[NHK]] |language=ja |archive-date=October 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020084258/https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/special/sci_cul/2022/01/story/story_220131/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2011, he released a second music album with his songs.<ref name=":4" />

In 2018 he was awarded the [[Angoulême International Comics Festival Prize for Inheritance|Prize for Inheritance]] at the [[Angoulême International Comics Festival]] for the French translation of ''My Name Is Shingo''. This was the second prize awarded to him throughout his career and Umezu had previously been unhappy about the amount of recognition he had gotten for his work. The award motivated him to start working again and he produced a series of 101 paintings based on ''My Name Is Shingo'', which were exhibited for the first time in 2022 and were his first new work in 27 years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kazuo Umezu, lauréat du Fauve Patrimoine pour Je suis Shingo - 46e Festival de la Bande Dessinée d'Angoulême |url=https://archives.bdangouleme.com/1335,kazuo-umezu-laureat-du-fauve-patrimoine-pour-je-suis-shingo?article |date=January 31, 2018 |access-date=November 5, 2024 |publisher=[[Angoulême International Comics Festival]] |language=fr |archive-date=December 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241204083935/https://archives.bdangouleme.com/1335,kazuo-umezu-laureat-du-fauve-patrimoine-pour-je-suis-shingo?article |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":5" />

=== Death ===
In July 2024, Umezu was hospitalized after collapsing at his home in [[Kichijōji]], Tokyo. He was diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer, but did not undergo surgery, remaining in [[hospice]] care from September.<ref name="Yomiuri-2024-11-05">{{Cite web |last=Ishida |first=Kanta |title=Even During His Final Days, Mangaka Umezu Had New Work in Mind |url=https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/obituaries/20241105-220776/ |date=November 5, 2024 |access-date=November 5, 2024 |website=[[Yomiuri Shimbun]] |archive-date=November 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241113053344/https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/society/obituaries/20241105-220776/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On November 5, 2024, Shogakukan announced that Umezu died on October 28. He was 88. A private funeral was held by his family and close friends.<ref>{{Cite web |script-title=ja:楳図かずおさん死去 88歳 『まことちゃん』"グワシ"は社会現象に |url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2352750/full/ |date=November 5, 2024 |access-date=November 5, 2024 |website=[[Oricon]] |language=ja |archive-date=December 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241201030852/https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2352750/full/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Pineda |first=Rafael Antonio |title=Kazuo Umezu, Prolific Manga Creator of Horror & Other Genres, Dies at 88 |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2024-11-04/kazuo-umezu-prolific-manga-creator-of-horror-and-other-genres-dies-at-88/.217517 |date=November 4, 2024 |access-date=November 5, 2024 |website=[[Anime News Network]] |archive-date=November 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241105041537/https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2024-11-04/kazuo-umezu-prolific-manga-creator-of-horror-and-other-genres-dies-at-88/.217517 |url-status=live }}</ref> Umezu was planning a new work prior to his death.<ref name="Yomiuri-2024-11-05"/>

On May 28, 2025 a public farewell ceremony was held at a hotel in Kichijōji. Flowers were available for fans to be placed on a stand for the deceased. There was a line to enter the hotel that extended several blocks outside. Participants included [[Machiko Satonaka]], [[Junji Ito|Junji Itō]], [[Noboru Takahashi]], and [[Shoko Nakagawa|Shōko Nakagawa]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=「楳図かずお サバラ！お別れの会」のご案内／FAQ|url=https://umezz.or.jp/sabara-news/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=「楳図かずお サバラ！お別れの会」のご案内／FAQ|url=https://www.sankei.com/article/20250528-M5UYLNPAPROS5IQS7DZVYJTFKY/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=楳図かずおさんお別れの会 「唯一無二の天才だった」 漫画家ら追悼|url=https://mainichi.jp/articles/20250528/k00/00m/040/219000c?s=03}}</ref>

== Style and themes ==

=== Folklore and monsters ===
His work is influenced by Japanese folklore. Manga artist and critic [[Sakumi Yoshino]] explains that his horror manga is related to [[religion in Japan]], as monsters and demons are not considered completely evil, and Umezu wants readers to sometimes also feel compassion for the monsters in his works.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=King |first1=Emerald |last2=Fraser |first2=Lucy |last3=Yoshino |first3=Sakumi |date=2010 |title=An Interview with Sakumi Yoshino |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42772012 |journal=U.S.-Japan Women's Journal |issue=38 |pages=129 |jstor=42772012 |issn=2330-5037 |archive-date=October 27, 2023 |access-date=July 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231027201247/https://www.jstor.org/stable/42772012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Intergenerational conflict ===
Many of his manga feature [[intergenerational conflict]] between children and adults. Umezu initially focused on this topic as he found that relationships between mothers and children in {{Transliteration|ja|shōjo}} manga in the early 1960s were portrayed only as caring, never as scary. His manga ''Reptilia'' depicts an intense conflict between a schoolgirl and her sick mother, who turns out to be a snake woman when she visits her in hospital. Manga scholar Tsuchiya Dollase compares this character with the [[Jungian archetypes|Jungian]] "Terrible Mother".<ref name=":7" /> The children of the deserted school in ''The Drifting Classroom'' are immediately betrayed by their teachers and need to fight for their survival. In ''My Name Is Shingo'', children are the only ones able to communicate with and have an emotional connection with an AI computer. Umezu explained that he himself finds the world of children more relatable, as children are much more open and adaptable to illogical thinking: "I’m writing about myself in a way. I don’t want to become an adult and 'grow up.'"

== Reception and legacy ==
His works inspired a new generation of horror manga artists. [[Junji Ito]], [[Toru Yamazaki]] and [[Minetarō Mochizuki]] cite him as one of their biggest influences<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 17, 2019 |title=The Horror of an Uncertain Future: An Interview with Revered Manga-ka Junji Ito |url=https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/the-horror-of-an-uncertain-future-an-interview-with-revered-manga-ka-junji-ito/ |access-date=October 15, 2022 |publisher=[[Barnes & Noble]] |archive-date=June 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602194707/https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/the-horror-of-an-uncertain-future-an-interview-with-revered-manga-ka-junji-ito/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Géreaume |first=Mickaël |title=Interview manga de Minetaro Mochizuki sur planetebd.com ! |url=https://www.planetebd.com/interview/minetaro-mochizuki/945.html |date=February 4, 2016 |access-date=July 26, 2023 |website=Planete BD |language=fr}}</ref> and [[Kanako Inuki]] got her career start in a magazine compiled by him.<ref>{{Cite web |script-title=ja:犬木 加奈子（漫画家） |url=https://mangapedia.com/%E7%8A%AC%E6%9C%A8%E5%8A%A0%E5%A5%88%E5%AD%90-fek56a3aq |access-date=October 15, 2022 |website=[[Mangapedia]] |language=ja |archive-date=October 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221015234859/https://mangapedia.com/%E7%8A%AC%E6%9C%A8%E5%8A%A0%E5%A5%88%E5%AD%90-fek56a3aq |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Rumiko Takahashi]] briefly worked as an assistant for him, while he was working on ''Makoto-chan''.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Chazan |first1=Helen |last2=December 15, 2020 |title=Mermaid Saga: Collector's Edition Vol. 1 |url=https://www.tcj.com/reviews/mermaid-saga-collectors-edition-vol-1/ |access-date=February 27, 2023 |website=[[The Comics Journal]] |archive-date=February 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230227213041/https://www.tcj.com/reviews/mermaid-saga-collectors-edition-vol-1/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[[Flowers (magazine)|''Flowers'']]. February 2013 issue (December 28, 2012), p. 330–334 ([https://www.furinkan.com/takahashi/takahashi57.html English translation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220928181219/https://furinkan.com/takahashi/takahashi57.html |date=September 28, 2022 }}).</ref> His reputation gave him the nickname "god of horror manga" (ホラーまんがの神様) in Japanese media.<ref name=":5" />

Umezu's manga broke with the norms of the commercial manga industry at the time that he started publishing in major magazines in the mid 1960s and created a boom around horror manga in the late 1960s. Tsuchiya Dollase writes: "The monstrous mothers must certainly have scared the audience; at the same time, however, the torture of the pretty but superficial heroines by these horrifying mothers must have given the same audience a certain pleasure."<ref name=":7" />

Umezu regularly received complaint letters from parents in the beginning of his career due to his horror visuals and also editors of magazines would ask him to scale down the violence in his imagery. He remarks in an interview: "I was protested but never boycotted. I considered such criticism to be a form of praise."<ref name=":3" /> He was critical of watering down horror elements: "Old Japanese folk stories and fairy tales could be unflinchingly brutal. They come from a time when tragedy and carnage was an everyday part of life. Now we have people calling to water them down, which essentially whitewashes history. It’s insulting to the memory of those who suffered to bring us these stories."<ref name=":3" />

Besides his impact on the development of horror manga, scholar Tomoko Yamada counts Umezu as one of the {{Transliteration|ja|shōjo}} manga artists in the 1950s who contributed to the development of [[ballet]] manga with his series ''Haha Yobu Koe'' (1958) and ''Maboroshi Shōjo'' (1959).<ref>{{Cite web |script-title=ja:「バレエ・マンガ展 外伝！」第二部座談会 ～バレエ・マンガの魅力～ |url=https://www.toshonoie.net//shojo/01_ballet/Ballet_Manga_Gaiden.html |access-date=November 8, 2022 |website=Tosho no Ie |language=ja |archive-date=May 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522082030/https://www.toshonoie.net/shojo/01_ballet/Ballet_Manga_Gaiden.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2019, Umezu received the Commissioner for Cultural Affairs award from the [[Agency for Cultural Affairs]]. It is an award for "individuals who have made distinguished accomplishment in artistic and cultural activities". It is rarely awarded to people in the manga industry.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pineda |first1=Rafael Antonio |title=Pierrot Anime Studio Founder Yūji Nunokawa, Manga Creator Kazuo Umezu Receive Government Cultural Award |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2019-03-14/pierrot-anime-studio-founder-yuji-nunokawa-manga-creator-kazuo-umezu-receive-government-cultural-/.144507?ann-edition=us |website=[[Anime News Network]] |access-date=August 6, 2024 |date=March 14, 2019}}</ref>

==Works==

=== Manga ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Original title !! English title !! Year !! Notes
|-
| {{nihongo||森の兄妹|Mori no Kyōdai}} || ''Siblings of the Forest'' || 1955 || published by Tomo Book<ref name=":2" />
|-
| {{nihongo||母呼ぶこえ|Haha Yobu Koe}} || || 1958<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |script-title=ja:バレエ漫画リスト［1950年代］図書の家 |url=https://www.toshonoie.net//shojo/01_ballet/1950s.html |access-date=November 8, 2022 |website=Tosho no Ie |language=ja}}</ref>|| one-shot in ''[[Shōjo Book]]''
|-
| {{nihongo||人形少女|Ningyō Shōjo}} || || 1959 || published by Tōhō Mangasha
|-
|''Maboroshi Shōjo'' (まぼろし少女)
|
|1959<ref name=":6" />
|serialized in ''[[Niji (magazine)|Niji]]''
|-
| {{nihongo||ロマンスの薬|Romansu no Kusuri}} || ''Romance Medicine''|| 1962 || serialized in ''[[Nakayoshi]]''
|-
| {{nihongo||山びこ姉妹|Yamabiko Shimai}} || || 1964<ref>{{Cite web |script-title=ja:完全復刻版 山びこ姉妹 {{!}} 楳図かずお – 小学館コミック |url=https://shogakukan-comic.jp/book?isbn=9784778030780 |access-date=October 16, 2022 |publisher=[[Shogakukan]] |language=ja |archive-date=May 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517175415/https://shogakukan-comic.jp/book?isbn=9784778030780 |url-status=live }}</ref>|| serialized in ''Niji''
|-
| {{nihongo||ねむり少女|Nemuri Shōjo}} || || 1964 || published by Tōkyō Mangasha
|-
|{{nihongo||へびおばさん|Hebi Obasan}} || || 1964<ref>{{Cite web |script-title=ja:【完全復刻版】へびおばさん 発売 |url=http://umezz.com/jp/?p=1231 |date=March 13, 2009 |access-date=October 16, 2022 |language=ja |archive-date=October 16, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221016004205/http://umezz.com/jp/?p=1231 |url-status=live }}</ref>||
|-
| {{nihongo||ママがこわい|Mama ga Kowai}} || ''[[Reptilia (manga)|Scared of Mama]]''|| 1965<ref name=":7" /> || serialized in ''[[Shōjo Friend]]''
|-
| {{nihongo||まだらの少女|Madara no Shōjo}} || ''[[Reptilia (manga)|The Spotted Girl]]''|| 1965 || serialized in ''Shōjo Friend''
|-
| {{nihongo||紅グモ|Benigumo}} || ''Red Spider''|| 1965–1966<ref>{{Cite web |script-title=ja:【図書の家】漫画作品データ |url=https://www.toshonoie.net//archive/m-data/data_umezu_kazuo.html |access-date=November 8, 2022 |website=Tosho no Ie |language=ja |archive-date=November 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108142741/https://www.toshonoie.net//archive/m-data/data_umezu_kazuo.html |url-status=live }}</ref>|| serialized in ''Shōjo Friend''
|-
| {{nihongo||半魚人|Hangyojin}} || ''Half-Fish Man''|| 1965 || serialized in ''[[Shōnen Magazine]]''
|-
| {{nihongo||ひびわれ人間|Hibiware Ningen}} || ''Cracked Human''|| 1966 || serialized in ''Shōnen Magazine''
|-
| {{nihongo||へび少女|Hebi Shōjo}} || ''[[Reptilia (manga)|Reptilia]]'' || 1966 || serialized in ''Shōjo Friend''
|-
| {{nihongo||ウルトラマン|Urutoraman}} || ''[[Ultraman (1966 TV series)|Ultraman]]'' || 1966–1967 || serialized in ''Shōnen Magazine''
|-
| {{nihongo||ねこ目の少女 |''Nekome no Shōjo''}} || ''Cat Eyed Girl''|| 1967 || serialized in ''Shōjo Friend''
|-
| {{nihongo||猫目小僧|Nekome Kozō}} || ''[[Cat Eyed Boy]]'' || 1967–1968<br />1968–1969<br />1976 ||serialized in ''[[Shōnen Gaho]]''<br />serialized in ''[[Shōnen King]]''<br />serialized in ''[[Weekly Shōnen Sunday]]''
|-
| {{nihongo||赤んぼ少女|Akanbo Shōjo}} || ''Baby Girl''|| 1967 || serialized in ''Shōjo Friend''
|-
| {{nihongo||死者の行進|Shisha no Kōshin}} || ''March of the Dead'' || 1967 || serialized in ''Shōnen Magazine''
|-
| {{nihongo||SF異色短編集|SF Ishoku Tampenshū}} || || 1968–1969 || serialized in ''[[Big Comic]]''
|-
| {{nihongo||映像|Kage}} || || 1968 || serialized in ''Teen Look''
|-
| {{nihongo||蝶の墓|Chō no Haka}} || ''Butterfly Grave''|| 1968 || serialized in ''Teen Look''
|-
| {{nihongo||おそれ|Osore}} || ''Fear''|| 1969 ||
|-
| {{nihongo||おろち|Orochi}} || ''[[Orochi (manga)|Orochi]]'' || 1969–1970 || serialized in ''[[Weekly Shōnen Sunday]]''
|-
| {{nihongo||イアラ|Iara}} || || 1970 || serialized in ''Big Comic''
|-
| {{nihongo||怪獣ギョー|Kaijū Gyō}} || || 1971 || serialized in ''Teen Look''
|-
| {{nihongo||アゲイン|Agein}} || ''Again'' || 1971–1972 || serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday''
|-
| {{nihongo||漂流教室|Hyōryū Kyōshitsu}} || ''[[The Drifting Classroom]]'' || 1972–1974 || serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday''
|-
| {{nihongo||洗礼|Senrei}} || ''Baptism'' || 1974–1976 || serialized in ''[[Shōjo Comic]]''
|-
| {{nihongo||まことちゃん|Makoto-chan}} || ''[[Makoto-chan]]'' || 1976–1981 || serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday''
|-
| {{nihongo||わたしは真悟|Watashi wa Shingo}} || ''[[My Name Is Shingo]]'' || 1982–1986 || serialized in ''[[Big Comic Spirits]]''
|-
| {{nihongo||神の左手悪魔の右手|Kami no Hidarite Akuma no Migite}} || ''[[God's Left Hand, Devil's Right Hand]]'' || 1986–1988 || serialized in ''Big Comic Spirits''
|-
|''Chō! Makoto-chan'' (超!まことちゃん)
|
|1988–1989
|serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday''
|-
| {{nihongo||14歳|Fōtīn}} || ''[[Fourteen (manga)|Fourteen]]'' || 1990–1995 || serialized in ''Big Comic Spirits''
|}

=== Paintings ===
* {{nihongo|''Zoku-Shingo: Little Robot Shingo''|Zoku-Shingo小さなロボット シンゴ美術館|Zoku-Shingo Chiisa na Robotto Shingo Bijutsukan}} <ref name=":5" />
* {{nihongo|''Cave Queen Java''|Java洞窟の女王|Jawa Dōkutsu no Joō}} <ref>{{Cite web |title=［重大発表］漫画・芸術界の巨匠、楳図かずお88歳が新作となる「連作絵画」を鋭意制作中 ! |url=https://mainichi.jp/articles/20241002/pr2/00m/020/746000c |date=October 2, 2024 |language=ja |access-date=November 29, 2024 |archive-date=December 2, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241202025709/https://mainichi.jp/articles/20241002/pr2/00m/020/746000c |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Films ===
*''Nekome Kozo'' (anime television series)
*''Drifting Classroom'' (movie)
*''Blood Baptism'' (movie)
*''[[Drifting School]]'' (movie)
*''[[The Long Love Letter|Long Love Letter: Drifting Classroom]]'' (TV drama)
*''[[Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater]]'' (6-part TV anthology)
*''[[The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch]]'' ("Hebimusume to hakuhatsuma", {{nihongo2|蛇娘と白髪魔}}) (1968) (Daiei/Kadokawa Pictures)
*''[[Tamami: The Baby's Curse]]'' (film)
*''[[Mother (2014 film)|Mother]]'' (film) (director)<ref>{{cite web|last=Loo|first=Egan|title=Horror Manga Creator Kazuo Umezu Helms 1st Feature Film|url=http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-12-12/horror-manga-creator-kazuo-umezu-helms-1st-feature-film|date=December 12, 2013|access-date=December 17, 2013|work=[[Anime News Network]]|archive-date=December 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215053624/http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-12-12/horror-manga-creator-kazuo-umezu-helms-1st-feature-film|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Albums ===

* ''Yami no Album'' (闇のアルバム; 1975)
* ''Yami no Album 2'' (闇のアルバム・2; 2011)

===Video games===
* ''Umezma'' (ウメズマ; 1996)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://arimushi.hatenablog.com/entry/2021/11/21/113347 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808195641/https://arimushi.hatenablog.com/entry/2021/11/21/113347 | archive-date=August 8, 2024 | script-title=ja:Umezma ウメズマ | date=November 21, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808195315/https://auctions.c.yimg.jp/images.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/image/dr000/auc0409/users/6b65218edbca16a91761276e00eb3b6974886e99/i-img1200x1200-1695460309zl90dl384962.jpg | format=JPG | title=Umezma | url=https://auctions.c.yimg.jp/images.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/image/dr000/auc0409/users/6b65218edbca16a91761276e00eb3b6974886e99/i-img1200x1200-1695460309zl90dl384962.jpg | archive-date=August 8, 2024}}</ref>

=== Musicals ===
In 2016, his manga ''My Name Is Shingo'' was adapted into a musical. It stars [[Mitsuki Takahata]] and [[Mugi Kadowaki]] as the lead characters and is [[Theatre director|directed]] and [[Choreography|choreographed]] by [[Philippe Decouflé]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Vannieuwenhuysen |first=Lora-Elly |title=BCM reads: Kazuo Umezu "Watashi wa Shingo" ("Je suis Shingo") |url=http://www.houseofsecretsincorporated.be/BCM.htm |magazine=A Belgian J-Culture Magazine |publisher=Hilde Heyvaert |volume=35 |page=19 |issn=2593-0435 |access-date=June 4, 2018 |archive-date=June 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190605110732/http://www.houseofsecretsincorporated.be/BCM.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Assistants ==
* Noboru Takahashi
* [[Robin Nishi]]
* [[Rumiko Takahashi]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{Official website|http://umezz.com}} (Japanese/English/German)
* {{anime News Network|people|36203}}
* [http://users.skynet.be/mangaguide/au2014.html Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219183043/http://users.skynet.be/mangaguide/au2014.html |date=February 19, 2019 }} at The Ultimate Manga Page
* [http://lambiek.net/artists/u/umezu_kazuo.htm Profile] at The [[Lambiek]] Comiclopedia
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170113020603/http://www.watashingo.com/ ''My Name Is Shingo''], the Musical

{{Kazuo Umezu}}
{{Shogakukan Manga Award - General}}
{{Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Umezu, Kazuo}}
[[Category:Kazuo Umezu| ]]
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:2024 deaths]]
[[Category:Japanese horror artists]]
[[Category:Japanese horror writers]]
[[Category:Manga artists from Nara Prefecture]]
[[Category:People from Wakayama Prefecture]]
[[Category:Winners of the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize (Special Award)]]