Yumiko Shirai

Yumiko Shirai (born (1967-03-15)March 15, 1967) is a Japanese manga artist. She is best known for her manga Wombs, winner of the 2017 Nihon SF Taisho Award.

Born in Ehime Prefecture,^[1] nYumiko Shirai is a graduate of the Kyoto City University of Arts and the Oil Painting Department of the Faculty of Fine Arts.^[1]

In 2007 her manga Tenken, published as a doujinshi (self-publication), won the encouragement award in the manga category at the 11th Japan Media Arts Festival.^[2][3] It was then published as a magazine by Sanctuary Publishing in 2008.

From 2009 onwards Yumiko Shirai created the manga Wombs, published as a monthly series in the pre-publication magazine Monthly Ikki by Shogakukan.^[4][5] Following the magazine's demise, Wombs continued to be published online, and the author took five years to deliver the fifth and final volume.^[6] In 2010, Wombs was included in the jury selection for the 14th Japan Media Arts Festival in the maga category.^[7][8]

From 2013 to 2015 she published a new series, Rafnas, in the magazine Monthly Action from Futabasha, which was in turn part of the jury's selection for the manga category.^[9]

In 2017 Wombs was awarded the 37th Nihon SF Taisho Award joining the exclusive club of mangas to have received this prize, which rewards a work of SF from all the arts.^[10]

In 2017 Yumiko Shirai became a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan.^[11][12]

In 2020, Yumiko Shirai began publishing a series entitled Wombs Cradle, a prequel to Wombs, which was published on publisher Futabasha's pre-publication website.^[13]

In 2021 the Wombs series was translated and published in French by Akata [fr] and was met with a positive reception, with critics noting that the manga renewed the themes of science fiction.^{[14][15][16][17][18]}

Yumiko Shirai creates her sketches on paper before finalising them using graphics software such as Painter, Photoshop^[19] and Clip Studio Paint. Shirai said she was influenced by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's manga Arion, but also by authors such as Moto Hagio, Yumiko Oshima and Mutsumi Hagiiwa.^[19]

• 2007: encouragement in the manga category at the 11th Japan Media Arts Festival for Tenkensai.
• 2010: jury selection in the manga category of the 14th Japan Media Arts Festival for Wombs.
• 2015: jury selection in the manga category of the 19th Japan Media Arts Festival for Rafnas.
• 2017: 37th Nihon SF Taisho Award for Wombs.
• 2017: Ehime culture award for Love Face.^[20]

• « Tenken Festival » (Éditions Sanctuaire, 30 juillet 2008,ISBN 978-4-86113-921-5)
• Wombs, Shogakukan, Ikki Comix, 5 volumes in total
  1. 2010,ISBN 978-4-09-188494-7
  2. 2011,ISBN 978-4-09-188539-5
  3. 2012,ISBN 978-4-09-188583-8
  4. 2013,ISBN 978-4-09-188626-2
  5. 2016,ISBN 978-4-09-188687-3
• Yumiko Shirai Early Shorts, Shogakukan, Ikki Comix, 2010,ISBN 978-4-09-179107-8
• Rafnas, Futabasha, Action Comics, 2 volumes in total
  1. 2014^[21] ISBN 978-4-575-84466-5
  2. 2015^[22] ISBN 978-4-575-84589-1
• Lune de miel d'Iwa et Niki, Akita Shoten, Bonita Comics, 2017^[23] ,ISBN 978-4-253-26068-8
• Osaka Circular Barrier City, éditions Akita Shoten, Bonita Comics, 3 volumes
  1. 2018^[24] ISBN 978-4-253-26431-0
  2. 2019^[25] ISBN 978-4-253-26432-7
  3. 2019^[26] ISBN 978-4-253-26433-4
• Wombs cradle, éditions Futabasha, Action Comics, 2 tomes au total
  1. 2021^[27] ISBN 978-4-575-44005-8
  2. 2021^[28] ISBN 978-4-575-44006-5

• Shinichi Hoshi, Akita Shoten, 2012, ISBN 978-4-253-10463-0,

• Dolly Ito (Iwasaki Shoten,2003,ISBN 978-4-265-04153-4
• Heisei Rumor Kaidan 5, Le chat noir revenant de l'enfer d'Iwasaki Shoten, 2003,ISBN 4-265-04755-6
• Kanata the Fox Whistle, Rironsha éditions, 2003,ISBN 978-4-652-07734-4