Kenshi Hirokane is a Japanese mangaka. Making use of his background as a salaried worker, he has drawn works on the theme of the lives of various adults in modern society and their conflicts. His representative work, the "Kosaku Shima" series was serialized for more than 30 years and became Hirokane's masterpiece. Others representative works include the "Ningen Kousaten" and "Tasogare Ryuuseigun".
He is the President of Hirokane Production Co. and a visiting professor at the Department of Human Communication, Faculty of Welfare and Information Studies, Tokuyama University. He graduated from Waseda University Faculty of Law.
He belonged to a manga research group while at school. In elementary school, he became a Osamu Tezuka fan and aspired to become a manga artist. In the association with other university manga clubs, he met Kaiji Kawaguchi and Ryohei Saigan
After graduating, he worked in the advertising department of Matsushita Electric Industrial(now Panasonic) for four years, However, Hirokane, who used "enjoyment" as a criterion in his life, decided that working at a company was not a job for him, and that he wanted to draw manga: he left the company to become a manga artist. At the time, there were still very few manga artists who had been salaried employees of major companies, and Hirokane was one of the first to do so. He made his debut as a manga artist in 1974 with "Kaze Kaoru", which was serialized in the magazine Big Comic.
In 1980, he attracted attention with "Hello Harinezumi" which was serialized in Young Magazine, and in the same year, "Ningen Kousaten" (original work: Masao Yajima), which was serialized in Big Comic Original, received high acclaim. In 1980, he married the mangaka Saimon Fumi, and in 1983, "Kaichou Shima Kosaku" became a big hit when it was serialized in Morning.
In addition to manga, he has published many books advising middle-aged and elderly people on how to live with retirement and death in mind. In his manga works, bed scenes are frequently depicted. His concept is "to draw them beautifully, sexily, and elegantly without getting dirty". He professes to be a fan of mature women, and his works often depict even the pubic hair of women whose body lines are broken.
In 2006, he began working as a dialogue partner for Seibu Mae in the "Today's Chit Chat" series of books.
He spends his mornings working on ideas at a family restaurant, writes in the afternoon and early morning, and sleeps for about four hours. In order to prioritize his work as a cartoonist, he has refused to appear on TV . Shirokane has a distinctive appearance with a mustache. He has also written many essays.and has been a fan of the Hiroshima Carp for 50 years.
His hobby is golf, in 2010 he said that he had been playing for 26 years, but he also said that he was not very good at it, making a lot of OB shots.
In addition, he is a trustee of the Matsushita Institute of Government and Economics and a special lecturer in the Design and Art Department at Yamaguchi Art College.
With his wife, he has one son and one daughter, who is a freelance illustrator. His daughter joined the comedian Kazuma Sparkin on June 15, 2019.
Businessman Shuzo Sumi was a classmate in junior high school.
Kenshi Hirokane won the 30th Shogakukan Manga Award for "Ningen Kousaten" in 1985, the 15th Kodansha Manga Award for "Kachou Shima Kousaku" in 1991, and the Excellence Award in the Manga Division of the Japan Media Arts Festival and the Grand Prize of the Japan Cartoonists Association for "Tasogare Ryuuseigun" in 2000. He was also awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon in 2007.
