Takao Saito

Takao Saitō (斎藤隆夫, さいとう・たかを) is a Japanese manga artist. He is best-known for creating the successful series Golgo 13.

Life
Takao Saito was born on November 3, 1936 in Wakayama Prefecture. During his school days in Osaka he was the best in his class in drawing and fighting, and also considered becoming a boxer. After graduation from Junior High School in Osaka, he decided to become a manga artist, influenced by movies like King Kong and War of the Worlds.

He debuted with his first manga Baron Air (空気男爵) in 1955. In 1958 he moved to Tokyo, where he started a comic story atelier (劇画工房) together with 7 other artists (Masahiko Matsumoto, Aki Masa Sato, Fumi Ishikawa Yasu, Masaru Sakurai, Susumu Mon, Tsu Motomi, Qi Mahi). Since April 1960, he has run Saito Production, a company with currently 19 employees. In 1971 he also started to give courses in drawing manga.

In 1976, he won the 21st Shogakukan Manga Award for seinen/general manga for Golgo 13.

Selected works

 * Golgo 13 (1968)
 * Kage Gari (1969)
 * Survivor
 * Barom One (1970)
 * 4-issue James Bond manga published in 1964

Legacy
Takao Saito was among the 158 mangakas invited to celebrate the 50th anniversary of both Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine and Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine at the Tokyo Imperial Hotel.