Akiko Hatsu

Akiko Hatsu (波津 彬子) is a Japanese manga artist born on December 16, 1959, in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. From the time she was in high school, she assisted her older sister, professional manga artist Yukiko Kai. After graduating high school, she began working for a printing company in Kanazawa City, but she soon quit in order to become a full-time assistant to her sister. She also began to assist other professional artists, most notably Moto Hagio.

Throughout this period, Hatsu was creating self-published manga with her friend Yasuko Sakata (who also went on to become a prominent professional manga artist), and sometime around 1980, the two of them coined the term yaoi. In 1980, Yukiko Kai died of stomach cancer at the age of 26. The following year, Hatsu made her professional debut in the magazine ALLAN with the short story "Elegy of the Waves" (波の挽歌).

Her work has been published in numerous magazines, including DUO (published by Asahi Sonorama), Grapefruit (グレープフルーツ) (published by Shinshokan), Petit Flower (プチフラワー) (published by Shogakukan, later retitled flowers), Strange Stories for Sleepless Nights (眠れぬ夜の奇妙な話) (published by the Asahi Shimbun Corporation, later retitled Nemuki (ネムキ)). Hatsu served as an adjunct instructor at Kyoto Seika University until retiring in 2005 due to health issues.

Works

 * B Class Paradise! (B級パラダイス!)
 * (April 1984)


 * Garden of Light, The Wind's Rising Shadow (光の庭·風の立つ影)
 * (July 1987)


 * Perfect Gentlemen (パーフェクト·ジェントルマン)
 * (November 1988, bunko edition released June 2000)


 * Lively Golden Waves (さざめく黄金(きん) の波)
 * (July 1989)


 * Night Tales of Enjakuan (燕雀庵夜咄)
 * (September 1989, bunko edition December 1999)


 * A Pleasure to Meet You (お目にかかれて)
 * (April 1990, bunko edition June 2000)


 * Uryūdō Dream Tales (雨柳堂夢咄)
 * (Published in Strange Stories for Sleepless Nights (眠れぬ夜の奇妙な話) [later changed to Nemuki (ネムキ)] from 1991 until 2007.) A series of short occult mystery stories set in Meiji Period Japan and featuring Ren, a young man who works in an antique shop named Uryūdō and who can see and communicate with the spirits that inhabit antiques. Currently available in wide-ban and bunko editions from Asahi Shimbun. Was a Jury Recommended work in the 2008 Japan Media Arts Festival.


 * Devil in the Water (水に棲む鬼)
 * (July 1992, Asahi Sonorama, bunko edition September 2000, new edition October 2007); published in English in 2000 by ComicsOne.


 * Mourning of Autumn Rain (秋霖の忌)
 * (November 1992, Asahi Sonorama; bunko edition 2001 (Hakusensha), new edition October 2007. A collection of short love stories; the title story is about a young man involved with his brother's widow. Published in English by ComicsOne.


 * Night Comes and Talks of Love (夜は来て愛を語り)
 * (November 1993, bunko edition June 2003, new edition October 2007)


 * Master of the Haunted Inn: Tales of the Pale I (幽霊宿の主人(あるじ) 冥境青譚抄·一)
 * (June 1994)


 * Peony Lantern (牡丹灯篭)
 * (July 1995, new edition October 2007)


 * Dreams and Illusions of Reflected Flowers (鏡花夢幻)
 * (November 1995, bunko edition June 2000, new edition October 2007)


 * Reflected Moon: Tales of the Pale II (水の中の月 冥境青譚抄·二)
 * (May 1996)


 * The Doors of Nine Nights (9つの夜の扉)
 * (September 1997, new edition October 2007)


 * The Foreign Flower Guard (異国の花守)
 * (September 1997)


 * The Foreign Flower Guard: The Flowers' Voice (異国の花守 花の聲)
 * (March 1999)


 * Beautiful England Series (うるわしの英国シリーズ)
 * (Published in Flowers (フラワーズ) from 2000 to 2007.) A series of short stories with an element of fantasy set in Victorian England and centering on Cornelius Everdeanne, a young, handsome heir to an earldom. Currently available in an wide-ban edition from Shogakukan.