Tokiwa-so Apartment

Model of the Tokiwa-so Apartment where Tezuka Osamu, Mizuno Hideko and other mangaka lived in Tokyo’s Toshima Ward

This is the fourth in a series of posts related to the upcoming exhibit at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum:  World of Shojo Manga: Mirrors of Girls’ Desires (March 28, 2015 – July 5, 2015). A small rotating exhibit on the 3rd floor of Thompson Library highlights cartoonists who will be included in the exhibit!

Mizuno Hideko was the only female mangaka to live at Tokiwa-so Apartment, a kind of atelier where several famous cartoonists lived during 1952 ~ 1980.  They collected their memories and cartoons about life there for a book, Tokiwasō seishun monogatari, of which the Billy Ireland Library & Museum holds three editions. The building no longer exists, but a model of it has been set up (see picture) as part of the Tokiwa-so Street Project aimed at regional revitalization and urban development utilizing the manga culture in Toshima Ward of Tokyo.  For people visiting the site there is now a “Tokiwa-so Oyasumidokoro” where works by the cartoonists are available to browse and various events are held.

Ohio State University Libraries holds several works by Mizuko Hideko, but her most famous titles, such as Fire! ファイヤー!(first shojo manga with a male protagonist (rock star)– published 1969-1971), are still on our desiderata list!