Mari Yamazaki
Description
Mari Yamazaki is a Japanese manga artist and author, born in Tokyo on April 20, 1967. She is widely recognized as the creator behind the acclaimed manga series Thermae Romae, as well as the manga Olympia Kyklos, which was adapted into the anime Extra Olympia Kyklos. Her career is distinguished by a unique international background that deeply informs her creative work.
Yamazaki's artistic journey began at a young age when she left Japan at seventeen to study art history and oil painting at the National Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, Italy. This decision followed an earlier solo trip to Europe when she was just fourteen, where she met an Italian ceramic artist who convinced her to pursue her studies in Italy instead of the United Kingdom. She later lived in several countries, including Syria, Portugal, and the United States, and has maintained residences in both Italy and Japan.
She made her debut as a manga artist in 1997. In the early years of her career, she held various jobs to support herself and her son, including teaching Italian at a university and working as a television reporter specializing in hot spring resorts. This experience with Japanese bathing culture would later become the direct inspiration for her major breakthrough work, Thermae Romae.
Thermae Romae is a seinen comedy manga that follows Lucius, an ancient Roman bath architect who time-travels to modern-day Japan. He becomes fascinated by Japanese bathing technology and customs, which he calls the culture of the "flat-faced tribe," and brings these ideas back to the Roman Empire. The manga was a commercial and critical success, winning the third Manga Taishō Award and the Short Story Award at the fourteenth Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prizes in 2010. Its popularity led to multiple adaptations. A three-episode television anime aired in 2012, and a two-part live-action film series was released in 2012 and 2014. A second anime adaptation, titled Thermae Romae Novae, was produced by the studio NAZ and premiered globally on Netflix in March 2022. A notable feature of this later adaptation is that each episode concludes with a live-action segment where Yamazaki herself travels to and explores different hot springs in Japan.
Beyond Thermae Romae, Yamazaki is the original creator of Olympia Kyklos. This manga was serialized in the seinen magazine Grand Jump from 2018 to 2022 and is a comedy with historical elements. It tells the story of a timid ancient Greek potter who is forced to compete in sports and, after traveling through time, brings the concept of the Olympic Games back to his village. The manga was adapted into a 24-episode anime series titled Extra Olympia Kyklos, which aired in 2020. The anime is notable for its unique production, as it was created using claymation, a style of stop-motion animation.
Recurring themes in Yamazaki's work often stem from her own life as a global citizen. Her stories frequently bridge the past and present, as well as different cultures, highlighting both the absurdities and harmonies that arise from cross-cultural exchange. This artistic identity is rooted in her personal philosophy. She has stated that she believes human beings always repeat the same things and think about the same things throughout history, a concept she explores in her time-travel narratives. Her extensive international experience provides a detached yet affectionate perspective on both her native Japan and her adopted Western cultures.
Mari Yamazaki holds significant standing within the manga industry. She has been honored with a Commander of the Order of the Star of Italy for her contributions to the growth of Italian culture. Her work has been featured in major museum exhibitions, such as the de Young Museum's "The Art of Manga" show in San Francisco in 2025, where she credited the city and her grandfather's history there as an influence on her career. Her bibliography includes numerous other works, such as Plinius (co-authored with Miki Tori), a manga about the natural philosopher Pliny the Elder, and a sequel to her most famous work, Thermae Romae Redux, which began publication in 2024.
Yamazaki's artistic journey began at a young age when she left Japan at seventeen to study art history and oil painting at the National Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, Italy. This decision followed an earlier solo trip to Europe when she was just fourteen, where she met an Italian ceramic artist who convinced her to pursue her studies in Italy instead of the United Kingdom. She later lived in several countries, including Syria, Portugal, and the United States, and has maintained residences in both Italy and Japan.
She made her debut as a manga artist in 1997. In the early years of her career, she held various jobs to support herself and her son, including teaching Italian at a university and working as a television reporter specializing in hot spring resorts. This experience with Japanese bathing culture would later become the direct inspiration for her major breakthrough work, Thermae Romae.
Thermae Romae is a seinen comedy manga that follows Lucius, an ancient Roman bath architect who time-travels to modern-day Japan. He becomes fascinated by Japanese bathing technology and customs, which he calls the culture of the "flat-faced tribe," and brings these ideas back to the Roman Empire. The manga was a commercial and critical success, winning the third Manga Taishō Award and the Short Story Award at the fourteenth Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prizes in 2010. Its popularity led to multiple adaptations. A three-episode television anime aired in 2012, and a two-part live-action film series was released in 2012 and 2014. A second anime adaptation, titled Thermae Romae Novae, was produced by the studio NAZ and premiered globally on Netflix in March 2022. A notable feature of this later adaptation is that each episode concludes with a live-action segment where Yamazaki herself travels to and explores different hot springs in Japan.
Beyond Thermae Romae, Yamazaki is the original creator of Olympia Kyklos. This manga was serialized in the seinen magazine Grand Jump from 2018 to 2022 and is a comedy with historical elements. It tells the story of a timid ancient Greek potter who is forced to compete in sports and, after traveling through time, brings the concept of the Olympic Games back to his village. The manga was adapted into a 24-episode anime series titled Extra Olympia Kyklos, which aired in 2020. The anime is notable for its unique production, as it was created using claymation, a style of stop-motion animation.
Recurring themes in Yamazaki's work often stem from her own life as a global citizen. Her stories frequently bridge the past and present, as well as different cultures, highlighting both the absurdities and harmonies that arise from cross-cultural exchange. This artistic identity is rooted in her personal philosophy. She has stated that she believes human beings always repeat the same things and think about the same things throughout history, a concept she explores in her time-travel narratives. Her extensive international experience provides a detached yet affectionate perspective on both her native Japan and her adopted Western cultures.
Mari Yamazaki holds significant standing within the manga industry. She has been honored with a Commander of the Order of the Star of Italy for her contributions to the growth of Italian culture. Her work has been featured in major museum exhibitions, such as the de Young Museum's "The Art of Manga" show in San Francisco in 2025, where she credited the city and her grandfather's history there as an influence on her career. Her bibliography includes numerous other works, such as Plinius (co-authored with Miki Tori), a manga about the natural philosopher Pliny the Elder, and a sequel to her most famous work, Thermae Romae Redux, which began publication in 2024.
Works
- Topics: Anime overview
- Topics: Anime overview