Nekojiru
Description
The creator known as Nekojiru was Chiyomi Hashiguchi, born Chiyomi Nakayama on January 19, 1967, in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Her pen name, Nekojiru, is a portmanteau of the Japanese words for cat and soup. She was a self-taught manga artist who made her professional debut in June 1990 with the serialization of Nekojiru Udon in the monthly manga anthology Garo, a publication known for featuring experimental and avant-garde works. At the age of 18, she married alternative manga artist Hajime Yamano, whose work she assisted by shading backgrounds and scenes. It was while she was absentmindedly sketching what her husband described as an odd, octopus-like cat that he recognized the unique quality of her drawings, which he felt combined a raw, childlike appearance with elements that were simultaneously cute, repulsive, and cruel. Using this sketch as a motif, Yamano wrote a script which Hashiguchi illustrated, leading to the creation of her signature work, Nekojiru Udon.
With the exception of a single work titled Tsunami, all of Nekojiru's manga feature main characters drawn as cats, most famously the siblings Nyako and Nyatta. Even in her autobiographical manga essays, Jirujiru Travel Journal and Jirujiru Diary, she drew herself as a cat. Her stories are set not in a fantastical forest but in the human world, where these anthropomorphic characters navigate daily life. The major themes of her work are a childlike sense of zaniness, stark cruelty, and nostalgia. Many of her bizarre fantasy narratives, as noted in the posthumously released compilation Nekojiru Udon 3, were based on her own dream experiences, and references to psychedelic drugs also appear in her work. Her art style is characterized by simple linework and exaggerated expressions, creating a jarring juxtaposition between the cute, cartoonish designs of her characters and the often brutal, absurd, or nihilistic scenarios they encounter.
The popularity of her work surged during the mid to late 1990s as part of a trend toward subversive manga, with its pop aesthetics and surreal presentation appealing to the general public, particularly teenagers. This increased demand placed an enormous workload on both Hashiguchi and her husband. In April and May of 1998, she spoke with several editors, complaining about the demanding workload and the artistic limitations being imposed upon her. On May 10, 1998, at the age of 31, Chiyomi Hashiguchi died by suicide. Her suicide note contained requests to be forgotten, to have no grave, and for no discussion of the reasons behind her death. She also requested to be buried with the complete CD albums of the musician Aphex Twin. While her husband declined to provide details about her motives, he denied media speculation that her death was a copycat suicide following the death of musician hide. Shortly before her death, her characters Nyako and Nyatta had been selected for promotional campaigns by Tokyo Electric, but these plans were canceled following her passing. Her husband, working under the pen name Nekojiru-y, has continued to produce new works within the world she created.
There have been two animated adaptations of Nekojiru's manga, both centered on the family of Nyako, Nyatta, and their parents. The first was Nekojiru Gekijou, a series of 27 two-minute episodes that aired on Japanese television in 1999 as a segment of the Asahi Television program Bakusho-Mondai no Boss-Kyara-O, led by the comedy duo Bakusho Mondai. The second and more internationally recognized adaptation is the 2001 original video animation Nekojiru Sou, released in English as Cat Soup. This surreal half-hour film, directed by Tatsuo Sato with co-writer and animation producer Masaaki Yuasa, was produced posthumously as a tribute to Nekojiru. It is not a direct adaptation of her manga stories but rather an original visualization intended to be parallel to her unique worldview, exploring themes of mortality, the afterlife, and the indifference of higher powers. Nekojiru's work continues to be recognized for its influence on alternative manga and has been introduced to new audiences, with an English translation of Nekojiru Udon announced for publication in 2026.
With the exception of a single work titled Tsunami, all of Nekojiru's manga feature main characters drawn as cats, most famously the siblings Nyako and Nyatta. Even in her autobiographical manga essays, Jirujiru Travel Journal and Jirujiru Diary, she drew herself as a cat. Her stories are set not in a fantastical forest but in the human world, where these anthropomorphic characters navigate daily life. The major themes of her work are a childlike sense of zaniness, stark cruelty, and nostalgia. Many of her bizarre fantasy narratives, as noted in the posthumously released compilation Nekojiru Udon 3, were based on her own dream experiences, and references to psychedelic drugs also appear in her work. Her art style is characterized by simple linework and exaggerated expressions, creating a jarring juxtaposition between the cute, cartoonish designs of her characters and the often brutal, absurd, or nihilistic scenarios they encounter.
The popularity of her work surged during the mid to late 1990s as part of a trend toward subversive manga, with its pop aesthetics and surreal presentation appealing to the general public, particularly teenagers. This increased demand placed an enormous workload on both Hashiguchi and her husband. In April and May of 1998, she spoke with several editors, complaining about the demanding workload and the artistic limitations being imposed upon her. On May 10, 1998, at the age of 31, Chiyomi Hashiguchi died by suicide. Her suicide note contained requests to be forgotten, to have no grave, and for no discussion of the reasons behind her death. She also requested to be buried with the complete CD albums of the musician Aphex Twin. While her husband declined to provide details about her motives, he denied media speculation that her death was a copycat suicide following the death of musician hide. Shortly before her death, her characters Nyako and Nyatta had been selected for promotional campaigns by Tokyo Electric, but these plans were canceled following her passing. Her husband, working under the pen name Nekojiru-y, has continued to produce new works within the world she created.
There have been two animated adaptations of Nekojiru's manga, both centered on the family of Nyako, Nyatta, and their parents. The first was Nekojiru Gekijou, a series of 27 two-minute episodes that aired on Japanese television in 1999 as a segment of the Asahi Television program Bakusho-Mondai no Boss-Kyara-O, led by the comedy duo Bakusho Mondai. The second and more internationally recognized adaptation is the 2001 original video animation Nekojiru Sou, released in English as Cat Soup. This surreal half-hour film, directed by Tatsuo Sato with co-writer and animation producer Masaaki Yuasa, was produced posthumously as a tribute to Nekojiru. It is not a direct adaptation of her manga stories but rather an original visualization intended to be parallel to her unique worldview, exploring themes of mortality, the afterlife, and the indifference of higher powers. Nekojiru's work continues to be recognized for its influence on alternative manga and has been introduced to new audiences, with an English translation of Nekojiru Udon announced for publication in 2026.
Works
- Topics: Anime overview