Waki Yamato, born on March 13, 1948, in Sapporo, Japan, is a highly influential Japanese manga artist whose career spans over five decades. Her real name is Kazuki Kino, and she is recognized as a key figure in the "Flower of 24 Years Group," a generation of female manga artists who revolutionized the shōjo genre in the 1970s. After graduating from Hokusei Gakuen Women's Junior College, she made her professional debut in 1966 with the short story "Dorobō Tenshi" (Thief Angel), which earned her a newcomer's award from publisher Kodansha.

Throughout her career, Yamato has consistently worked within the shōjo manga genre, creating numerous series that have been celebrated for their engaging narratives and artistic merit. Her work in the early 1970s, "Mon Chéri CoCo" (1971), was an early success that was adapted into an anime television series in 1972, establishing a pattern of her works being recognized for adaptation across different media.

Yamato achieved widespread fame and critical acclaim with her series "Haikara-san ga Tōru" (Here Comes Miss Modern), which was serialized in Kodansha's Shōjo Friend magazine from 1975 to 1977. This work became a landmark title, winning the first Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo manga in 1977. Its popularity led to numerous adaptations, including a 42-episode anime television series that aired from 1978 to 1979, multiple live-action television dramas, a live-action film in 1987, and a musical by the Takarazuka Revue. The series was also known internationally under various titles, including Smart-san and Mademoiselle Anne. Decades later, its enduring appeal was reaffirmed with the release of a two-part animated film adaptation in 2017 and 2018, which covered story arcs not included in the original anime series. Her body of work from this period solidified her status as one of the most prominent manga artists of her time.

Following the success of "Haikara-san ga Tōru," Yamato continued to produce notable series, many of which share a focus on strong, active heroines navigating historical settings. "Yokohama Monogatari" (The Story of Yokohama) and "N. Y. Komachi" (The Belle of New York) are historical manga set during the Meiji period, depicting young Japanese women who travel overseas, reflecting a recurring theme of independent female protagonists engaging with the wider world.

Her most ambitious and critically respected work is "Asaki Yume Mishi" (Dreams at Dawn), an adaptation of Murasaki Shikibu's classic 11th-century novel, The Tale of Genji. Yamato spent 13 years, from 1980 to 1993, meticulously researching and creating this multi-volume series, which is credited with making the ancient literary classic accessible to a new generation of readers. The series was a commercial success, with its collected volumes selling over 12 million copies. An original illustration from this series was even exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2019, underscoring its artistic significance. Her adaptation is noted for its careful attention to the historical details of the Heian period while interpreting the characters and plot through the visual idiom of shōjo manga to suit contemporary sensibilities.

Waki Yamato's significance in the manga and anime industry is substantial. She is a celebrated pioneer of shōjo manga whose commercial success, particularly with "Haikara-san ga Tōru" and "Asaki Yume Mishi," has been immense, with both series achieving multi-million copy sales. Her work has served as the source material for multiple generations of anime adaptations, from television series in the 1970s to feature films in the 2010s, demonstrating the lasting appeal of her storytelling. Furthermore, her scholarly approach to adapting The Tale of Genji into manga elevated the medium and demonstrated its potential for literary interpretation and historical representation, solidifying her legacy as an artist who contributed significantly to both the cultural and artistic stature of manga in Japan.