Minetarō Mochizuki is a Japanese manga artist born on January 29, 1964, in Yokohama, Japan. He grew up in a single-parent household and spent considerable time alone, which led to an early interest in drawing and a deep engagement with horror manga, particularly the works of Kazuo Umezu. Mochizuki graduated from Tokyo Design Gakuin, and his professional career began when he won the 11th Tetsuya Chiba Award for outstanding newcomer in 1984 for his short story "Tadatada Honobo no Heart."

Mochizuki made his professional debut in 1985 in Kodansha's seinen magazine Weekly Young Magazine. That same year, he launched his first major serialized work, Bataashi Kingyo, a comedy about an unpopular high school student who joins the swimming team to pursue a romantic interest despite being unable to swim. The series ran until 1988 and was later adapted into a live-action film in 1990, directed by Joji Matsuoka. Throughout the 1990s, he continued to work for Young Magazine, producing a diverse range of titles. These include the horror manga Hauntress in 1993 and the comedy Samehada Otoko to Momojiri Onna, also known as Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl, which was serialized from 1993 to 1994. This latter work was adapted into a live-action film in 1999 directed by Katsuhito Ishii.

One of Mochizuki's most significant critical and popular successes is the manga Dragon Head, serialized in Weekly Young Magazine from 1994 to 1999. The story follows a high school student who survives a train accident inside a tunnel only to emerge into a post-apocalyptic, devastated world. Dragon Head earned him the Award for General Manga at the 21st Kodansha Manga Award and the Award for Excellence at the 4th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. The series was also adapted into a live-action film in 2003. In the 2000s, Mochizuki shifted his focus to Kodansha's Morning magazine, where he created series such as Maiwai (2002-2008) and Tōkyō Kaidō (2008-2010).

In the 2010s, Mochizuki began working with Shogakukan and increasingly turned his attention to adaptations of pre-existing works. From 2012 to 2015, he serialized Chiisakobee, a manga adaptation of a novel by Shūgorō Yamamoto, in Big Comic Spirits. This work received significant acclaim, winning an Excellence Award at the 17th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2013 and the Fauve D'Angoulême - Prix de la Série at the Angoulême International Comics Festival in 2017. In 2018, at the request of filmmaker Wes Anderson and writer Kunichi Nomura, Mochizuki created a manga adaptation of the animated film Isle of Dogs, which was serialized in Morning.

Mochizuki's artistic identity is characterized by stylistic versatility and a focus on psychological depth. While he is known for masterful horror works like Hauntress and Dragon Head, his career demonstrates a consistent refusal to be confined to a single genre, encompassing youth comedies, yakuza stories, and adventure tales. He has cited the Japanese New Wave movement and the heta-uma (bad but good) artist Yoshikazu Ebisu as major influences on his work. In discussing the creative process for Dragon Head, Mochizuki has emphasized the importance of maintaining the characters' limited perspective, avoiding omniscient shots to make the audience sympathize with their fear. He has stated a core belief that fear is born from imagination and that not revealing too much to the reader is crucial for maintaining tension. This philosophy extends to his view of the creative act itself, which he has likened to building a baseball field in a cornfield, advising that the most important step is simply to begin making something. His industry significance is marked not only by his numerous prestigious awards and successful live-action adaptations but also by his influence on younger artists and his ability to move between original creations and acclaimed literary and cinematic adaptations.