Masayuki Ishikawa is a Japanese manga artist born on October 23, 1974, in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. He made his professional debut in 1997 with the short story Nippon Seifu Chokkatsu Kidō Sentai Kōmuin V, published in Bessatsu Young Magazine. Two years later, he earned the Tetsuya Chiba Award for his short story Kami no Sumu Yama. These early works established him as a distinctive voice in the manga industry, but his major breakthrough came with the series that would define much of his career.

Ishikawa is best known as the creator of Moyasimon: Tales of Agriculture, also known as Moyashimon. The manga was serialized in Kodansha's Evening magazine from 2004 to 2014 before moving to Morning Two for its final year. The story follows a college student at an agricultural university who possesses the unique ability to see and communicate with microorganisms, which are visualized as tiny, expressive characters. The series proved to be both a commercial and critical success. In 2008, it won the Kodansha Manga Award in the general category and received the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, one of Japan's most prestigious manga honors. It later won the Seiun Award in 2015. The popularity of Moyasimon led to two television anime adaptations, Moyashimon and Moyashimon Returns, as well as a live-action television series. The manga ran for thirteen volumes.

Following the success of Moyasimon, Ishikawa created Maria the Virgin Witch, serialized in Kodansha's Good! Afternoon magazine from 2008 to 2013. Set during the Hundred Years' War, the story follows a powerful witch who uses her magic to protect a French village from the ravages of conflict. However, her actions draw the attention of the archangel Michael, who forces her to swear an oath of chastity or lose her powers forever. The manga was collected in three volumes and also received an anime adaptation. The English-language publisher Kodansha Comics has described the series as originating from the creator of Moyasimon, highlighting the recognition Ishikawa had already achieved.

Since 2015, Ishikawa has worked on Madowanai Hoshi, serialized in the magazine Morning. The series is set in a world devastated by climate change, where humanity is forced to live within a domed environment. This work continues his pattern of engaging with complex, research-intensive subject matter.

A defining characteristic of Ishikawa's work is his willingness to tackle topics he initially finds unappealing or intimidating. In a published conversation, he has stated that he prefers to draw about things he does not know, believing that researching unfamiliar subjects reveals interesting details that can be shared with readers. He has applied this approach to bacteria and fermentation for Moyasimon, religious themes for Maria the Virgin Witch, and space for Madowanai Hoshi, a subject he has admitted to finding daunting. His creative process is also marked by his admiration for filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, particularly the way Kurosawa ensured that even background characters acted persuasively to create a believable world. Ishikawa draws without assistants and pays careful attention to backgrounds and crowd scenes, putting effort into rendering even minor characters with care. His work has been analyzed for how it gives voice and figuration to invisible life forms, using the concept of fermentation as a metaphor for open, interconnected, and hospitable forms of dwelling in an uncertain world.

Masayuki Ishikawa holds a significant place in contemporary manga as an artist who bridges educational content with entertainment, earning both popular success and critical recognition, including the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. His major works have consistently been adapted into anime, bringing his distinctive vision to broader audiences.