Kaya Tsukiyama

Description
Kaya Tsukiyama is a Japanese manga artist known for his long-running work on the soccer manga The Knight in the Area. Tsukiyama was born on October 25 in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. He made his professional debut in 2000 with a short story titled Face Revolution, published in Kodansha's Magazine FRESH. After creating several other short works and one short-lived serial, LIFE★LIFE, in Magazine SPECIAL, he began his most famous project in 2006.

Tsukiyama is best known as the illustrator of The Knight in the Area, which was serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine from 2006 to 2017. The story was written by Hiroaki Igano, a pen name for the manga writer Shin Kibayashi. The manga follows Kakeru and Suguru Aizawa, two brothers who are both talented soccer players, with the younger brother Kakeru as the protagonist. The series was a commercial success and became Tsukiyama's definitive work. Its popularity led to a 37-episode anime television adaptation produced by Shin-Ei Animation, which aired on TV Asahi from January to September 2012. For the anime, Tsukiyama is credited with the original character designs.

Following the conclusion of The Knight in the Area, Tsukiyama continued his creative partnership with writer Hiroaki Igano. Together, they created the series The Lover of God, serialized in Weekly Young Magazine from 2019 to 2020. They subsequently launched another series, iCONTACT, in Weekly Shonen Magazine, which ran from 2021 to 2022.

Tsukiyama's professional identity is closely tied to his long-term collaboration with a writer, as he has primarily worked as an illustrator on stories written by Hiroaki Igano. His artistic career has been dedicated to shonen manga, with a particular focus on sports and action series. The Knight in the Area remains his most significant contribution to the industry, establishing him as a notable creator in the sports manga genre. His consistent output with a single writing partner demonstrates a stable and focused career within the competitive landscape of weekly manga publication.
Works