Masao Yajima
Description
Masao Yajima is a Japanese manga writer and screenwriter born on February 15, 1950, in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. He began his writing career after graduating from Toyo University, earning recognition in 1976 when his work was selected as an honorable mention in the first Creative Television Drama Awards. This early success marked the beginning of a prolific career as a scriptwriter for live-action television dramas, a field in which he remained active from the 1980s through the early 2010s.
As an original creator in manga, Yajima is best known for writing the series Human Crossing (also known as Human Scramble). The manga was serialized in Shogakukan's Big Comic Original magazine from 1980 to 1991 and was illustrated by artist Kenshi Hirokane. The work is a collection of unrelated short stories exploring the everyday lives and moral lessons of ordinary people. Human Crossing received the 1985 Shogakukan Manga Award in the general category, solidifying Yajima's reputation as a writer of serious, humanistic drama. The manga was later adapted into a thirteen-episode anime television series produced by studio A.C.G.T, which aired from April to June 2003 on TV Tokyo. Yajima also adapted his original manga into a live-action television drama titled New Human Crossing, which aired on NHK in 2006, for which he wrote the screenplay.
Beyond his most famous work, Yajima has written original manga across various genres. He created the science fiction shonen manga Ryu, illustrated by Akira Oze, which was serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday from 1986 to 1988. The story follows a boy transported to a post-apocalyptic future where he uses modern knowledge to lead a resistance against an empire. In the late 2000s, Yajima wrote the manga Sanctum, illustrated by artist Boichi. Serialized in Kodansha's Morning magazine from 2008 to 2010, Sanctum is a supernatural thriller about a young girl who survives a fatal car accident and makes a pact with a divine entity, leading the Vatican to question whether she is the Christ or the Antichrist.
Yajima's artistic identity is rooted in social observation and human drama, often exploring the complexities and moral ambiguities of contemporary life. His work consistently avoids simple genre tropes in favor of nuanced, character-driven narratives. In addition to his creative work, Yajima has contributed to the industry as an educator, opening the Masao Yajima Script School in November 2009 to teach the craft of screenwriting. His dual career as both a manga creator and a television screenwriter is distinctive, as he frequently served as the original creator, writer, or adapter for projects across both media.
As an original creator in manga, Yajima is best known for writing the series Human Crossing (also known as Human Scramble). The manga was serialized in Shogakukan's Big Comic Original magazine from 1980 to 1991 and was illustrated by artist Kenshi Hirokane. The work is a collection of unrelated short stories exploring the everyday lives and moral lessons of ordinary people. Human Crossing received the 1985 Shogakukan Manga Award in the general category, solidifying Yajima's reputation as a writer of serious, humanistic drama. The manga was later adapted into a thirteen-episode anime television series produced by studio A.C.G.T, which aired from April to June 2003 on TV Tokyo. Yajima also adapted his original manga into a live-action television drama titled New Human Crossing, which aired on NHK in 2006, for which he wrote the screenplay.
Beyond his most famous work, Yajima has written original manga across various genres. He created the science fiction shonen manga Ryu, illustrated by Akira Oze, which was serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday from 1986 to 1988. The story follows a boy transported to a post-apocalyptic future where he uses modern knowledge to lead a resistance against an empire. In the late 2000s, Yajima wrote the manga Sanctum, illustrated by artist Boichi. Serialized in Kodansha's Morning magazine from 2008 to 2010, Sanctum is a supernatural thriller about a young girl who survives a fatal car accident and makes a pact with a divine entity, leading the Vatican to question whether she is the Christ or the Antichrist.
Yajima's artistic identity is rooted in social observation and human drama, often exploring the complexities and moral ambiguities of contemporary life. His work consistently avoids simple genre tropes in favor of nuanced, character-driven narratives. In addition to his creative work, Yajima has contributed to the industry as an educator, opening the Masao Yajima Script School in November 2009 to teach the craft of screenwriting. His dual career as both a manga creator and a television screenwriter is distinctive, as he frequently served as the original creator, writer, or adapter for projects across both media.
Works
- Topics: Anime overview