Kazuhide Ichikawa: Bears, Peanuts, Edo Museums and Growing Old

WORKING HARD FOR IT, HONEY

It was a sunny afternoon in Tokyo. Kaz took us to a quiet and kind of family-type coffee in Shibuya, near his office. He had been working till that moment and, afterwards, he would came back to it. So, we asked, the cliché about manga artists working day and night, is it true? «I work 24/7. Starting from morning till night. Not kidding», affirmed Kaz with his warm, nice-to-hear voice. «In October I had to sleep at the office, because I was quite busy and and had a very tight dead-line», remembered the interviewed.

Kaz drawing himself for Gayumbos. Isn’t he nice?

He’s big, like many of his characters. Gentle, calm and attractive in many ways. Patient with our defective English speaking and open to talk about everything. He told us he was happy because this January (2015) he’ll publish a story in USA, in a compilation of gay manga artist to be presented in New York. It includes an introductory page of himself, although we don’t know if there will be a photo of Kaz in it. He is, as most of manga artist, very reluctant of expose his image to the public.

BIG (and gay) IN JAPAN

«Establishing identity as gay is very difficult here. Is very different from Western countries. People don’t ask about that, though it is slowly changing».

{About coming out…}

«Some people do that, not all. It’s quite easy to be gay in Tokyo or Kyoto, in big cities. In the countryside you just don’t tell».

PURPOSE OF YOUR WORK

«In my manga (*) I’m trying to create some entertaining for gay people as a gay person. That is the major object of my creation», told us the author, who thinks that, «maybe«, in this aspect he’s quite different from «another gay manga artist».

(*: you have to listen Kaz saying manga; it’s one of the hottest things)

Born in Nagoya, Kazuhide is living in Tokyo since he was young, with a little impasse of 4 years spent in Australia («I enjoyed that«, he claimed). His fav spot of the japanese megalopolis is the Edo Museum, where the visitants can travel in time some centuries ago, when Tokyo was called Edo. Kaz confess he had never been to Spain, «unfortunately«. His fav tv series is Father Ted, from the 90s, BBC production. «It’s about a priest that lives in a isolated island. It’s so weird, I like it«. And what is his fav manga? «Can’t think of one now«, responded. Ours is Crayon Shin Chan, we informed. «That’s cute», quoted Kaz smiling. No, no, YOU are cute, Kaz. And then he got inspired: «I love Snoopy. The entire society in it, not one specific character«.

READERS

Some girls even, but mostly «young to middle-aged» male gay. Feedback? «They tell me they like my manga, or they’re looking forward to read more«. Sometimes, readers suggest characters or plots to Kaz. We did it, too. A bullfighter. He smiled gently and promised to give it a chance in the future. Who knows, right?

MUSES AND HOLIDAYS

«My inspiration is my desire. I’m making the manga I would like to read. I get inspirations from movies, tvs, reading books, or going to museums. Recently I went to the Tokyo National Museum, and I really enjoyed a exposition about Italian artists. I was wondering how I could used that for my new manga. Dunno«.

{If you had a month off, with all paid, you will…}

(silence) «I will read books. Watch movies. Go to the museums». (no travel abroad?) «Travelling is fine, but right now I’m more interested in my manga work. So, if I had a month off, I’ll probably do a new manga». (our facepalm) «Is part of my life, you can’t segregate manga from me. I’ve being doing it since my childhood».

LOVE & SEX IN REAL LIFE

Kaz made jokes about not having private life because he have no time: he just works, his life is «the manga creation». We insisted: Are you single? «I have a partner». Then, he talked about ex boyfriends that considered him «stupid» for being a manga artist. «You’re doing stupid things, he said that. My ex didn’t like my manga». And what about your sexual life? Describe us a sexual fantasy, we asked. In my manga? (No). In my real life? (Yep). Hum! (charming)
My sexual activity is quite different from the one in my manga… is not possible to practice everything! (laughs) What can I say? I am more quiet, easy-going but quiet, I think (more laughs).

YOU, NOW

«I’m working in a new manga about two straight daddies that fall in love with each other. I’d like to make a story of how they are going to stablish their relationship, because they recognize themselves as straight but they found out the love between them, so they have to accept that, accept their sexuality, their identity. And that is a challenge».

Even in Japanese, without understanding the dialogues of his characters, Kaz’s stories are so amazing. Full of sex and comedy, of life and pure impulses. Of people that just want to be happy, not hurting anybody in the way. It must be so difficult to create a manga where readers get a hard on and then laugh in the middle of a fucking, and again the hard on. And the kindness, and the affection for the fictional roles, so close to the reality, so eager to love and be loved. And, again, Kaz make all of this without apparent complexity, with clear lines. That must be his greatness.

IT’S EVOLUTION, BABY!

Kaz is crystal-clear: «Almost 50% of the pages, maybe more. People are mostly buying my manga as porn, that function, so I try to do my job. This is what I’ve been doing for almost 20 years (I am 43 now)». He’s so comfortable with the genre of his manga.

Of course, Kazuhide’s drawings has changed during this time. Also, the inner elements of this stories: «I got older, so the point of view has changed too. The things you can say from the twenties or thirties are slightly different when you reach the forties. It’s adding another colour to my creations». We wanted more explanations here. «When you’re young, you tend to be very intolerant to the others, you can’t forgive. When you reach certain age, you become more kind, more easy-going. You have made mistakes and learned from them, so you understand that the others can make mistakes too. This adds another dimension to my characters«.

SPANIARDS ARE LOCOS

Ever been translated to Spanish? Kaz smiles with his usual kindness and said «no». Then, added: «Some of my manga has been ilegally published in Germany, USA or Spain, I know that, but, what can I do? So far I have only one manga translated in a legal way to English».
«I respect people that pay money to buy my manga because they appreciate it», concluded.

{What are your favourite kind of gayumbos/male underwear?}

(Kaz seemed shocked for a second. Asked us to repeat the question, then laughed). «Trunks. The typical. Comfort is important«. Wise words, man.

Kaz seemed worried about the growing wave of censorship in Japan. He had no taboos, no red lines in sex when he draws. «I haven’t draw a lot a sexual scenes yet, I am sure. There are a lot of S/M, for instance… I am not a judgemental person. If you are one, you cannot be a manga artist. I can draw anything«. Speaking of censorship, Kaz is so fond of a german book written by a brave woman in 1931, The Artificial Silk Girl. «It’s interesting to think why the nazis banned that book. It’s really funny. About a girl living in Berlin, the female function in the society. She’s like Carrie from Sex and The City. She just want to live her life as she wants, the sexuality, everything. It’s so interesting, this book«.

Look who got an autograph from this sexy stud 😀

 

You can follow Kaz’s work from his own site/blog, in Japanese and English. Also, he is in Facebook and Twitter. THANK U SO MUCH, KAZ! 🙂

See u in our next trip!