Stan Sakai Information

Artist / Creator
California

Biography:
Stan Sakai was born in Kyoto, Japan, grew up in Hawaii, and now lives in Southern California with his wife, Sharon, and children, Hannah and Matthew. He received a Fine Arts degree from the University of Hawaii, and did further studies at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.

His creation, Usagi Yojimbo, is the story of a samurai rabbit living in a feudal Japan populated by anthropomorphic animals. Usagi first appeared in Albedo Comics #2 in 1984. Since then, he has been on television as a guest of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, on clothing, toys, in comic books, games, and in a series of trade paperback collections. His books have been translated into ten languages, including Polish and Croatian.

In 1991, Stan created Space Usagi, the adventures of a descendant of the original Usagi, dealing with the samurai in a futuristic setting. Stan also serves as the letterer for Sergio Aragones' Groo the Wanderer comic books and the Spider-Man Sunday newspaper strip. He is the recipient of a number of awards, including a Parent's Choice Award, an Inkpot, multiple Eisners, two Spanish Haxturs, an American Library Association Award, and a National Cartoonists Society Comic Book Division Award. He has spoken at venues such as The College of William and Mary, The Connecticut Historical Society, the Japanese-American National Library, and the Japan Tower in Brussels.

Stan is published by Dark Horse Comics and Fantagraphics Books. There are twenty volumes of his collected works, all in print. The most recent, Usagi Yojimbo Book 19: Fathers and Sons, was published in July, 2005.

Stan enjoys traveling and has been exhibited internationally. When he was in Norway as a guest of the Raptus International Comics Festival in Bergen, one of the highlights was partaking of the local cuisine, such as the abundant seafood, moose, reindeer, and even sheep's head.