sabukaru Meets Junji Ito
There are great writers, and then there are artists who push the boundaries of the genre. While Japan is no stranger of exciting story tellers, there are levels, to which only a handful of creators are regarded as genre-redefining talent, and when it comes to horror, there’s truly no one like Junji Ito. Since his debut in the late 1980s, Ito has built a macabre empire of horror, crafting stories that crawl under the skin and linger in the back of your mind long after turning the final page.
With countless works that have become certified classics within the genre ーlike “Tomie (1987~2000)”, “Uzumaki (1998~1999)”, and “Gyo (1998~1999)”, Junji Ito's influence extends out of the manga industry, which can be seen permeating every corner of horror media. Grotesque yet graceful, his meticulous artwork captures nightmare-inducing terrors with precise storytelling that feel unnervingly real at times, unsurprisingly grabbing the attention of anyone who comes across his work, worldwide.
For those uninitiated, Junji Ito’s work transcends the boundaries of horror. His tales explore themes from obsession, isolation, the fragility of humanity, and the inexplicable forces that drive us toward madness. Whether it’s the undying allure of Tomie’s cursed beauty, the mind-bending spiral of Uzumaki, or the surreal horrors lurking in the seas of Gyo, each story invites readers into a nightmare they can't look away from.
Despite decades of success, Junji Ito continues to terrify and astonish, delivering new nightmares that both honor his roots and push the genre into uncharted territory. With a body of work that has shaped how we see horror itself, not only has Junji Ito secured his place as one of the most influential horror manga artists, but also as a modern storytelling icon.
The sabukaru team is no exception when it comes to Junji Ito’s reach of influence, with many of us being fans of his works. An especially enthusiastic fan, GATA magazine’s editor in chief, Marta Espinosa, was invited to meet the bonafide legend in flesh, along with Uniqlo’s UT magazine team, in celebration of their collaborative release. From talking about his early memories to delving deeper into his philosophy as a horror manga artist, we had the chance to sit down with Junji Ito.
What is your greatest fear, and has it ever influenced your work?
Quite the cliche, but I’m most afraid of dying these days. I think you can tell from reading my works, but I’ve written a lot of material on the subject of death. Oh, and I also don’t like cockroaches (laughs).
How have Japanese folklore and personal experiences shaped the narratives and themes in your stories?
Actually, a lot of my personal experience ends up inspiring the stories/themes I tell in my manga. One example is, when I was a kid, there used to be this big tunnel in my hometown. It’s a bit of a nerdy topic, but at the end of that tunnel, used to be a research facility for cosmic rays, meaning, a place that researched the different fine particles that rained down from outer space. It was abandoned long ago when we started exploring the tunnel, but these sorts of experiences that I experienced as a child have made it into my works quite a bit. Other than that, Japanese folklore like the Yotsuya ghost story serves as a great source of inspiration for me.
Do you ever find yourself disturbed or unsettled by the creations that come from your own imagination?
I get chills on the back of my spine listening to my own voice on a tape recorder (laughs). The voice you hear when you’re talking, and the one you hear on a tape recorder is quite different, and it’s sort of scary, or rather doesn’t give me the best feeling (laughs). I also do not like looking at footage of myself recorded on a video recorder (laughs). Regarding my own imagination, although I do indeed write my own manga, I’ve never really been disturbed by my own imagination to be honest.
Among the characters and stories you’ve created, which holds the most personal significance to you, and why?
When it comes to Uzumaki, Kirie is the unmistakable protagonist of the story, but there’s this other girl called Azami that makes an appearance in the manga. She gets sucked in by the Uzumaki, but she’s one of the characters I personally like and hold dear to in my heart. In what way you may ask, well, it all goes back to a particular scene I drew of her, where it’s up close to her face, and it’s being sucked up into the Uzumaki from her eyeball. I’m very proud of the fact that I was able to imagine that scene to begin with, and I personally think I did a good job in illustrating my imagination, as well.
Your stories delve into some of humanity's deepest fears, almost like nightmarish visions brought to life. First, do you dream often? And second, have your nightmares ever directly influenced your work?
Well, as a child, or even in my young adult years, I used to dream quite often. Of course, I had a fair share of nightmares, and when I’m in it, it’s truly terrifying, but once I wake up, I brush it off as if it was nothing. So, when I’m in the middle of it, I think things like “oh, this would be good material for the manga I’m writing,” but, once I wake up from it, I realize how it actually wasn’t a big deal (laughs). These days, I’m quick to forget the dreams I was just in, so I can’t say much… but I actually remember one from recently. I became an apprentice of George Tokoro (laughs). Completely unrelated to horror, but that was that (laughs).
Kazuo Umezu, a major influence of yours passed away just a few months earlier. Would you please share how his work inspired your style and themes?
Umezu-sensei’s style, to put it simply, uses a lot of lines, but his expression of complete darkness, or simply the way he illustrates dark scenes, appears shinny in the way he uses so many lines, and it has left me quite the lasting impression. In that way he's inspired me a great deal. Just by looking at his work, I’m always reminded that I cannot be where I am, and get inspired to better my own craft, and in that way, he’s been a huge inspiration for me for so long now. Oh, and this is something I just remembered, but the first time I got to meet Umezu-sensei, I was invited to have a conversation with him at his place, Makoto-chan House in Kichijoji, and after the fact he had invited me to have dinner with him. It was at an Italian restaurant out in Kichijoji, and he was wearing a top from Uniqlo.
I actually didn’t see it for the entirety of the dinner, and only came to realize when Umezu-sensei pointed out when we were about to part ways after the dinner. He asked, “is that from Uniqlo,” and I finally saw that we were both wearing the same clothes (laughs). I think it was in a different color, but the same design. I remember feeling giddy for having worn the same thing with Umezu-sensei at the time (laughs).
So, Kazuo Umezu was not wearing his signature red white striped shirt?
If I remember correctly, when I went to see him that time, he wasn’t wearing the red and white striped shirt. So i thought to myself, “he doesn’t always wear it” (laughs).
You mentioned how Kazuo Umezu’s use of lines created an even deeper darkness in his drawings, but in your opinion, which aspects of his work did you find the most darkness in?
I mostly find his backgrounds filled with darkness, especially during the evening, and of course, you tend to feel the darkness more in darker environments, fear gets built up, but with Umezu-sensei’s work, it’s not just the darkest of dark that you feel the most darkness in, but rather in his use of lines to create a faintly shining expression that brings out the darkness even more in contrast. He uses this to bring out the darkness in dark scenes even more.
Spirals play a significant role in Uzumaki, and have somehow become a trademark of yours - what do they symbolize for you?
Well, to be honest, it’s not like I always tied the spiral pattern to horrific expressions, but rather, my introduction to it was how comedic manga series had the same pattern on their character’s cheeks, and that was my impression of it for the longest time. In writing Uzumaki, I thought of the idea of a row house getting sucked into an Uzumaki. Instead of the warm and fuzzy expression I saw in comedy manga series, I increased the amount of spirals in one place, and that sort of gave me a headache. I thought to myself, “this is quite ominous, actually,” and that’s when I first realized I can use this for my horror manga.
Is there something about you that might surprise even your most dedicated fans?
Back then, I actually worked as a dental technician. So, I’m quite conscious about oral health. I don’t really have solid evidence to back up my claim, but there’s this theory that periodontal disease-causing bacteria actually has the potency to do bad to your entire body’s immune system. I personally think it makes logical sense, so I brush my teeth thoroughly everyday in fear of this bacteria. I brush my teeth for a solid 20 minutes before bed, and of course, floss my teeth. And if I may say so myself, people tell me I look younger than my actual age (laughs). I personally decided to believe that it’s because I take good care of my teeth. I really don’t have evidence to support this, though (laughs).
Besides domestically, Your work has gained immense popularity internationally as well. How do you feel about the enthusiastic reception it's received, and even with trends such as ‘Tomie’ style makeup on Tik-Tok?
When I first started writing manga, it was amazing to have Japanese people read my works, and the more people read it, the more inspired and motivated I got to write, but back then, it never even crossed my mind that people abroad would read my works. It’s really a weird feeling, and I catch myself asking why (laugh). I do admit, though, I did indeed put effort in maintaining the quality of my work, so in that way, I suppose my work got the recognition. Regardless, I’m truly grateful for all the support I have received.
There’s a certain contrast between the grotesque, haunting nature of your work and your reputation as a cheerful, cat-loving and unassuming person (which has even become a subject that has been featured in internet memes) Do you ever find it amusing or surreal to see this juxtaposition?
I think I got milder as a person as I got older. I was actually quite the opposite when I was younger. I was much more wicked, if you will (laughs). I definitely was not as gentle and calm as I am now, so, I really do think aging got me (laughs).
Are there any themes or genres you haven’t explored yet but would like to tackle in future works?
Well, to be honest, I’ve written a lot of the things I wanted to, so I’m running out of material to write about, but I’ve a few topics I want to get back to. I once tried to write about unraveling the mysteries of outer space but failed, so that’s one, but otherwise, I don’t think I’ve fully laid my own ideas on the matter of female eroticism yet. So, these are some of the topics I have yet to come back to and write more about.
Japan has a unique, almost stronger sense of the paranormal, with a spiritual atmosphere unlike any other country I’ve been to. Have you ever had any paranormal experiences yourself?
I have almost no experience in this regard. As a child, I believed in ghosts, UFOs, and the Loch Ness Monster. Even the slightest movement in the edge of my vision, I would’ve sworn to have seen a ghost back then, but all of this changed back when I moved up to junior highschool.
It was in a Japanese literature textbook that had a small essay that explained the workings of the human brain, and according to it, the mind is a function of the human brain, and I was heavily influenced by this idea. From then on I started to believe that the soul was nothing but the result of chemical reactions in the brain, and I stopped believing in the existence of ghosts and any paranormal phenomena. Even if I did see something, I started to brush it off as a weird coincidence or my brain playing tricks (laughs). Actually, back then I once visited my mother’s childhood home, and saw something pass by at the tea plantation, but I thought it was just an optical illusion. Maybe I would’ve believed it to be a ghost if I was any younger, but looking back at it now, I can’t really think of it other than my brain playing tricks, you know (laughs). I guess, this is part of growing up.
Given that you do have experiences in the paranormal, has any of these made it to your works?
Actually, not really, but I once found myself in a graveyard thinking I was going through a shortcut going home (laughs). I don’t know if I was guided to this place, but I can’t lie, that felt a little bit freaky.
In understanding that you do not believe in the existence of ghosts, how do you come up with the ideas for all your works?
Although I’ve grown to not believe in such things, that doesn’t change the fact that I truly believed in ghosts as a child. I may not believe in these things anymore, but I still loved it growing up. It’s become an exercise of creating fictional stories in my mind. So, instead of turning my personal experiences into stories, I instead create a work of art by expanding my imagination in my head, which is something I had always loved doing. It’s also not limited to horror, but I also like forcefully developing interesting ideas into stories related to horror, actually. To be completely honest with you, although I said I don’t believe in ghosts and the paranormal, these days I’ve repositioned myself into saying “I’m not sure”. I’m rapidly approaching death, so I’ve changed my stance on the matter (laughs). I kind of wish there is an afterlife for me to go to (laughs).
Cinema is a major source of inspiration for many artists and creators. We’d imagine horror movies are something you’re particularly drawn to. If so, could you share your top favorite horror films? Are there any other non-horror movies that would make it onto your all-time favorites list?
I love horror films. When I was a child, I saw “The Exorcist (1973)” for the first time, and the movie has had a lasting impact on me, which is why “The Exorcist” remains my favorite movie today. But I was not alone in this, which is why there were a slew of horror movies that were made after the release of “The Exorcist” effectively causing a horror movie boom, which one of my favorite films “Suspiria (1977)” by Dario Argento was part of. I also grew up watching Japanese ghost story movies, which came on TVs during summertime, so I have a soft spot for them, as well. I also watch and like some of the recent horror movies. From Ari Aster films to James Wan’s “Malignant (2021)”, I’ve watched a lot of different films, but I’m quite forgetful these days (laughs). Other than horror, I also like sci-fi, historical documentaries, Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu films. I truly don’t care for genres so long as they are good films. Of course, these films end up being great sources of inspiration for my work, as well. England’s Hammer Film Production and their films like “Dracula (1958)” and “The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)” have great atmospheres, and are perfect films to illustrate how building atmospheres are essential in horror as a whole. I take great inspiration on how they build tension before something happens.
You mentioned how you were into horror movies from a young age, but were you more scared of them or more interested in them?
I would say both. There’s this film called “Yotsuya Kaidan (1959)”, and they recreated the Oiwa story. They included a scene where she was poisoned, and her face collapsed, which is some of the most horrific things I’ve seen as a child. In my case, I suppose my curiosity got the best of my fear? I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen even though I was afraid. I often get transported back to being a kid when I write manga.
What do you hope readers take away from your stories beyond the initial thrill or horror?
Well, in the initial stages of writing manga, I don’t limit myself to concepting horrifying ideas, but rather think of how interesting it would be to put someone in a certain situation. So, in that sense, I want my readers to experience a sense of wonder when reading my works. This is at the core of all my works, so I hope people have fun putting themselves in the different situations I’ve though about.
How do you feel about Uzumaki getting its own Uniqlo collaboration and potentially being consumed by people from all around the world?
I was really surprised to have received an offer from such a big and globally relevant place like Uniqlo. When I got the message from Kawata-san, I couldn’t hide how surprised I was. I thought to myself, “I finally got to pair up with Umezu-sensei” (laughs). The gray-ish design of the t-shirt is wonderful, and it truly gives it some presence. I hope everyone around the world can get around to wearing them.
Get the UNIQLO UT x Junji Ito Shirt here.
in collaboration with @uniqlo.ut, @uniqlo and @uniqlousa
Interview and text by Ken Kitamura, Marta Espinosa & Stefania Lehman
