I don't know if it will be available online, but there will be an interview with me in the Honolulu Star Bulletin newspaper either Thursday or Friday. Here's their homepage:
http://www.honolulustarbulletin.com
This is, of course, related to my appearance at Kawaii Kon.
Aloha.
ps--if you do a search for "Stan Sakai" in the Star Bulletin, I just want to let you know that I am not the Stan Sakai that was poisoning cats.
HONOLULU STAR BULLETIN, APRIL 14, 2006
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Stan Sakai
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HONOLULU STAR BULLETIN, APRIL 14, 2006
‘USAGI’ CREATOR RETURNS HOME
by WILMA JANDOC AND JASON S. YADAO (HONOLULU STAR BULLETIN, APRIL 14, 2006)
Life on the road can have its share of odd perks. Ask Stan Sakai, creator of the comic book "Usagi Yojimbo," who has been a guest at comic conventions around the world. "When I travel, I like to eat the food of the region I'm in," Sakai says. "I was in Norway when my hosts asked if I would like to try a typical Norwegian peasants' meal. Northern Norway is a sheep-raising area, and during feudal times the lord of the area took the best parts of the sheep.
"That night, I had a boiled sheep's head and a turnip."
At least exotic food won't be much of a concern when the Hawaii-raised artist returns home for this year's Kawaii Kon. But he will have to deal with legions of "Usagi" fans who've declared the usual intentions -- on the anime convention's online message boards -- to seek autographs and grill him about his work.
Sakai is more than up to the task.
Hawaii-raised Stan Sakai returns for Kawaii Kon
"Anime cons are especially neat," he says, "because there are so many cosplayers (fans who dress as anime and manga characters) with their carefully crafted costumes, and it's just a different crowd from the comic conventions I usually attend."
The worldwide popularity of "Usagi" has Sakai heading off to far-flung parts of the world. The series, first published in 1984, follows the adventures of the rabbit samurai Miyamoto Usagi in an anthropomorphic feudal Japan after the samurai's lord was defeated at the Battle of Adachigahara.
The graphic novels have been translated into about a dozen languages, including Croatian and Czech. "I did a book-signing tour of Poland a couple of years ago," Sakai says. "That is something I could never have imagined when I first started. Usagi has also been seen as toys, clothing and even on TV as a guest on the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' show."
The comic has also spurred pins, an art book, calendars, collectible statues and even a tabletop role-playing game.
"One Day while sketching in my drawing book, I drew a rabbit with his ears tied in a samurai chonmage," Stan Sakai said. "I loved the look." He named that character Miyamoto Usagi, left
While not specifically in "manga" style, the characters and setting of "Usagi" attract both manga fans and readers simply looking for a good story. "My storytelling is influenced more by movies than comics, with directors such as Kurosawa, Hitchcock or even (Alexandro) Jodorowsky. Many reviewers have remarked about the cinematic feel in 'Usagi,'" Sakai says.
But he is familiar with the big names of anime. Aside from spending his childhood with Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, "I grew up with the old manga and anime -- 'Astro Boy,' 'Gigantor,' 'Speed Racer' and 'Princess Knight.'"
He enjoys the works of artist Rumiko Takahashi and film director Hayao Miyazaki, but his true idol and early influence was Osamu Tezuka. Sakai calls him the "all-time master of manga and anime."
He met the artist several times in the late 1980s when Tezuka attended the San Diego Comic Convention. "He was a very nice, sincere man. The funniest thing was that he looked just like he always drew himself -- beret, black jacket and everything."
But it was another famous -- and much older -- Japanese figure that eventually led to the creation of "Usagi Yojimbo."
"I grew up reading manga and going to chambara movies at the old Kapahulu Theater, and wanted to do a comic book series loosely based on the life of Miyamoto Musashi, who lived in the 17th century," he says. "One day while sketching in my drawing book, I drew a rabbit with his ears tied in a samurai chonmage (topknot). I loved the look. It was simple, but no one else had ever done it before. I named this character Miyamoto Usagi -- 'usagi' means 'rabbit' in Japanese."
Sakai's appearance at Kawaii Kon comes on the heels of several far-flung trips, including one to New York and a visit to Spain last month for a comic convention with Sergio Aragones, creator and artist of "Groo the Wanderer," for which Sakai is the letterer.
Sakai sits overlooking Grenada in Spain. His drawings have taken him to conventions world wide
He keeps journals about his trips, "otherwise I would not remember that it was in Posnan that I had to do a nighttime signing by candlelight after the construction company next to the bookstore broke through the power lines 15 minutes before I got there," Sakai says. "Or that 'windy' in Polish means 'elevator' and is not the hotel giving me a weather report."
Work often overlaps convention appearances, and Sakai uses long airplane flights as vehicles for creativity.
He wrote the story for "Usagi" issue No. 99 while flying to New York, and used the flight back to thumbnail the story. He even brought five story pages to ink while on his trip.
Before coming to Honolulu, he was finishing the art for "Usagi" No. 95, the cover for "Usagi" No. 98, several art plates for the 20th "Usagi" graphic novel and a pin-up for Frank Miller's "Sin City."
But all the globe-trotting aside, Sakai enjoys returning to the place of his boyhood, especially now as a guest of Hawaii's first and only anime convention.
Sure, he'll host an "Usagi" panel and a drawing workshop at Kawaii Kon. But there were other motives for him to return.
"I have to admit that much of it was being able to visit with family, to replenish my crack seed supply and to eat the local food. There are a couple of Hawaiian restaurants around my area, but it's still much better to eat Hawaiian food back home."
by WILMA JANDOC AND JASON S. YADAO (HONOLULU STAR BULLETIN, APRIL 14, 2006)
Life on the road can have its share of odd perks. Ask Stan Sakai, creator of the comic book "Usagi Yojimbo," who has been a guest at comic conventions around the world. "When I travel, I like to eat the food of the region I'm in," Sakai says. "I was in Norway when my hosts asked if I would like to try a typical Norwegian peasants' meal. Northern Norway is a sheep-raising area, and during feudal times the lord of the area took the best parts of the sheep.
"That night, I had a boiled sheep's head and a turnip."
At least exotic food won't be much of a concern when the Hawaii-raised artist returns home for this year's Kawaii Kon. But he will have to deal with legions of "Usagi" fans who've declared the usual intentions -- on the anime convention's online message boards -- to seek autographs and grill him about his work.
Sakai is more than up to the task.
Hawaii-raised Stan Sakai returns for Kawaii Kon
"Anime cons are especially neat," he says, "because there are so many cosplayers (fans who dress as anime and manga characters) with their carefully crafted costumes, and it's just a different crowd from the comic conventions I usually attend."
The worldwide popularity of "Usagi" has Sakai heading off to far-flung parts of the world. The series, first published in 1984, follows the adventures of the rabbit samurai Miyamoto Usagi in an anthropomorphic feudal Japan after the samurai's lord was defeated at the Battle of Adachigahara.
The graphic novels have been translated into about a dozen languages, including Croatian and Czech. "I did a book-signing tour of Poland a couple of years ago," Sakai says. "That is something I could never have imagined when I first started. Usagi has also been seen as toys, clothing and even on TV as a guest on the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' show."
The comic has also spurred pins, an art book, calendars, collectible statues and even a tabletop role-playing game.
"One Day while sketching in my drawing book, I drew a rabbit with his ears tied in a samurai chonmage," Stan Sakai said. "I loved the look." He named that character Miyamoto Usagi, left
While not specifically in "manga" style, the characters and setting of "Usagi" attract both manga fans and readers simply looking for a good story. "My storytelling is influenced more by movies than comics, with directors such as Kurosawa, Hitchcock or even (Alexandro) Jodorowsky. Many reviewers have remarked about the cinematic feel in 'Usagi,'" Sakai says.
But he is familiar with the big names of anime. Aside from spending his childhood with Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, "I grew up with the old manga and anime -- 'Astro Boy,' 'Gigantor,' 'Speed Racer' and 'Princess Knight.'"
He enjoys the works of artist Rumiko Takahashi and film director Hayao Miyazaki, but his true idol and early influence was Osamu Tezuka. Sakai calls him the "all-time master of manga and anime."
He met the artist several times in the late 1980s when Tezuka attended the San Diego Comic Convention. "He was a very nice, sincere man. The funniest thing was that he looked just like he always drew himself -- beret, black jacket and everything."
But it was another famous -- and much older -- Japanese figure that eventually led to the creation of "Usagi Yojimbo."
"I grew up reading manga and going to chambara movies at the old Kapahulu Theater, and wanted to do a comic book series loosely based on the life of Miyamoto Musashi, who lived in the 17th century," he says. "One day while sketching in my drawing book, I drew a rabbit with his ears tied in a samurai chonmage (topknot). I loved the look. It was simple, but no one else had ever done it before. I named this character Miyamoto Usagi -- 'usagi' means 'rabbit' in Japanese."
Sakai's appearance at Kawaii Kon comes on the heels of several far-flung trips, including one to New York and a visit to Spain last month for a comic convention with Sergio Aragones, creator and artist of "Groo the Wanderer," for which Sakai is the letterer.
Sakai sits overlooking Grenada in Spain. His drawings have taken him to conventions world wide
He keeps journals about his trips, "otherwise I would not remember that it was in Posnan that I had to do a nighttime signing by candlelight after the construction company next to the bookstore broke through the power lines 15 minutes before I got there," Sakai says. "Or that 'windy' in Polish means 'elevator' and is not the hotel giving me a weather report."
Work often overlaps convention appearances, and Sakai uses long airplane flights as vehicles for creativity.
He wrote the story for "Usagi" issue No. 99 while flying to New York, and used the flight back to thumbnail the story. He even brought five story pages to ink while on his trip.
Before coming to Honolulu, he was finishing the art for "Usagi" No. 95, the cover for "Usagi" No. 98, several art plates for the 20th "Usagi" graphic novel and a pin-up for Frank Miller's "Sin City."
But all the globe-trotting aside, Sakai enjoys returning to the place of his boyhood, especially now as a guest of Hawaii's first and only anime convention.
Sure, he'll host an "Usagi" panel and a drawing workshop at Kawaii Kon. But there were other motives for him to return.
"I have to admit that much of it was being able to visit with family, to replenish my crack seed supply and to eat the local food. There are a couple of Hawaiian restaurants around my area, but it's still much better to eat Hawaiian food back home."
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Steve Hubbell
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- Location: Kalamazoo, MI
I did not see an interview in todays (Vol. 11, Issue 103 - Thursday, April 13, 2006) on-line edition. Hopefully, it will be in tomorrow's paper.
It is neat that they published your travel report. Were you compensated as a contributing writer?
Yojimbo creator Sakai journals XI Salon del Comic de Granada
http://starbulletin.com/2006/04/13/feat ... ory03.html
Abayo....
It is neat that they published your travel report. Were you compensated as a contributing writer?
Yojimbo creator Sakai journals XI Salon del Comic de Granada
http://starbulletin.com/2006/04/13/feat ... ory03.html
Abayo....
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Steve Hubbell
- Taisho
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- Location: Kalamazoo, MI
Honolulu Star Bulletin
‘Usagi’ creator returns home
By Wilma Jandoc and Jason S. Yadao
http://starbulletin.com/2006/04/14/feat ... ory02.html
‘Usagi’ creator returns home
By Wilma Jandoc and Jason S. Yadao
http://starbulletin.com/2006/04/14/feat ... ory02.html
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Steve Hubbell
- Taisho
- Posts: 6052
- Joined: Thu Sep 19, 2002 15:25 -0700
- Location: Kalamazoo, MI
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Steve Hubbell
- Taisho
- Posts: 6052
- Joined: Thu Sep 19, 2002 15:25 -0700
- Location: Kalamazoo, MI
Don't know!estee wrote:Really, how much was it?
They just took my name and address and said that they would pass it on to someone else along with the information on which issue I wanted. I called the Hawaii Herald a couple years ago to buy a single issue and they just mailed it to me for free.I know the interview was in Thursday's paper, according to the email I received from Jason S. Yadao, and I am really hoping the "Weekend" supplement was also included in the Thursday paper as well.
I did not see the article with the cover image until today (Friday), after I had already called them. Since it was Good Friday, they closed their office early and I was unable to confirm that.
Abayo....
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Steve Hubbell
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Cool, I get to quote myself.Steve Hubbell wrote:Don't know!estee wrote:Really, how much was it?
I know the interview was in Thursday's paper, according to the email I received from Jason S. Yadao, and I am really hoping the "Weekend" supplement was also included in the Thursday paper as well.
I did not see the article with the cover image until today (Friday), after I had already called them. Since it was Good Friday, they closed their office early and I was unable to confirm that.
Abayo....
OK, I received a call today from the Honolulu Star Bulletin. They told me it would be $5.00 for Thursday's paper, which does include the "Week-End" supplement which features the Usagi Yojimbo cover. I also asked them to add a copy of Wednesday's paper which I believe (but not positive) contains Stan's Granada Travel Report, along with the acompanying photos and artwork.
Abayo....