Biography | Yotsuya Nagisa

Shinichi Yotsuyanagi (1952-), better known as Yotsuya Nagisa or as he was sometimes called jokingly; The Banker !

His career as a mangaka is, to say the least, out of the ordinary.
He graduated from the Chiba University of Commerce in 1974 and started working, almost immediately, at Chiba Bank. He climbed the career ladder for 22 years to become 'branch manager' before he finally switched careers to become a mangaka ! It would be unfair to say that he was pushed into a banking career but in the 20th century Japan, it still was difficult (almost unthinkable) to break out of a predestined career.

To stay more anonymous, he signed his first illustrations and manga with 'SiN' because maybe it would be a sin to waste such a steady career in banking ⁉️

It took him a while but he did eventually break free and in a very remarkable way. 

He began by incorporating manga in his day-to-day life by drawing (not so boring as you would think) manga stories (for the bank) such as :
- Branch management course taught by a passionate deputy manager
- Naruhodo the Interest Rate

But in a way that he could gradually incorporate fantasy and adventure into his stories. 

Already in 1990, Tokyo Keizai published 'Light Blue Labyrinth' containing 6 lyrical works of fantasy and adventure that show off his abilities. The first of the six stories is called 'Adios Company' and features a banker (obviously) that has a grand adventure much like Indiana Jones would have had.
Even in his more autobiographical works, it was sometimes hard to feel the difference between reality and fantasy ... except when his alter-ego, with pointy hair and glasses, starts fighting dragons and giant snakes  🤪
It's fair to say that Yotsuya Nagisa's self taught style is exceptionally good and maybe, had he started his career the old-fashioned way as an apprentice to an elder mangaka ... who knows, he could have been one of the greatest !

Note : Nagisa worked together with Takahashi Hideyuki, his go-to collaborator & author for 'Light Blue Labyrinth' | Hideyuki was the elder colleague banker (managing director) that motivated Nagisa to pursue a life in manga. Together they created several fantasy manga, their way of escaping the straining world of banking