One Man! pg.5 | Taro Higuchi

Tarō Higuchi – Just a Man (One Man), 1969

Original hand-coloured manga page, published in COM, May 1969

Tarō Higuchi (樋口太郎) was one of the more mysterious figures of Japan's experimental manga movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. His work appeared in magazines such as COM, founded by Osamu Tezuka in 1967 as a platform for innovative and unconventional manga.

Just a Man (男一匹) is a fine example of Higuchi's distinctive approach to storytelling. Through unusual compositions, cinematic sequences and a highly individual drawing style, he explores the alienation and absurdities of modern Japanese society.

This remarkable page illustrates his ability to create an unsettling atmosphere through seemingly ordinary scenes. Office workers, recording equipment, clocks and mechanical routines are presented in a succession of carefully arranged panels. The delicate hand-colouring, with its pale pink washes and striking red accents, adds an almost surreal quality to the composition.

Higuchi belonged to a generation of artists who challenged traditional manga conventions, experimenting with both visual language and narrative structure. Yet, despite his artistic originality, he eventually disappeared from the manga scene, leaving behind a small and largely unseen collection of experimental works.

Size: 24 x 31.2 cm
Media: pencil, ink & watercolor on paper