Kenji Sonishi, 50, whose comic strip "Neko Pitcher" is serialized in The Yomiuri Shimbun's Sunday supplement, devoted his high school and university days to rugby. In a recent interview, given with less than 200 days to go until the opening of the Rugby World Cup, he discussed how his experience of the sport led him to create his latest series, "Rugger Nyan" (Neko Rugby).
The Yomiuri Shimbun: What prompted you to begin playing rugby?
Sonishi: I was born in Sapporo, and grew up in the Kansai region. I played baseball in my junior high school years, but just after I enrolled in a high school affiliated with Doshisha University, a (rugby club) head coach told me, "You must play rugby." It seemed that the head coach recruited students who could run fast.
My position was winger when I was a first-year student at the high school, and all I needed to do was run when I received the ball. When I was in the second or third year, maybe it was a game by Doshisha University's alumni team, I got to see Mr. (Seiji) Hirao and Mr. (Atsushi) Oyagi (who then both belonged to Kobe Steel, Ltd.'s corporate team) up close. They were prominent superstars.
Q: What attracted you to rugby?
A: There are few sports in which players are allowed to throw themselves against or tackle their opponents. I had to mentally raise my tension to the maximum to be able to tackle them. My strong point was to kick the ball high in the air and then tackle an opponent if he caught it. I liked to ward off opponents by running fast.
Q: Was it your dream to become a manga artist?
A: When I was a junior high school student, I took a manga-drawing correspondence course for a year. In my university years, I drew manga works and participated in contests. When I was in my third year of university, I got an award. For about seven years, my manga works were serialized in a monthly magazine, but I kept that fact secret from the company I worked for.
Q: Cats and other animals are featured as characters in many of your works.
A: I liked animals from childhood. I kept cats as pets for a long time, although they often scratched me and didn't get so attached to me. Also in my university years, I picked up a stray cat and kept it in my dormitory.
Q: In "Rugger Nyan," cats learn rules and skills, and so it is like an introductory textbook for rugby.
A: Because it is in Josei Jishin (the weekly women's magazine in which the manga is serialized), the readers are women. On the assumption that they don't know the rules of rugby, I considered how I could make them interested in the sport, and I chose a story line in which the cats are taught rugby little by little. I thought it would be good for the readers to learn them in the same way.
Initially, the cats are not able to play rugby at all. But if the readers continue with the manga, they find that the cats become able to compete in a match. I like the idea of wives who have read the manga knowing much more about rugby rules than their husbands. When couples watch World Cup matches on TV, women can tell their husbands, "It was a knock on" or "That was offside."
Q: What is the most important aspect of "Rugger Nyan" for you?
A: I don't name any of the cats. Rugby is a team sport. Fifteen cats form a single team, so I give almost no personality to them individually. Besides, I have to draw a large number of pictures of cats, so it is hard work to draw a scene in which forward players form a scrum.
Q: Did you always want to create a manga work featuring rugby?
A: I hoped for a long time that rugby would become more popular. My friends from my university years also asked me to "give rugby a boost by doing a manga work about it."
Because the publishing company asked me to draw a brand-new and original work, I asked them if I could draw a manga about cats playing rugby. I thought the Rugby World Cup this year would be a golden opportunity for me to contribute to promoting the international event by drawing a manga about rugby.
Q: What do you expect from the World Cup?
A: In the previous World Cup, (the Japanese team) overwhelmingly defeated Samoa, who can run with the ball in a single hand. I was so impressed to see how strong the Japanese team had become.The matches move faster and have become more exciting than before. So I look forward to seeing them very much. People can really enjoy the sport if they understand the rules. I think the Japanese team seems to have gone up another level compared to the last World Cup. So I'll be happy if as many people as possible can enjoy the event.
Profile
Sonishi was born in February 1969 and is a Hokkaido native. When he was a student at the University of Tsukuba, he was given a manga award by Shukan Shonen Sunday weekly, published by Shogakukan Inc. After working for Dai Nippon Printing Co., he became a professional manga artist. Many of his works feature cats as characters, including "Neko Pitcher" (Chuokoron-Shinsha Inc.), "Rugger Nyan" (Kobunsha Co.) and "Neko Neko Nihonshi" (Meow Meow Japanese History) from Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha, Ltd.
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