Ai Yazawa

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Raised in Japan's Hyogo Prefecture, Yazawa grew up with ambitions to become a fashion designer, and as a youth enrolled in the Osaka Mode Academy, one of Japan's most competitive fashion schools. In 1985, Yazawa made her manga debut in the pages of the monthly girl's anthology RIBON with the title 15th Year. While her tales focused on young love, but what captivated readers was her stunning sense of design. Since then she has gone to pen eleven more titles and has sold more than 100,000,000 books in Japan alone. Her title NANA, an international sensation that spun off multiple movies and an animated TV series, was awarded the Shogakukan Manga Award in 2002, and even inspired talents such as Gwen Stefani. Paradise Kiss has been translated into 10 languages and is considered her defining work. The last name of her pen name is taken from singer-songwriter Eikichi Yazawa, whom she respects.

In June 2009, it was revealed that Yazawa had contracted a sudden illness, and had to be sent to hospital for treatment, putting Nana on hiatus. She returned from the hospital in April 2010, although has yet to reveal when or if she will be continuing Nana. Yazawa has worked on a variety of small illustrative projects since putting Nana on hold. She provided artwork for singer JUJU's single Iiwake in 2017 and a celebratory illustration for Space Channel 5 VR in 2020, drew a mini-manga featuring characters from her series Tenshi Nanka Ja Nai and Neighborhood Story in 2016, contributed new images to the 2015 Nana calendar, and published a new "Junko's Room" chapter, her first new manga in over three years, in 2013.