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Manga & Anime Creators' Pen Names (漫画家・アニメ作家 · 本名)
Many of manga's biggest names are pen names, ペンネーム or 筆名 (hitsumei). Sometimes the change is small, adding one character. Sometimes two people share one name.
The naming custom. Manga artists in the postwar era often took pen names, following the habit of Japanese novelists and poets. Common patterns: - Adding a character for meaning. Osamu Tezuka added 虫 ("bug") to his given name because he loved insects. - A shared duo name. Fujiko Fujio was the joint name of two artists, who later split it into Fujiko F. Fujio and Fujiko Fujio Ⓐ. - A new surname, like Shotaro Ishinomori, who wrote as "Ishimori" before changing the reading. - A different reading or kanji for the real given name, as with Leiji Matsumoto and Go Nagai.
Pen names let artists build a brand, separate work from private life, or share credit inside a team. Many current artists use pen names and keep their legal names private; we only list legal names that are well documented, usually in obituaries, museum biographies or official company profiles.