An Ambient Masamune Shirow Space
On January 28, 1998, I interviewed Masamune Shirow, the brilliant creator of Appleseed, Orion, Ghost in the Shell, and other famous manga, in the city of Kobe, a few hours south of Tokyo by train. Mr. Shirow is a very private person and doesn't permit photographs of himself, but I wanted to at least see places in Kobe that might have influenced his work, or perhaps appeared as backgrounds in his drawings. His good friend and editor, Shigehiko Ogasawara, of Seishinsha, graciously agreed to take me on a tour of the city. The environmental photos that resulted do not contain any images of Masamune Shirow. They may or may not be regarded as cryptic clues to the inner workings of his creative mind. An edited form of the original interview with Mr. Shirow appeared in the inaugural issue of Manga Max magazine (formerly known as Manga Mania, which went on sale November 30, 1998, and was edited by Jonathan Clements. Don't forget to read the full text below!
--Text and photos © Frederik L. Schodt-- (For inquiring minds: photo date stamps are San Francisco time, therefore one day off).
