Hikaru Nakamura (artist)

For the chess player, see Hikaru Nakamura.

Hikaru Nakamura (中村 光, Nakamura Hikaru; born April 21, 1984, in Shizuoka Prefecture) is a Japanese manga artist.^[1] She debuted in 2001 with the short story Kairi no Sue (海里の陶), published in Monthly Gangan Wing.^[1] She is best known as the creator of the manga series Arakawa Under the Bridge and Saint Young Men, the latter of which won a Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2009.^[2] A Nikkei Entertainment magazine article published in August 2011 listed her ninth overall among the top 50 manga creators by sales since 2010, with 5.54 million copies sold.^[3] Her artwork has also been featured in two manga exhibitions at the British Museum in London, England.^[4] Nakamura gave birth to her first child, a daughter, in November 2011.^[5]

Hikaru Nakamura 中村 光
Born	(1984-04-21) April 21, 1984 (age 41) Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
Area(s)	Manga artist
Notable works	Arakawa Under the Bridge Saint Young Men
Awards	Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize (2009)
Children	1

Vegetarianism

Hikaru is a lacto-ovo vegetarian who consumes dairy and eggs. She became vegetarian at age 14 after being disturbed by the sight of a deer being shot.^[6] Though she cannot tolerate real meat, she loves soy protein meat substitutes and describes restaurants serving them as "vegetarian heaven".^[7] Her family isn't vegetarian, so she has separate meals prepared. She satisfies occasional cravings for hamburgers or ramen with substitute versions.^[8]

Works

• Arakawa Under the Bridge (荒川アンダー ザ ブリッジ, Arakawa Andā za Burijji), serialized in Young Gangan (2004–2015)^[9]
• Saint Young Men (聖☆おにいさん, Seinto Onīsan), serialized in Monthly Morning Two (2006–present)^[10]
• Juni Taisen: Zodiac War (十二大戦, Jūni Taisen), illustration only, serialized in Weekly Young Jump (2015)
• Black Night Parade (ブラックナイトパレード, Burakku Naito Parēdo), serialized in Weekly Young Jump (2016–2019) and Ultra Jump (2019–present)^[11][12]

Awards

List of Hikaru Nakamura's awards and nominations

Year	Nominated work	Category	Award	Result	Notes	Ref.
2008	Saint Young Men	Jury Selections	Japan Media Arts Festival Awards, Manga Division	Longlisted		[13][14]
2009	Saint Young Men	Male Readers	Kono Manga ga Sugoi!	Won		[15]
2009	Saint Young Men	—	Manga Taishō	Nominated		[16]
2009	Saint Young Men	Short Work Prize	Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize	Won		[2]
2010	Saint Young Men	Male Readers	Kono Manga ga Sugoi!	8th place		[17]
2012	Saint Young Men	Best Comic	Angoulême International Comics Festival	Nominated		[18]
2015	Saint Young Men	Book of the Year	Da Vinci	12th place		[19]