# Kaiu Shirai

Kaiu Shirai (白井 カイウ, Shirai Kaiu) is the pen name of a Japanese manga artist and writer whose real name and date of birth are unknown. He is best known for his manga series The Promised Neverland.

## Early life

Kaiu Shirai was doing Kabuki at a young age and then after graduating from university, Shirai gained employment at a normal company, but later resigned. Aiming to become a professional manga artist, he began to submit manuscripts to editors and magazines.

## Career history

On 21 June 2015, Kaiu Shirai published his first professional work, a standalone piece called, The Location of Ashley-Gate, in Shōnen Jump+, a digital imprint of Shueisha, with art by Kyousuke Maruyama. Again, in the same magazine, he published his second work, another standalone piece called, Poppy's Wish, in collaboration with artist Posuka Demizu on 18 February 2016.
After that, Shirai created a serialized work based on drafts written while he was still an amateur. This work, The Promised Neverland, (with art by Posuka Demizu) started its run in the 35th issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump on 1 August 2016 and finished in the 28th issue of the magazine on 15 June 2020. Along with manga artist Posuka Demizu, Shirai published two one-shots in 2020 and 2021. The first one, Spirit Photographer Saburo Kono was published in the combined issue No. 36 – No. 37, 2020 of Weekly Shōnen Jump; the second one is titled DC3, published in the same magazine in issue No. 35 of 2021. On 3 September 2021, Kaiu Shirai x Posuka Demizu: Beyond The Promised Neverland was published, which included works and one-shots in combination with Posuka Demizu.
A collaborative exhibition titled Miroirs manga meets Chanel by Kaiu Shirai, Posuka Demizu and Chanel was held at Chanel Nexus Hall Ginza, Chūō, Tokyo, from 28 April to 4 June 2021. The manga Miroirs, written and illustrated by the duo, was inspired by the Chanel brand. In this exhibition, scenes from Miroirs are exhibited alongside precious works from Chanel. The manga was published by Shueisha on 30 April 2021. In 2022, Shirai participated as a judge at Shōnen Jump+'s 7th Stokin Pro Garyokin 2022, to discover new talented manga artists.
On 6 January 2024, Kaiu Shirai along with illustrator Shiki Hamada launched a standalone one-shot, titled Kubigeshō, in the combined Issue #6–#7 2024 of Weekly Shōnen Jump. Within the same year, on 9 December, Kaiu Shirai along with illustrator Yōichi Amano launched a standalone one-shot, titled Apple, in Issue #2 2025 of Weekly Shōnen Jump.

## Influences

Kaiu Shirai commented that he was influenced by manga artists Osamu Tezuka, Naoki Urasawa, Yoshihiro Togashi and Eiichiro Oda; as well as directors Akira Kurosawa, Kōki Mitani, Kentaro Kobayashi and Hayao Miyazaki. He has also mentioned the Kabuki actor Kanzaburo Nakamura XVIII as a source of influence for his works.

## Works
### Manga

* The Promised Neverland (約束のネバーランド, Yakusoku no Nebārando) (art by Posuka Demizu, serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump, 2016–2020).
* Miroirs (art by Posuka Demizu, 2021).

### One-shots

* The Location of Ashley-Gate (art by Kyousuke Maruyama, Shōnen Jump+, 2015).
* Kaiu Shirai x Posuka Demizu: Beyond The Promised Neverland (白井カイウ×出水ぽすか短編集, Shirai kaiu × Demizu posuka Tanhenshū) (2021) — Collected volume of Shirai's one-shots published by Shueisha.
** Poppy's Wish (art by Posuka Demizu, Shōnen Jump+, 2016).
** Spirit Photographer Saburo Kono (art by Posuka Demizu, Weekly Shōnen Jump, Issue No. 36, 2020–Issue No. 37, 2020).
** Dreams Come True (art by Posuka Demizu).
** We Were Born (art by Posuka Demizu, Weekly Shōnen Jump, Issue #5–#6, 2021).
** DC3 (art by Posuka Demizu, Weekly Shōnen Jump, Issue No. 35, 2021).
* Kubigeshō (art by Shiki Hamada, Weekly Shōnen Jump, Issue #6–#7, 2024).
* APPLE (art by Yōichi Amano, Weekly Shōnen Jump, Issue #2, 2025).

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominee | Result |
| 2016 | Mandō Kobayashi Manga Award | New Serialization Award | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2017 | Mandō Kobayashi Manga Award | Manga Grand Prix | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2017 | 1st Annual Tsutaya Comic Award | Next Break Division | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2017 | Manga Shimbun Taishō | Grand Prix | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2017 | 10th Manga Taishō | Manga Taishō | The Promised Neverland | Nominated |
| 2017 | 3rd Next Manga Awards | Comics Division | The Promised Neverland | 2nd place |
| 2018 | 63rd Shogakukan Manga Award | Best Shōnen Manga | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2018 | 22nd Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize | Cultural Prize | The Promised Neverland | Nominated |
| 2018 | 11th Manga Taishō | Manga Taishō | The Promised Neverland | Nominated |
| 2018 | 24th Salón del Manga de Barcelona | Best Shōnen Manga | The Promised Neverland | Nominated |
| 2018 | 2nd Annual Tsutaya Comic Award | All-Time Best | The Promised Neverland | 3rd place |
| 2018 | 21st Japan Media Arts Festival | Manga Division | The Promised Neverland | Jury Selections |
| 2018 | French 12th ACBD's Prix Asie de la Critique 2018 | Manga Category | The Promised Neverland | Jury Selections |
| 2018 | Kono Manga ga Sugoi! | Male Readers | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2018 | Manga News Awards | Shōnen Tournament 2018 | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2018 | 2018 Google Play Awards | User Voting Excellence Award | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2018 | Ridibooks Comic Award | Next Trending Manga Award | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2019 | French Babelio Readers' Awards | Best Manga Series | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2019 | 2019 Mangawa Awards | Best Shōnen Manga | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2019 | French Manga Prix | Best Manga Series | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2019 | 23rd Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize | Cultural Prize | The Promised Neverland | Nominated |
| 2019 | Geeks d'Ouro [pt] | Best Manga Series | The Promised Neverland | Nominated |
| 2019 | French Konishi Prize | Best Translated Manga | The Promised Neverland | Nominated |
| 2019 | Ridibooks Comic Award | Grand Prize | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2019 | Piccoma Award | Luna Prize | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2019 | Japan Expo Awards | Daruma for Best New Series | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2019 | Japan Expo Awards | Daruma for Best Screenplay of the Year | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2019 | 25th Salón del Manga de Barcelona | Best Shōnen Manga | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2020 | Lucca Comics & Games | Amazon Comics Award | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2020 | French "Les Mordus du Manga" Awards | Grand Prize | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2020 | Anime Click Award | Best New Manga | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2020 | Anime Click Award | Most Wanted Manga | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2020 | 20th Sense of Gender Awards | Grand Prize | The Promised Neverland | Won |
| 2020 | 3rd Saito Takao Award | Grand Prize | The Promised Neverland | Nominated |
| 2021 | Geeks d'Ouro | Best Translated Manga | The Promised Neverland | Nominated |
| 2021 | 25th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize | Cultural Prize | The Promised Neverland | Nominated |
| 2021 | 52nd Seiun Awards | Best Comic | The Promised Neverland | Nominated |