# Waki Yamato

Waki Yamato (Japanese: 大和 和紀, Hepburn: Yamato Waki, born March 13, 1948) is a Japanese manga artist. She debuted in 1966 with the short story Dorobō Tenshi.
Since her debut, Yamato steadily created and published a variety of works in the genre of shōjo manga. Among her early time works, Mon Cherie CoCo, 1971, was adapted into an anime television series, and her work, Haikara-san ga Tōru, 1975 to 1977, was very successful, winning the 1st Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo manga in 1977. It was also made into a musical for the Takarazuka Revue, an anime series (which reached an international audience through TV broadcasts in Italy and France), and a live-action film. Through these early works, she established her position as one of the most popular manga artists.

## Life and works

After the success of Haikara-san ga Tōru, she continued to create many manga, including the comedy Aramis '78 (series), Yokohama Monogatari (The Story of Yokohama), and N. Y. Komachi (The Belle of New York). The latter two were historical manga, set during the Meiji period.
The heroines of these stories were active girls who traveled overseas. Yamato's early work Reidii Mitsuko (Lady Mitsuko), 1976, was based on the true story of Mitsuko Aoyama, who was the mother of Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi.
Similarly, in Yokohama Monogatari, Uno visits California, marries her Japanese lover there and returns to Yokohama, while Mariko visits London to meet her Japanese husband. In N. Y. Komachi tomboy Shino travels to New York and becomes a camerawoman. At the end she settles in America with her husband Danny.

### Asaki Yume Mishi

Yamato's major work is Asaki Yume Mishi. Yamato spent 13 years (1980–93) completing this famous long work, based on Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji. Yamato studied the historical details of the Heian period. But she made radical changes to the characters and plot, to fit contemporary mores. Yet her work remains one of the best visualizations of the Heian era.

## List of works

Book information from Media Arts Database. (in progress, incomplete).
| N | Title | ja-Title | Label | Vol. | Date of Pub. | Publisher | Magazine | Date | Remark |
| 01 | Thief Angel | 泥棒天使 | Teen comics deluxe | 1 | 1972-10-10 | Wakagi shobo | Shojo Friend | 1966 (37th) | Debut short story |
| 02 | Mon Cheri CoCo | モンシェリCoCo | KC | 3 | 1972-08-28 | Kodansha | Shojo Friend | 1968 | adapted into TV anime (1972) |
| 03 | Haikara-san ga Tōru | はいからさんが通る | KC friend | 8 | 1975-1977 | Kodansha | | | adapted into TV anime (1978-79) |
| 04 | Lady Mitsuko | レディーミツコ | KC friend B | 1 | 1977 | Kodansha | | | |
| 05 | Killa | Killa | KC friend | 5 | 1978-1979 | Kodansha | | | |
| 06 | End of Heaven, Border of Earth | 天の果て地の限り | KC mimi | 1 | 1979-10-15 | Kodansha | | | |
| 07 | Aramis ’78 | アラミス’78 | KC friend B | 4 | 1979–1984 | Kodansha | | | |
| 08 | Playball in the Year 2600 | 紀元2600年のプレイボール | KC friend | 5 | 1979–1980 | Kodansha | | | |
| 09 | The One with Wings | 翼ある者 | KC friend | 1 | 198008-15 | Kodansha | | | |
| 10 | Asaki Yume Mishi | あさきゆめみし | KC mimi | 13 | 1980-1993 | Kodansha | | | based on Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji |
| 11 | Moonlight Shining Tree | 月光樹 | KC friend B | 1 | 1980 | Kodansha | | | |
| 12 | Myth of Dark-blue Color | あい色神話 | KC friend | 1 | 1980-12-15 | Kodansha | | | |
| 13 | The Story of Yokohama | ヨコハマ物語 | KC friend | 8 | 1981-1984 | Kodansha | | | |
| 14 | The Belle of New York | NY小町 | KC friend | 8 | 1986-1988 | Kodansha | | | |
| 15 | High Hheels Cop | ハイヒールCOP | KC mimi deluxe | 5 | 1990-1993 | Kodansha | | | |
| 16 | Wow, He is Prince!? | なんと王子さま!? | KC friend | 1 | 1990-09-13 | Kodansha | | | |
| 17 | Fruits of the Angel | 天使の果実 | KC mimi | 3 | 1993-1994 | Kodansha | | | based on novel by Shizuka Ijuin |
| 18 | Natascha of Rainbow | 虹のナターシャ | KC mimi | 5 | 1995-1997 | Kodansha | | | based on novel by Mariko Hayashi |
| 19 | Samurai facing to the West | にしむく士 | KC BE LOVE | 5 | 1997-2001 | Kodansha | | | |
| 20 | Baby-sitter Gin! | ベビーシッター・ギン! | K Comics kiss | 9 | 1998-2007 | Kodansha | | | |
| 21 | The Scent of Crimson | 紅匂ふ | KC BE LOVE | 4 | 1998-2007 | Kodansha | | | |
| 22 | The Daughter of Ishtar | イシュタルの娘 | KC BE LOVE | 16 | 2010-2017 | Kodansha | | | (The Life of Ono no Otsū) |

## Reception

Yamato's story manga Haikara-san ga Tōru series had been sold over 10 million copies. Also, the total sales number of her representative work Asaki YUmemishi had been over 12 million, as of 1997.