Masami Itō

(伊藤正美, Itō Masami) (1911-1984) was a kamishibai and manga artist. He is credited as the original creator of Kitarō.
==Biography==
Born in Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture. He worked at a Kawasaki shipyard after graduating from the Department of English Literature at Kansai University. In 1932, he entered a short story contest from Mainichi Sunday magazine and received an award. After that, he moved to Tokyo with his friend, but failed to establish himself as a literary writer, and started writing kamishibai. In 1933, he created Hakaba Kitarō, based on folk tales of ghosts, reaching a certain popularity among the public. Later, with Itō's consent, Shigeru Mizuki illustrated new Hakaba Kitarō stories, years later converting to GeGeGe no Kitarō. In 1946, after World War II, he was involved in the management of a theater company.
==Body of work==
*Hakaba Kitarō (kamishibai)
==Navigation==
pt-br:Masami Itō
Category:Real Life
Category:Deceased (Real Life)