What does it mean to write? Writing is a very simple task one can do with only a pen and paper. And yet, the possibilities are endless. This popular series from last year comes back with a new lineup of interviewees. To everyone who is involved in writing on a daily basis, what does it mean to write?

What does it mean to write?

Hiromi Nagashima【１】
SEASON2 vol.1
Hiromi Nagashima

Drawing energized me

Season 2 starts with an interview with manga artist and illustrator Hiromi Nagashima. From drawing the leaflet of the 2020 Hobonichi Techo to book designing, having her serialized manga Oni no Ko to creating posters for a Mos Burger Campaign, she takes on a variety of projects. Her job involved in drawing all started when she created an original manga for an assignment at the Hobonichi Learning Space. This manga was serialized on the Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun and was then even published. We asked Nagashima on her take of what it means to write.

ProfileHiromi Nagashima

Hiromi Nagashima draws mangas, illustrations and picture books. She started to draw alongside her work as a designer and became a freelancer in June 2019.

The manga she drew as an assignment for the Hobonichi Learning Space was the beginning of her job involved in drawing. She currently has a serialized manga Oni no Ko on the website Cakes. Her publications include To Be Kind, To Be Strong, To Be Interesting (published by Hobonichi), and her first ever picture book that published in 2020 A Sky-Blue Letter (published by Iwasaki Shoten).

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Table of Contents

Everything takes a lot of care

Nagashima
This is where I work.
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The pictures pasted on the walls are so cute. There’s the cover of Oni no Ko, and a postcard of Yuki from To Be Kind, To Be Strong, To Be Interesting. I take it that the words “yasashiku, tsuyoku, omoshiroku” (“to be kind, to be strong, to be interesting” in Japanese) in the middle are written by Itoi.
Nagashima
That’s right. Right below it is a drawing of myself that I use as my profile, with a mushroom as a hat. My nieces wore this on their heads to celebrate my book coming out. It was so cute, and is something I want to boast about.
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Just imagining that scene is cute. (Laughs) You’ve also pasted a floor plan…?
Nagashima
It’s a floor plan of the house that the oni’s in the serialized manga Oni no Ko live.
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I can imagine it might get confusing without a reference like this.
Nagashima
Yes, it’s easy to forget.
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What kinds of processes are there when you create a manga?
Nagashima
There are a few ways, but I first draw a rough sketch using a drawing tablet.
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Oh, it’s digital to begin with.
Nagashima
Yes, I did use to draw using pencils and paper, but I found that my hands got dirty easily. I now waste less paper, too.
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So you create a brief sketch using this?
Nagashima
Exactly. I then print it out like this.
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So this is what it looks like at the start! It’s all so exciting.
Nagashima
I put a sheet of paper over this and trace the lines with a pencil as a draft for the parts drawn in pencil.
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Wow, all of a sudden, the drawing oozes characteristics of you. Do you have a pencil you always use?
Nagashima
I normally use a 5B pencil but use 4B for the background.
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You have a mountain of pencils. (Laughs)
Nagashima
I take in this draft drawn by pencil to my computer, remove any smudges, make small adjustments, and add colors digitally to start off with.
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You color in with a computer beforehand?
Nagashima
That’s right. I then print out the colored-in version, and create a colored draft using watercolor paint.
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This in itself is cool. So you make both pencil and color drafts.
Nagashima
Yes, it’s easier to fix later on, too. I download this to my computer, layer it and then it’s done.
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So much goes into creating it!
Nagashima
It is a bit time-consuming. (Laughs)
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You do use a computer, but most of it is drawn by hand.
Nagashima
You’re right, there are parts that are colored in digitally, but for the most part I draw by hand. I do wish I could draw everything at one go, but it’s actually quite difficult.
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Do you feel it’s important to put a lot of care to create something you’re truly satisfied with?
Nagashima
Now that everything has developed so much, if I customize it to the max, I can create something digital that’s good. But, say, with these lines drawn in pencil, I think it’s better for it to be analogue. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I think it has something better about it.
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I feel a strong characteristic that it’s definitely “your” drawing.
Nagashima
Having said that, the main reason why I take all these steps is because this is the method I used from the start. With my serialized mangas on Hobonichi, it was three pages, and I felt I wanted to put my fullest attention to it and create it with extra care. But, now that my serialized mangas are 18 pages long, it is a bit tough. (Laughs)
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I can imagine - four processes to all the pages is a lot.

(Continued)

SEASON 2

SEASON 1

photos:eric