Jiraiya (児雷也, born April 28, 1967) is a pseudonymous Japanese gay manga artist and illustrator. He is noted for his homoerotic, hyperreal drawings of men, and for his use of digital illustration in his artwork.
Jiraiya was born in 1967 to a working-class family in Sapporo, Japan. In the late 1980s, he discovered the gay magazine, and was influenced by the artwork by Gengoroh Tagame published in the magazine. In his twenties, Jiraiya worked as a mangaka for Shogakukan, and later as a graphic designer.
His career as a gay manga artist began in 1998 when, at the age of 31, he submitted to and was published in the magazine G-men. He became the exclusive cover artist for G-men in 2001, replacing Gengoroh Tagame following his departure from the magazine, and illustrated the covers for issues 63 to 124 (2001 to 2006). In addition to cover illustrations, Jiraiya contributed manga to G-men.
In his private life, Jiraiya works as a commercial advertising designer and is closeted. Consequently, he is notoriously reclusive, rarely makes public appearances, and does not publish photographs of his face.
Jiraiya specializes in pin-up art of hypermasculine men with large, muscular builds, and was one of the first gay manga artists to use digital illustration extensively in his work. He is noted for his hyperreal drawing style, the result of a process in which he creates a freehand sketch from a photographic reference of body parts from different men collaged into a single figure, which he then augments with Photoshop, Illustrator, and QuarkXPress.
Japanese iconography figures heavily into Jiraiya's artwork, including kendo and judo uniforms, Buddhist monks, festival costumes, and fundoshi. His narrative works are typically comic and light-hearted in tone, contrasting the sadomasochistic material of his peers, and deal with themes of group sex, romance, and athletic competition.
Jiraiya has published three major collections of manga:,, and . Two anthologies his art have been published: The Art of Jiraiya by French publisher H&O in 2007, and Art Works of Jiraiya: 1998–2012 by Japanese publisher Furukawa Shobou in 2012. In 2014, works by Jiraiya were included in , the first English-language anthology of gay manga. Two dōjinshi by Jiraiya, Caveman Guu and Two Hoses, were translated into English by Massive Goods in 2013 and 2017, respectively.
In addition to publishing, Jiraiya has collaborated with multiple fashion houses to release products featuring his artwork. In June 2014, Opening Ceremony launched a line of products featuring Jiraiya's artwork for Pride Month, including apparel, accessories, and a Tenga sex toy. A t-shirt collaboration between Jiraiya, Massive, and Mission Chinese Food was also launched that same year. In 2015, Opening Ceremony and Jiraiya released a second collaboration, titled "Power-Up Massive". Pretty Snake, a fashion brand founded by Project Runway contestant Joe Segal, launched a line of swim briefs with artwork by Jiraiya in 2015.
In November 2013, Massive Goods released "The Best Couple," a sweatshirt featuring an illustration of two original characters created by Jiraiya, Asakichi (朝吉) and Seiji (清次). The characters would later appear as the subjects of "LOVE IS MASSIVE", a 2016 illustration created by Jiraiya to raise funds for the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting. Two Hoses, a 2017 dōjinshi by Jiraiya, outlines the backstory of The Best Couple as two firefighters drawn together by a near-death experience.
Along with Gengoroh Tagame, Jiraiya is regarded as one of the most influential and prolific creators of gay manga; Anne Ishii, the co-founder of Massive Goods, has stated that "if Tagame is the dark father of Japanese gay manga, Jiraiya is the fairy godmother." He has been compared to Tom of Finland in reference to the cultural impact of his work, and Martin Margiela in reference to his reclusiveness. His art has been praised for depicting East Asian men as physically strong and sexually desirable, subverting stereotypical portrayals of East Asian men as emasculated and asexual. His fashion designs have gained popularity in the LGBTQ hip hop scene, and have been worn by Tinashe, Cazwell, and Blood Orange.
G-men
Bakudan
Gekidan
Kinniku-Kei
G-Bless
Comic G.G.
Otoko-Matsuri
Dōjinshi
, Furukawa Shobo, 21 December 2004,
, Furukawa Shobo, 16 January 2007,
, Furukawa Shobo, 17 April 2009,