My wife picked up a manga at the cultural center’s bazar from an artist that she remembers liking when she was younger: Kyôko Ariyoshi (有吉京子).
She was born in Kumamoto in 1950 and started trying to get stories published when she was a teenager in junior high school. After graduation, having received letters of encouragement from magazine editors, she moved to Tokyo to become a shōjo mangaka. In 1971, she was selected as a finalist in the 9th Margaret Manga Research Student competition and published her first story, “仔ネコと少女” [zi Neko To Shōjo / lit. “Kitten and Girl”], in Weekly Margaret summer supplement. It was quickly followed in #32 of Weekly Margaret by the ballet story “白鳥の歌をきいて！” [Hakuchō no uta o kīte! / “Listen to the swan song!“].
For five years, she had to comply with her editor’s instruction to draw school manga, but in 1976 she finally got the permission to draw the ballet story she always wanted to do and for which she is now mostly known. And thus, Swan began its serialization in issue 47 of Weekly Margaret and lasted for six years (1976-1981, compiled in 21 volumes !). It was followed by many sequels (白鳥の祈り [Hakuchō no inori / “The Swan’s Prayer”] and Swan Act II) and other ballet stories (アプローズ -喝采- [Apurōzu – kassai – / “Applause”], ニジンスキー寓話 [Nijinsukī gūwa / “Nijinsky Fables”], etc.). Swan is her only work to have been translated in English, but unfortunately publication stopped after volume 15 (2005-2010, CMX Comics). For more information you can check: Manga Update [author • title] and Wikipedia [JP / EN / FR].
Introduction to the Saviour [救世主入門 / Kyūseishu nyūmon] is a minor work. It was serialized in Bessatsu Princess magazine from 1993 No. 10 to 1994 No. 17 and was compiled in two volumes in 1994 by Akita Shoten’s Princess Comics (Vol. 1: 1994-01-21, 183 pages, 978-4-253-07556-5; Vol. 2: 1994-12-16, 211 pages, 978-4-253-07565-7). The back cover description simply says: 庭師にして、元救世主…それは誰!? 心優しく不思議な青年・ジョーが示す奇跡とは…!? [A gardener and a former savior… who is that!? What kind of miracle will Joe, a kind-hearted and mysterious young man, show…!?].
Basically, it’s the story of Jesus being reincarnated into a young gardener and trying to make good and helping people around him… The art is relatively simple, but quite nice. As for the storytelling, well, I wish my Japanese was better so I could tell you more about the story. I just thought this was an interesting find worth talking about. Unfortunately, there are so many nice old shōjo manga that were published in the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s that only a fraction of them can by translated and we’ll never know most of them…
Here’s a few sample pages:
And a rough translation: