Being ruined is still important.

First of all, please give us a brief self-introduction.

side (transverse) mountain: I'm a cartoonist. Well, you can introduce me as an unsuccessful cartoonist (laughs). I spend most of my time on comics, but the majority of my income comes from illustrations.

So the time commitment is greater for comics?

side (transverse) mountainI think so. Manga is the most important thing for me to do. There are many other people who can draw illustrations.

Yokoyama-san, your style of manga is a little different from the typical manga, with no speech bubbles and only onomatopoeia (manga expressions that visualize onomatopoeic sounds).

side (transverse) mountainYes, that's why it hasn't sold well (laughs).

(laughs). (Laughs.) That's not true. How did you arrive at your current style?

side (transverse) mountainI started out painting (as art). For example, let's say you draw a picture of a cup. But once the picture is painted, that is the end of it. But I wanted to draw what happens afterwards.

For example, I wanted to depict the continuity of the painting, such as drinking the glass of water in the painting, emptying it, and then pouring water into it again. So what I am doing is an extension of the painting.

Most people who paint usually see something or a scene that comes to mind, and then something sparks them to paint the face of that person. When I was young, I painted a scene I saw in a dream: a rock, a hollow, and artificial grass all around. Most people would just draw one picture and be done with it. But I made a comic strip of that picture, showing what would happen after that scene and what happened before it. In doing so, it grew to 24 pages.

What was the story behind it?

side (transverse) mountain: People gather around the rock, hollow it out, and put light bulbs and switches on it. Then the rock becomes an elevator that goes down to the basement. My style is to come up with a scene like that and turn it into a comic. So it can't be interesting to read normally (laughs).

I have the impression that the field of manga is now more accepted as an art form than before.

side (transverse) mountainREPORTER: Yes, that's right. Nowadays it is treated a little like that, but in the past it was not like that at all. I graduated from the oil painting department of Musashino Art University, and at that time, the term "manga" or "illustration" was an expression used by the teachers to criticize a poor drawing. He would say things like, "You, this is just an illustration," or "This is not a manga. That's how it was used. Nowadays, this is no longer the case, but it was the case when I was there.

It must have taken a lot of courage to jump into such a field that was known to be bad for business, didn't it?

side (transverse) mountainI was certainly afraid to go all the way and jump in. However, I had been sending my paintings to competitions, but I kept submitting them and then failing. So somewhere along the way, I had given up. I thought, "I'm not going to be able to make it as a painter anymore.

If I had not had the experience of submitting a painting to a competition and failing, I might still be obsessed with the idea of painting. So it is still important to be told "no." Without it, you will not be able to go where you really fit in. Without it, I would not be able to go to a place that really suits me. That was 20 years ago.

Drawing is really fun when you are drawing, but when it is finished, nothing happens. Manga is not fun at all, but when it is finished, many things happen.

Was there a career you wanted to pursue?

side (transverse) mountainI wanted to be an aquarium keeper when I was a little girl. I loved turtles, crabs, and other water creatures, including salamanders. But I had to go to a science university to do that, so I gave up. I couldn't study at all. But I'm glad I didn't become a painter or a cartoonist. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I thought I would be a painter or a cartoonist. And even now, I'm somehow able to find a job like that, so I'm really happy.

What inspired you to start painting mangas?

side (transverse) mountainI used to live in a rather large room (about 12 tatami mats). I had a rather unusual landlord who didn't care how dirty it got. So I used to draw pictures on a big board. But when I sent them to competitions, they were rejected. I was embarrassed and had no money. While I was thinking like that, I was told that my apartment was going to be demolished and that I had to move out.

So I moved to a place where I had a 6-mat apartment, and I couldn't paint big pictures anymore. So I started drawing on paper. When I was feeling increasingly trapped both in terms of space and feelings, a friend said to me, "Why don't you apply to magazines and work as an illustrator?" I was so excited. But I thought to myself, "I don't want to fall that far behind," but I submitted my work to a competition and it was immediately selected (laughs). (Laughs.) Then, after that, work started coming in.

I was already drawing manga at that time, so when I visited them, they said, "It's difficult to do a manga series, but I think I can do illustrations," and I was relatively free of work. And in the process, some people started to publish my cartoons.

Was that when you published Manga?

side (transverse) mountainI think so. It was a foreigner who first approached me about publishing. A French person who was thinking of starting a publishing company was visiting Japan and happened to see my work when he came to visit, so he contacted me. My manga was in a book called "Comic Q" and he saw it.

I really admire that kind of inquisitive mind of people from other countries. It's not about making money at all; they really treat it as "culture. They want to publish more and more, even though they don't sell well at all (laughs). I know several such people around the world. They are in the U.S., the U.K., Spain, Italy, and many other countries. When I ask them to publish my work, they usually do so. People in other countries will do it even if it doesn't sell well. That is not the case in Japan.

That's right. What kind of things are you working on now?

side (transverse) mountainI'm currently working on a painting called "Hiroba. You know those festivals in Brazil where people dress up in funny costumes and everyone dances and marches?　I don't really know why they do that, but I guess it is a way of thanking the gods. That is what festivals are all about, so that is what I am trying to depict.

There is a walking course, and people dressed like idiots keep marching on the course, and the audience around them is enjoying watching them!　The audience around them is enjoying watching the march, and there are 225 pages of enthusiastic descriptions. There are only 17 pages left to complete. I have been working on it for about a year and 10 months.

Is there a story behind what you are drawing now?

side (transverse) mountainI'm not: no, for now, it's going to be a march all the way through, 225 pages. Next month, all the penciling will be done, so I'll ask a part-timer to help me put on the tones and backgrounds, and that process will go on again for about three months. Manga is really not fun. Drawing pictures is really fun, but when it's finished, there's nothing to it. Manga is not fun at all, but when it is finished, many things happen.

The easiest way to understand it is that it's cheap, but it's money. And the best part is, you have readers. Even if you paint a picture and hold a private exhibition, not many people will come. Even if you hold an exhibition at a museum, the number of visitors is in the thousands. With manga books, however, you can publish a single book, and it will spread instantly to people all over the world. I don't know if it is 10,000 or 20,000 people, but a lot of people will see it. And it will be in bookstores for a long time.

It is different from a painting that is finished because no one sees it. So I feel empty even though I am painting. I am a meek person, so I want everyone to make a fuss about my work. I can't motivate myself unless I have readers and they praise my work (laughs).

For example, it depicts the perspective of a bird or an insect observing a human being.

Where do you get your story ideas?

side (transverse) mountainIt is the same with people who draw pictures. When you see something in your daily life, you think, "Oh, I'll try to draw that. They are unconsciously looking for something to draw. I think there are many people who take a picture they think is interesting and then draw it later. It's exactly the same thing. Or a single comment from someone. Or a TV show you saw. I sometimes expand on such things and turn them into manga.

Well, anyone can really draw manga, and even if you were locked up in this coffee shop for a month, for example, there are plenty of stories lying around. Even if no one is there. Japanese people are good at manga. You can't play soccer (laughs). With manga, you can win. We win every year, I am sure. If they are so good at it, why don't they draw manga? I wonder why he doesn't draw. I wonder why he is making oil paintings.

Also, although I call it a story, my manga does not have a story that is really a story. This is because I draw from the point of view of an animal looking at a human being. For example, a bird or an insect is observing a human being. The main character has no name, no dialogue, and no facial expression. There are no facial expressions. When a cat or a bird sees a human being, it does not think about whether the person is a man or a woman, or what kind of occupation he or she has, but just considers the person as a moving human being. They are just considering them as moving human beings, and then they start talking about their interests, such as whether or not they will feed us.

From the insect's point of view, it doesn't matter whether the person is harmed or not, or whether he is laughing or angry. I want to depict something from that perspective. I think it is fairer that way. I think it is boring to depict something only from a human point of view, since human beings are so small.

Do you have a similar perspective on the "plaza" that you are painting now?

side (transverse) mountain: Yes, that's right. Basically, we are looking at the scene from an angle, so most of the scene is depicted in the same way. It's a bird's-eye view of people marching. It's a dumb situation. It's a little bit cold, looking down from an oblique perspective and saying, "Why are they so enthusiastic about that? That's what makes it fun. It's a fair point of view.

Do you still have an attachment to painting?

side (transverse) mountainI don't mean that I don't have it. I just think (I am) not a painter. There are many people who are painters and I like them, and there are many people who paint better pictures than I do. So I think that if there are many people like that, I don't have to do it.

What do you think now about manga and illustrations, which used to be used as an example of how to be humiliated?

side (transverse) mountainI think it's just right for someone like me, who is moderately flirtatious. There are people who watch the show, and they make a lot of noise. No one makes a fuss when I draw pictures (laughs). (Laughs.) No one will take me seriously. Except for a few art enthusiasts. It may not make much difference in the number of people (laughs).

Some people separate the work of earning money from the creation of their own artwork.

side (transverse) mountainI don't really want money, but if it's not being made into money, it's not needed in the world. It's not that I want money so badly, but if I am not making money, I am not needed in the world. So, is it a good thing to do it?　I am a little doubtful. Especially for someone who has been doing fine art oil paintings for a long time, it is a very difficult question. "What's the point of doing this?" I wonder.

I also generally decline interviews (laughs). I don't like to set a date.

What is your normal life cycle like?

side (transverse) mountainI wake up around noon and go to bed at dawn. I cook and eat about twice a day, and I have about 30 minutes of "physical education time" each day. I also spend about a week to 10 days a month somewhere for fun or on business trips. I also like surfing. I also like surfing, so if I have a chance to go somewhere near the ocean, I surf. I spend about one week to 10 days a month doing these things.

Instead, I don't do any work at home that I don't want to do. I don't draw illustrations, and I generally decline interviews (laughs). This is because I don't like to set a date. I don't like having a schedule in front of me and having to come back for it. I don't mind if they do interviews when I am there for an event or something.

Have you had any other jobs before?

side (transverse) mountain: I was a watercolor teacher for a correspondence course. I received watercolor paintings from elderly people all over Japan. I would cover them with cellophane paper, make corrections on the top, add text, and send them back to them for 500 yen a piece. My handwriting is really bad, and I get a lot of complaints that I can't read it at all. So I get a lot of complaints that my handwriting is really bad and I can't read it at all. No matter how hard I tried, I could only earn 80,000 yen a month. But the rent for the apartment I was living in at the time was something like 15,000 yen, so I managed to get by. I was extremely poor.

And it was an unpleasant job, so I was doing it on the train. Then the letters were shaken, so they became even dirtier (laughs). Then one day, when I was drunk, I left about 20 pictures of the elderly person on the shelf and lost them. After that incident, I gradually started to lose my job (laughs). (laugh) I began to think that this was a bad idea, so I started doing business as an illustrator.

When you work as an illustrator, you have to respond to the client's requests, right?

side (transverse) mountainI can paint basically anything, but I can't paint women. I might be able to paint a woman if I had her in front of me for about three months. I can't draw a woman without being distracted, and I've never appeared in a comic book. The characters in my manga are all men. I like war movies in which only men appear, and I think I have a longing for them.

Is the Brazilian festival you are painting now also a festival?

side (transverse) mountainI know that's all women, right? But in the painting, they are all men (laughs). (Laughs.) I know it's strange, but it's okay. It's a dedication to the gods. It's like sumo wrestling.

I see. It may be too early to tell, but do you have any plans for what you will draw next?

side (transverse) mountainI think there are about four of them. I'm sure it would take me a lifetime to finish. I would definitely get sick at some point. It usually takes me two to three years to complete one painting. Well, I don't have a deadline (laughs). So I think it is truly amazing that someone draws 20 pages every week for a weekly magazine. If I wanted to draw 20 pages, it would take me a month and a half. If I included the drafts, it would probably take me two months. And I do it all by myself. Even if I had many assistants, the speed would not change that much.

My comics are not meant to entertain, but if you want to enjoy them, you can enjoy them as much as you want.

What do you pay most attention to when painting?

side (transverse) mountainI think it's the smooth flow of time. I keep the time between frames constant. For example, I set the time from one frame to the next to 2 to 3 seconds, so that the film looks as smooth and natural as possible. If I want to put more information in one frame, I increase the size of the frame. Even so, the interval between frames remains the same at 2 seconds. This is one of the things we have always kept in mind.

In ordinary manga, for example, if the last panel is a scene of going to bed, the next panel jumps to the next day. That is not possible in my manga. If that were the case, I would have to draw all night long, two seconds at a time, until the next day. So, for example, if my manga is a 30-page book, I can calculate how much of the story is in the book. The "Plaza," which I am currently working on, is roughly 225 pages, and when readers ask me, "How long is this story? I assumed it would be a 2 or 3 hour story, but when I divided the story into frames and calculated it, I found it was only 24 minutes long. I was disappointed.

I do think that's roughly how long it takes to read it, though. Comics go by so fast for the reader. I want to finish drawing as soon as possible. When I finish drawing, all sorts of illnesses and ailments go away at once (laughs). I draw from morning till night, so it is not that I am lazy, but it has been about two years now.

Yokoyama-san, do you have a particular feeling you want readers of your manga to have?

side (transverse) mountainI want people to enjoy themselves freely. I don't want them to get too involved, and I don't want to impose anything on them. People who enjoy it will enjoy it immensely, and people who don't enjoy it will not like it from the start. We don't include any roller coaster-like attractions or points of excitement, so it really depends on the person.

I love rain, and I used to walk around in a typhoon wearing full-body raincoat myself. When I jumped into the rain with a completely waterproof raincoat, I really did not get wet. It was comfortable and I liked it very much, and then I found a club like that in America. I heard that everyone goes out in the rain and rolls around together. I thought, "That's America. Rain is not entertainment, it is just a natural phenomenon. It is not raining just for me, but I enjoy it and get pleasure from it on my own.

That's what my comics are like. They are not meant to entertain, but if you want to enjoy them, you can enjoy them as much as you want. But it is up to you. I think that's what art is supposed to be about. Museums used to be places with a high threshold, and when you went there, you would see paintings in an empty space, without a shred of service spirit. People who didn't understand wouldn't understand, and it was your fault if they didn't understand. I think that's what art should be about.

But today's art is somehow different. A lot of it is closer to entertainment. If so, can you beat Tokyo Disneyland?　And.　If you can't win, then you should give up and go back to your high-flying ways. However, you know, I don't want to sell too much (laughs).

Yokoyama-san, where do you think your work falls in terms of the current story?

side (transverse) mountain: In terms of construction, it can be as high-flying as rain, but in reality, it is a very clichéd thing that is concerned about sales (laughs). Unfortunately, it doesn't matter what I draw, and there are many things that don't make it into a book just because I drew them. But it has to be of a certain level, and the same goes for the number of pages.

That's right. What are your plans for future publications, solo exhibitions, etc.?

side (transverse) mountainI think I have already decided on one thing to do at an overseas museum (laughs). Also, I am participating in the current Hokusai exhibition that is touring around the world. But this year is still one of the few. Every year there are always about 10 or so. In terms of publishing, there are a few international publications, but they are all past works, so I don't feel like they are publications.

I see...any final goal you have in mind?

side (transverse) mountainI've always wanted to publish a book as thick as a phone book. It would be a long series of pictures with no story. I wanted to draw pictures of nothing, like drinking a cup of coffee and refilling it, forever. It's not interesting to anyone who sees it (laughs). I thought it would be great if I could draw them like a phone book.

Also, is it a manga about war? A world of destruction, where people are dying forever. Well, I can't do both. I don't want to draw people dying, especially in a war comic, and I think there are a lot of problems that need to be solved. Also, the biggest problem is that even if I draw it, it may not become a book. And then there is the issue of physical strength. Physical strength is no excuse, but my first two goals were a phone book and a war story. Now I think it's a bit impossible. So, I guess now I will continue to make books of what I have in front of me, and I will continue to make books of what I have in front of me.