# Takehiko Inoue

> Japanese artist

**Wikidata**: [Q459911](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q459911)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takehiko_Inoue)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/takehiko-inoue

## Summary

Takehiko Inoue (born January 12, 1967) is a Japanese manga artist, film director, and screenwriter. He is best known as the creator of several acclaimed manga series — most notably *Slam Dunk*, *Vagabond*, and *Real* — as well as his character design work on the 2007 video game *Lost Odyssey*. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential manga creators in Japan.

## Biography

- **Born:** January 12, 1967
- **Nationality:** Japanese
- **Education:** Kumamoto University (national university in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan)
- **Known for:** Creating the manga series *Slam Dunk*, *Vagabond*, and *Real*; character design for *Lost Odyssey*
- **Field(s):** Manga, film direction, screenwriting, video game character design
- **Website:** http://www.itplanning.co.jp/

## Contributions

Takehiko Inoue's creative output spans multiple media. His primary contributions include:

- ***Slam Dunk*** — A widely recognized Japanese manga series. Inoue created the series and its iconic protagonist, Hanamichi Sakuragi, a fictional character with Japanese citizenship. *Slam Dunk* remains one of the best-selling manga series in history and is credited with popularizing basketball in Japan.
- ***Vagabond*** — A manga series created by Inoue, based on the life of the legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi. The series is noted for its detailed, expressive artwork.
- ***Real*** — A Japanese manga series by Inoue that focuses on wheelchair basketball, addressing themes of disability and personal struggle.
- ***Lost Odyssey*** — A 2007 video game for which Inoue contributed character design work.

In addition to his manga, Inoue has worked as a film director and screenwriter, controlling the artistic and dramatic aspects of film productions and writing screen content.

## FAQs

### What is Takehiko Inoue's most famous work?
Inoue is best known for *Slam Dunk*, a manga series about a high school basketball team. The series is one of the highest-selling manga of all time and had a major cultural impact on basketball's popularity in Japan.

### Where was Takehiko Inoue educated?
Inoue attended Kumamoto University, a national university located in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, which was founded in 1949 and serves approximately 11,000 students.

### What media does Takehiko Inoue work in?
Inoue works across manga creation (as a mangaka), film direction, screenwriting, and video game character design. His most prominent contributions are in manga.

### What awards has Takehiko Inoue received?
Inoue has received at least one notable award (identified in structured records), though specific award details are limited in the available source material.

### Has Takehiko Inoue worked in video games?
Yes. Inoue contributed character designs to *Lost Odyssey*, a 2007 video game, extending his creative work beyond manga and film.

## Why They Matter

Takehiko Inoue occupies a singular position in Japanese manga and popular culture. *Slam Dunk* alone is credited with dramatically increasing the popularity of basketball in Japan, reportedly inspiring an entire generation of young Japanese athletes to take up the sport. The series' cultural footprint extended well beyond comics — into sports participation, fashion, and national identity.

With *Vagabond*, Inoue demonstrated a markedly different artistic sensibility, crafting a philosophical, richly illustrated samurai epic that pushed the boundaries of what manga art could achieve. His brushwork and ink techniques in *Vagabond* have been exhibited in art galleries, bridging the gap between commercial manga and fine art.

*Real*, his wheelchair basketball manga, brought visibility to disability sports in Japan and addressed subject matter rarely explored in mainstream manga. Together, these three series showcase Inoue's range: from high-energy sports comedy, to historical drama, to a grounded exploration of human resilience.

His work across film direction, screenwriting, and video game character design further demonstrates his versatility as a visual storyteller.

## Notable For

- Creator of *Slam Dunk*, one of the best-selling and most culturally impactful manga series in Japanese history
- Creator of *Vagabond*, a critically acclaimed samurai manga noted for its artistic quality
- Creator of *Real*, a manga addressing wheelchair basketball and disability
- Character designer for the 2007 video game *Lost Odyssey*
- Recognized across multiple professional identities: mangaka, film director, and screenwriter
- Creator of the iconic character Hanamichi Sakuragi, the protagonist of *Slam Dunk*
- Educated at Kumamoto University
- Recipient of at least one documented award for his creative work
- Maintains an official web presence at itplanning.co.jp

## Body

### Early Life and Education

Takehiko Inoue was born on January 12, 1967, in Japan. He attended Kumamoto University, a national higher education institution located in Kumamoto Prefecture. The university, founded in 1949, is headquartered at 2-39-1 Kurokami, Kumamoto, and serves a student body of approximately 11,098 students as of 2021. His time at Kumamoto University preceded his entry into the manga industry.

### Career as a Mangaka

Inoue's primary profession is that of a mangaka — a creator of manga. His career is defined by three major manga series, each distinct in genre and tone:

- ***Slam Dunk***: A basketball manga that became a cultural phenomenon. Inoue created the central character Hanamichi Sakuragi, a delinquent who discovers a passion for basketball. The series' sitelink count of 37 across knowledge platforms reflects its broad international recognition.
- ***Vagabond***: A samurai-era manga for which Inoue is explicitly identified as the creator (classified directly as "manga by Takehiko Inoue"). With a sitelink count of 28, it has substantial global presence.
- ***Real***: A wheelchair basketball manga with a sitelink count of 12, addressing themes of physical disability and psychological recovery.

### Work in Film

Beyond manga, Inoue has been active in the film industry. He is credited as both a film director — a role involving control over the artistic and dramatic aspects of a film production — and a screenwriter, writing for films, television shows, comics, and games. These dual roles indicate his involvement in the full creative pipeline of visual storytelling.

### Work in Video Games

In 2007, Inoue contributed to *Lost Odyssey*, a video game with a sitelink count of 18, indicating moderate international visibility. His role as character designer brought his distinctive visual style to the interactive medium, expanding his influence beyond print and film.

### Identity and Public Presence

Inoue is identified by his Japanese name 井上雄彦, with the phonetic rendering いのうえ たけひこ. He also uses the alias "Inoue Takehiko" in Western name order. His official website is hosted at http://www.itplanning.co.jp/. He is documented as a human instance (Homo sapiens), a Japanese citizen (country: Japan), and is affiliated with the occupations of mangaka, film director, and screenwriter.

### Institutional Affiliations

Inoue's educational connection to Kumamoto University links him to a well-established national institution in Japan's higher education system. The university is classified as both a university and an academic publisher, with multilingual website support in Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean, and maintains various academic identifiers including ISNI, ROR, and VIAF IDs.

### Digital and Knowledge Base Presence

Takehiko Inoue has a substantial digital footprint, with a sitelink count of 30 across knowledge platforms and a Wikipedia entry under "Takehiko Inoue." He is cataloged under numerous identifier systems, including VIAF, Library of Congress, BNF, SUDOC, NDL, IMDb, MusicBrainz, Open Library, and many others — reflecting his broad recognition across bibliographic, academic, and entertainment databases worldwide.

## References

1. BnF authorities
2. Integrated Authority File
3. datos.bne.es
4. International Standard Name Identifier
5. Faceted Application of Subject Terminology
6. Virtual International Authority File
7. CiNii Research
8. Comiclopedia
9. Babelio
10. BD Gest'
11. Freebase Data Dumps. 2013
12. Golden
13. [Takehiko Inoue MBTI Personality Type: ISTP](https://www.personality-database.com/profile/182875/takehiko-inoue-artists-comics-mbti-personality-type)
14. The Movie Database