Takano Fumiko
Well, sorry I haven't been much of a poster recently. Weird internet ... in fact, this post is taking me, like, 25 minutes to write and put on the web because of this weird connection I've got going right now.
Anyway, I was reading the latest issue of Relax, and have been very happy with it so far. This one centers around illustrators and painters, all from Japan, some old, some new. I was drawn in particular to Takano Fumiko's work because of her non-traditional manga style. She has a style kind of similar to Dan Clowes', in that it is very clean, but the use of space and placement is still very prominent ... I'm not overwhelmed by her work, like I am by many of her contemporaries.
She's kind of old in the manga world, and she never did much. Actually, I don't think that she's doing any manga currently. She did a few things back in the early 80s, and has been a sort of cult manga icon ever since.
I can't even really seem to find anything by here, so if any of you know where I can look at some more of her work, I would be very pleased to hear from you! I did come across this French thing, however ...
Also, I got a bunch of stuff on Amazon.co.jp when I typed her name in using kanji ... 高野 文子.