Shotaro Ishinomori (石ノ森 章太郎, Ishinomori Shōtarō, 25 January 1938 – 28 January 1998) was a Japanese
manga artist who became an influential figure in manga,
anime, and tokusatsu, creating several immensely
popular long-running series such as Cyborg 009, the Super Sentai series (later adapted into the Power Rangers series), and the Kamen Rider series. He was twice awarded by the Shogakukan Manga Awards, in 1968 for Sabu to Ichi Torimono Hikae and in 1988 for Hotel and Manga Nihon Keizai Nyumon.2 He was born as Shotaro Onodera (小野寺 章太郎, Onodera Shōtarō) in Tome, Miyagi, and was also known as Shotaro Ishimori (石森 章太郎, Ishimori Shōtarō) prior to 1986, when he changed his
family name to Ishinomori by adding the no (ノ) character in katakana.
On December 1954, Shotaro Ishinomori published his first
work, Nikyuu Tenshi, in Manga Shōnen. In 1956, he moved to Tokyo and became an assistant to Osamu Tezuka. During his
time working under Tezuka, Shotaro Ishinomori worked on Astro Boy 3 and Alakazam the Great.4 In 1960, Shotaro Ishinomori published Flying Phantom
Ship, which was later turned into an animated feature film in 1969.5
