Santa Inoue

Santa Inoue (born February 23, 1968- Paris, France) is a Japanese manga artist, designer and owner of the fashion brand "SANTASTIC! Born in Paris, France, he later lived in Tokyo and now resides in L.A.

Born the eldest son of painter Kozo Inoue, he grew up in Paris until the age of 9. Influenced by the Japanese manga he would return to from time to time, he decided to become a manga artist. 1989, he debuted with "Maadaa," which won the Young Sunday Newcomer Award. He is a cousin of Taiyo Matsumoto and lived together with Issei Nagafuku (monk, manga artist)for a time. An avid reader of "Manga-do," the TT series that began with "TOKYO TRIBE," published by JICC Press in 1993, has become his life's work, and he continues to draw works with a connected worldview.

At the end of 2017, he moved to Los Angeles, US, and has been working there. His column manga "LA LIFE," which depicts his LA life, was serialized until 2021 in "Weekly LALALA," a free newspaper distributed mainly on the West Coast of the United States.

His latest work is "Zange" serialized in Young Champion (Akita Shoten), with two book volumes released in July 2022.

His masterpiece "TOKYO TRIBE 2" was serialized in the fashion magazine "Boon" for 9 years from 1997 to 2005, and was adapted into an anime by MADHOUSE in 2006 and broadcast on WOWOW. TOKYO TRIBE 2" is also very popular overseas and has been published in Hong Kong, Taiwan, the United States, France, Spain, and Italy. A live-action movie of "TOKYO TRIBE 2" was also released in the summer of 2014.