She was born in
Hiroshima in 1968 and began drawing manga when she was in junior high school.[2] She states that she began drawing manga because her parents would not often buy her manga.[3] Kōno studied science at
Hiroshima University and moved to Tokyo, becoming an assistant to Katsuyuki Toda, Aki Morino, and Fumiko Tanigawa. Kōno made her commercial debut in 1995 with Machikado Hana Da Yori.[2] She feels that
Osamu Tezuka and
Fujiko Fujio were among her early influences, but then she was inspired by
Sanpei Shirato's literary style and at present, she takes inspiration from Yu Takita's versatility.[3] She graduated from the
University of the Air in 2001 with a major in Humanities.[2]
Works
Selected works. (Titles without an English version are given a literal translation enclosed in quotation marks.)
Machikado Hana Da yori[Machikado hanadayori] (街角花だより, "Street-corner tidings of flowers"[n. 1]) (serialized 1995–1996 and 2002–2003, collected 2007,
Futabasha), 1 volume[4]
^The titular "Kokko-san" is a parrot, equivalent of "Mister Coco".
^The title could be rendered as "A long road" or "The long road", but the story is about a misfit couple who has "a long road" ahead of them. (Foreign translations have rendered it as "A long road" too.)
^The title is literally "(girl name) the kappa", rendered using "kappa-girl".
^The titular "San-san" is Sanpei as addressed by his departed wife. (Foreign translations have rendered it as "Diary for Sanpei" or just "For Sanpei".)
Citations
^
ab朝日新聞手塚治虫文化賞 [Asahi Shimbun Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize] (in Japanese).
Asahi Shimbun. Archived from
the original on 17 June 2005. Retrieved 23 February 2010.