Taizo Yokoyama(1917-2007)
- Actor
- Writer
In the 30s he left school in mid-course to learn drawing in the
Kawahata Illustration School. His career was interrupted by the
Sino-Japanese war and he went to the Chinese front, but he returned
before the end of the war. Influenced by his famous cartoonist older
brother Ryûichi Yokoyama, in 1950 Taizô published "Taizô Manga". In
1951 he created his most popular character, Puu-san ("Mr. Poo"), using
with it a peculiar drawing technique. In 1953 Puu-san was converted
into a live-action film in which Taizô and Ryûichi did a little cameo.
Its director, Kon Ichikawa, was so impressed with him that he hired
Taizô as a scriptwriting consultant for his following film "A
Billionaire". From 1954 to 1992 Yokoyama focused on satirical comics
for the "Asashi Shinbun".