Aoki Yuji and The Way of Naniwa Finance
Dec 19th, 2008 by Ad Blankestijn
If you want to know why you should never borrow money in Japan from a “loan shark” company, or if you want to know all the tricks of this dirty trade, then read the popular manga The Way of Naniwa Finance (Naniwa Kin’yudo). These comics form a powerful exploration of the dark side of society, but they are also great fun thanks to their earthy realism, founded in the Osaka dialect. Just like the story, the drawings are unrefined, but full of strength.
Aoki Yuji (1945-2003) created this manga in 19 volumes between 1990 and 1997. He did this out of the blue as he had never drawn a manga before!
In 1997 Aoki decided he had earned enough money for an easy life and he stopped working.
More about this manga from Dreamland Japan.
YouTube has this rare 1998 Japanese footage of the author (in three parts).
Great video!
You can see from the video why he died relatively young from lung cancer.