Kōji Kiriyama

Kōji Kiriyama (桐山光侍, Kiriyama Kōji) is a Japanese manga artist best known for the Ninku series which was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump manga magazine between 1993 and 1995, and was adapted into an anime series and film. A second manga titled Ninku Second Stage: Stories of Etonins (忍空 -SECOND STAGE 干支忍編-) ran from 2005 to 2011 in the seinen magazine Ultra Jump. His works inspired artists such as Masashi Kishimoto of Naruto fame, who used to copy Kiriyama's drawings in his studying to become a manga artist.