Yutsuko Chusonji, the popular Japanese cartoonist who created the cartoon series “Atlanta Neighbors” for Japanese readers after her stay in Atlanta last May, died Jan. 31 of cancer.
Ms. Chusonji, whose cartoons critiqued her country’s economic, political and social policies, became well known in Japan for the term she coined, “oyaji gyaru,” which means “young girl behaving like middle-aged man.”
An announcement of Ms. Chusonji’s death was made during a reception on Feb. 14 for Atlanta’s out-going consul general from Japan, George Hisaeda.
Mr. Hiseada previously noted he invited Ms. Chusonji here last spring to show the young people of both Japan and the United States the importance of the Japan-U.S. relationship.
“My goal was not only to introduce Japan culture to Americans, but also to effectively promote the history, culture and people of the Southeast to Japan,” Mr. Hisaeda said during last October’s Southeast United States-Japan conference held in Atlanta.
Cartoon panels of Ms. Chusonji’s “Atlanta Neighbors,” which were published in the Japanese magazine FRAU, were displayed at the conference.
For more information, go to visit www.japanatlanta.org.