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Manga, Kamome Shirahama, Witch Hat Atelier
Shirahama's self-portrait

Kamome Shirahama (白浜 鴎, Shirahama Kamome) is a Japanese manga artist best known for creating the series Witch Hat Atelier. In addition to Japanese manga, she also does freelance work for Western publications, such as Marvel and DC.

She has won and has been nominated for multiple major awards, including the Eisner Award, the Harvey Award, and the Manga Taishō.

History[edit]

Shirahama was born on May 7.[1] She graduated from the design program at the Tokyo University of the Arts.[2] In interviews, she notes she lacked self-confidence during school, but maintained her motivation through competition with her classmates.

Photo of dip pens used by Shirahama
Shirahama's dip pen "wands"

She works using analog tools such as pencils, dip pen and ink, and colored pencils, rather than digital tools.[3] She intentionally uses rounded pen tips that do not produce clear lines to lend her drawings an old-time printing press quality.[4] Influences on her work include The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter novels, which she read in junior high school,[3] as well as Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles.[1] She draws further inspiration from artists such as Alphonse Mucha, Mœbius, Hayao Miyazaki, and Moto Hagio.[1]

Her debut story was Watashi no Kuro-chan (わたしのクロちゃん), a one-shot about a young girl's search for her cat, Kuro, set in Paris. The story was published by Enterbrain in Fellows! in 2011.[1] The following year, she made her multi-part story debut in the same publication with Eniale & Dewiela (エニデヴィ).[1] The series revolves around an angel, Eniale, and a demon, Dewiela, who repeatedly come together based on their shared love of fashion. That series ended in 2015, and was collected into three volumes which have been translated into multiple languages, including English, Spanish, and French.[1]

Around the time she was making her name known in the Japanese manga world, her art was also noticed at New York Comic Con, and she began doing variant covers and other illustration and concept work for American publishers, such as Marvel, DC, and Star Wars.[1][3]

With more experience under her belt, Shirahama switched Japanese publishers and began serialization of her premiere series, Witch Hat Atelier, in Kodansha's Morning Two magazine in July 2016.[5] When the first collected volume was released in Japan in January 2017, the manga was so popular it became hard to find copies in stores.[6] Its reputation only continued to grow after being translated into other languages, garnering the series multiple awards, a spin-off manga, and an anime production.

In 2021, Shirahama contributed character designs to a Star Wars anime short, The Elder, produced by Studio Trigger and released on Disney+ as part of an anthology titled Star Wars: Visions.[7] The following year, she published a manga adaptation of the same story, also titled The Elder, which was released in Big Gangan magazine.[7][8] The story focuses on an encounter between a young Padawan, a Jedi Master, and a mysterious "Elder"—exploring the ways time changes everyone.

Awards[edit]

Works[edit]

Misattributed Photographs[edit]

Twitter exchange between Rian Gonzales and Kamome Shirahama regarding the misattributed photos. August 30, 2022[15]
@TongariOfficial twitter announcement about Kamome Shirahama and the mislabeled photos. August 30, 2022[16]

Like many mangaka, Kamome Shirahama values her privacy and anonymity. When doing public appearances as a mangaka, she often wears an Iguin mask to hide her face, or events are closed with rules in place about no photography or recording allowed. She has not posted any identity-revealing photos of herself online.[16]


On May 6, 2017, Shirahama attended the Brave & Bold Vol.2 comic art expo held in Kawasaki City Industrial Promotion Hall in Japan, along with numerous other artists including comic artist Rian Gonzales.[17] During this event, photos were taken of Rian Gonzales and were later wrongfully posted online as being photos of Shirahama. These misattributed photos would go on to be used in various online articles and databases about Shirahama, despite efforts to clear up the misconception and have those photos taken down.

In late August 2022, a fan's call-out post about the then-latest occurrence, prompted a twitter announcement by @TongariOfficial, the official account for Witch Hat Atelier in Japan,[16] as well as an apologetic exchange between Gonzales and Shirahama about the trouble this has caused them both.[15]


@TongariOfficial's English announcement reads:

"There is an online article that the photo of comic artist Rian Gonzales (@rianbowart) is used as the photo of Kamome Shirahama. Kamome Shirahama has not posted any photos. Also, Rian Gonzales who has been mistaken is in trouble.

If you have posted a photo, please remove it immediately. And if you find it being used without permission, please report it to the official account (@tongariofficial)."


As such, if you find online posts or websites with photos claiming to be of Kamome Shirahama, please know that it is not, and to please report it to @TongariOfficial.


Further links:


Gallery[edit]

  • Shirahama's Twitter profile image (2022)
    Shirahama's Twitter profile image (2022)
  • Shirahama's Twitter and BlueSky profile image (2024)
    Shirahama's Twitter and BlueSky profile image (2024)

External Links[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 "Dossier Divines - Eniale & Dewiela - Shirahama Kamome" [Divines File - Eniale & Dewiela - Shirahama Kamome] (in French). July 2, 2021.
  2. ↑ 白浜鴎 [Kamome Shirahama] (in Japanese). Kodansha.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 「とんがり帽子のアトリエ」特集 白浜鴎インタビュー [Interview with Witch Hat Atelier creator Kamome Shirahama] (in Japanese). Natalie. May 23, 2019.
  4. ↑ https://twitter.com/shirahamakamome/status/1854389619602948574 Twitter response to question regarding pen use (in Japanese). November 6, 2024.
  5. ↑ TAGROの新作は江戸に生きる女武芸者の婿取り、白浜鴎もモーツーで新連載 [New works: Tagro's female warrior who is married off in the Edo period, Kamome Shirahama both begin serialization in Morning Two] (in Japanese). Natalie. July 22, 2016.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 これはハリポタ以来のワクワク感かも！『とんがり帽子のアトリエ』が予想以上の売行で超品薄に [This might be the most exciting thing since Harry Potter! Witch Hat Atelier selling much better than expected, leading to shortages] (in Japanese). ほんのひきだし. February 8, 2017. Archived from the original on July 12, 2022.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Star Wars: Visions Manga Announced". ComicBook.com. April 25, 2022.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 白浜鴎らが「スター・ウォーズ：ビジョンズ」をBGでマンガ化、「マンダロリアン」連載も [Kamome Shirahama and others making manga version of Star Wars: Visions, Mandalorian also being serialized] (in Japanese). Natalie. May 25, 2022.
  9. ↑ "42nd Annual Kodansha Manga Awards' Nominees Announced". Anime News Network. April 5, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Te presentamos a los Ganadores del Salón del Manga 2018". [We present to you the Winners of the 2018 Manga Show] (in Spanish). RTVE. November 2, 2018.
  11. ↑ "11th Manga Taisho Awards Nominates 12 Titles". Anime News Network. January 22, 2018.
  12. ↑ ""L'atelier des sorciers", Daruma d'or des Japan Expo Awards 2019". [Witch Hat Atelier, Golden Daruma of the 2019 Japan Expo Awards] (in French). Livres Hebdo. February 28, 2019.
  13. ↑ "Cats of the Louvre, Witch Hat Atelier, Way of the Househusband Win Eisner Awards". Anime News Network. July 24, 2020.
  14. ↑ "Witch Hat Atelier Wins Best Manga at Harvey Awards". Anime News Network. October 5, 2020.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Internet Archive snapshot of the August 30, 2022 twitter exchange between Rian Gonzales and Kamome Shirahama regarding the photo mixup: https://web.archive.org/web/20220830201559/https://twitter.com/shirahamakamome/status/1564592086921318400 Accessed March 31, 2025
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Tongari Official on Twitter, posted August 30, 2022: https://x.com/tongariofficial/status/1564463050911993856
  17. ↑ Brave & Bold Vol.2 artist attendance list for May 6 and 7, 2017, including artists Rian Gonzales and Kamome Shirahama: https://theriver.jp/braveandboldart-vol2/ Accessed March 31, 2025
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