Hisato Inoue

Hisato Inoue
Hisato Inoue in 2020; Sourced from Twitter
Full Name	Hisato Inoue
Japanese Name	井上•ヒサト Pronounced He-Sou-Tow Ee-no-ay
Gender	Male
Birthday	July 10, 1957 (Age 63)
Astrological Sign	Cancer
Blood Type	B
Place of Birth	Katsushika in Tokyo, Japan.
Nationality	Japanese
Known for	Creating Hangyodon and Badtz-Maru; his time at Sanrio
Career	Worked at Sanrio (1981-1995); Freelancer in Character Design
Created	Hangyodon Badtz-Maru Donragon Donjarahoi JungleBikky Accyan ga Ichiban

Hisato Inoue (井上•ヒサト; pronounced He-Sou-Tow Ee-no-ay) was a Sanrio staff member who created six different characters; Badtz-Maru, Hangyodon, Donragon, Donjarahoi, JungleBikky, and Accyan ga Ichiban.

Hisato was born in Katsushika City on July 10th, 1957. He went to Tama Art University, one of the top art schools in Japan, and graduated with Graphic Design as his major.

Sometime in the 1980s after graduating from Tama Art University, he got hired and worked for Sanrio initially as a position in planning and designing various characters. During his time at the company, Hisato created Hangyodon in 1985 and Badtz-Maru in 1993, who both were incredibly popular and continue to be so today.

Hisato left Sanrio in 1995 to start work as a freelancer in Character Design, Celebrity caricature creation, Three-dimensional doll production for media such as postcards, and has created more characters unaffiliated with Sanrio such as Nemuta who has been in picture books Hisato made. Hisato is also the creator of the toilet humor themed comic/manga series Boo Boo Paradise, which have been given their own social media accounts to showcase the comics that are sometimes animated.

Trivia

• Hisato Inoue appears as a character in Rururugakuen known as Professor Inoue who looks similar to how he does in real life.
• Hisato frequently appeared at different Sanrio events where he would interact with fans and sign autographs.
• According to Hisato's Twitter account, he is married to an unnamed spouse.
• Although Hisato has designed merchandise for his own characters, he did not come up with the English taglines that sometimes appeared on them.
• Hisato is a fan of the American animated comedy television series Spongebob Squarepants, which is also popular in Japan.
• JungleBikky is the most obscure of Hisato's characters that soon disappeared because of "social circumstances", involving racism similar to Bibinba.

Gallery

A picture of Hisato standing next to Badtz-Maru, in a section of The Strawberry News where many character creators are featured. Click the image link to view the text translation.

A picture of Badtz-Maru and Hisato featured together in a short comic which explains how Sanrio characters are created and become popular over time.

The English translated version of the previous image.

Original Japanese photo about the Sanrio Gallery event in the summer of 1995 to celebrate Hangyodon's 10th anniversary. Hisato Inoue can be seen in a photograph giving autographs to fans; some Badtz-Maru merch can be seen next to him.

Unofficial English translation of the previous photo.

Hisato Inoue giving autographs to fans.

Hisato appears onstage during a special event which is documented in The Strawberry News during a feature on what it's like to work at Sanrio.

Unofficial English translation of previous image.

Hisato Inoue is seen as the second face on the left with a blue outline. Text besides his picture reads: "Professor Inoue, The Creator of Hangyodon, Hisato Inoue"

A invitation printed in the Strawberry News about an Badtz-Maru themed event where Hisato was the special guest. Hangyodon can be seen in the picture's background.

Unofficial English translation of invitation.

A few pictures taken from the Badtz-Maru themed event in later issue from when the invitations were published.

Hisato commenting on a poster he made of Hangyodon.

An unofficial translation of the previous image.

Hisato recommending the book "Heartland" by Ken Kuroi, a famous children's book illustrator.

Hisato recommending the book "Heartland" by Ken Kuroi; Unofficial English Translation.

Image showing various characters such as Myme Myme, Tsool, Buushka, Sumire, and others. Hisato can be seen in the lower right.

Unofficial English translation of previous image.

Hisato seen wearing a mask amidst the Coronavirus Pandemic; taken in 2020.

Hisato surrounded by Hangyodon merchandise.

Hisato underneath Badtz-Maru who is displayed on the ceiling above him.

Hisato as a young boy in the 50s/60s.

Sources

• Photo of Hisato Inoue seen on stage - The Strawberry News no. 328
• Photo of Sanrio staff members that includes Hisato Inoue - The Strawberry News no. 289
• Photo of Hisato during the Sanrio Gallery 1995 event - The Strawberry News Vol. 11 no. 333, released 1995.
• Google Translation of https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/ドンラゴン, which reveals Hisato became a freelancer and more information on his character Donragon.
• Hisato Inoue's In-Space page
• Current page image taken from a 2020 tweet by Hisato - https://twitter.com/antatowataC/status/1319529809916014594?s=20