桐山 光侍（KIRIYAMA Koji）- 漫画家

桐山 光侍（きりやま こうじ、1968年–）は、東京都出身の漫画家。1989年に桐山 浩二名義でデビューし、高校野球を題材とする『戦国甲子園～九犬士伝説～』を手がけた後、1993年に『週刊少年ジャンプ』で『NINKU―忍空―』の連載を始めた。同作の主人公は、不思議な武術「忍空」を使う少年・風助。戦乱が終わり、平和な時代「EDO」を迎えても暴力が消えない世界で、人々を守るため、同じ技を使うかつての仲間とも向き合っていく。戦いの勝敗だけでなく、力を誰のために使うのかという問題を、仲間との出会いや対立に重ねた冒険である。1995年にはテレビアニメ化され、映像でも広く親しまれた。幾度かの中断を経て、2005年から2011年まで『ウルトラジャンプ』で『忍空～SECOND STAGE 干支忍編～』を連載。師・麗朱の呼びかけに応じて旅する風助を軸に、各地の争いと仲間たちの行方を描き、「忍空」の世界を掘り下げた。

Koji Kiriyama (born 1968) is a Japanese manga artist from Tokyo. He debuted in 1989 under the name Koji Kiriyama, written 桐山 浩二, and drew the high-school baseball manga “Sengoku Koshien: Kyukenshi Densetsu” before beginning “Ninku” in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1993. Its protagonist, Fusuke, is a boy who practices the unusual martial art known as ninku. Although warfare has ended and the age of EDO has begun, violence persists; to protect ordinary people, Fusuke must confront even former comrades who wield the same techniques. The adventure connects encounters and conflicts among fellow martial artists with questions about whom their strength should serve. A television anime adaptation began airing in 1995, bringing the work to a wider audience. After several interruptions, Kiriyama returned to this world in “Ninku: Second Stage Etonin-hen,” serialized in Ultra Jump from 2005 to 2011. Following Fusuke as he answers the summons of his teacher Reishu, the series develops the journeys of his companions alongside conflicts in the communities they encounter, extending the setting and relationships established in the earlier manga.