Rate My Professor Keiko Takemiya

Keiko Takemiya is a manga artist and former university administrator who served on the faculty at Kyoto Seika University. She joined the Faculty of Manga in 2000 and taught in the program, which was the first four-year undergraduate manga course in Japan. Takemiya served as Dean of the Faculty of Manga from April 2008 to March 2013. She was elected president of Kyoto Seika University and held the position from April 2014 to March 2018. During her time at the university, Takemiya initiated the Genga' (Dash) project, which employs digital technology to produce high-fidelity reproductions of manga manuscripts for preservation and exhibition purposes, with particular attention to shōjo manga.

Born in 1950, Takemiya emerged as a prominent figure in the shōjo manga genre as part of the Year 24 Group during the 1970s. Her notable works include Kaze to Ki no Uta (1976), Natsu e no Tobira, and the series To Terra… (Toward the Terra). She has contributed to the development of manga studies and education through her teaching and leadership roles. Takemiya is recognized as professor emeritus at Kyoto Seika University and has held positions including director of the Japan Cartoonists Association and president of The Japan Society for Studies in Cartoons and Comics. Her career bridges professional manga creation and academic administration in the field of manga.