Kazuhiko TORISHIMA
Akira Toriyama's legendary Tantō, who guided titles such as DRAGON BALL and WINGMAN to success, shares his expertise and observations at Japan Expo 2025.
Japan Expo is honored to invite the Tantō at the genesis of DRAGON BALL.
Kazuhiko Torishima began his career at Shueisha in 1976. Initially seen as an outsider in the world of manga, this editor with a strong personality's contribution to the history of Weekly Shonen JUMP made him one of the most important figures in publishing and manga.
Right from the start of his career, he worked with Buronson (Fist of the North Star), helping to get Doberman Deka back on track when the title was about to get depublished due to poor ratings.
Kazuhiko Torishima immediately distinguished himself by his keen sense of observation, and chose to publish many talented artists, including Akira Toriyama (DRAGON BALL, Dr. SLUMP), Masakazu Katsura (WINGMAN, Video Girl Ai, I''S, Zetman, etc.) and Koji Inada (Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai).
Kazuhiko Torishima has a strong temperament and a refined taste for literature, and is intimately linked to Akira Toriyama's career as an author and artist.
He was the first to place his trust in Toriyama's unique style, humor, ideas and characteristics borrowed from Western comics, enabling the mangaka to emerge from anonymity.
Between a friend and a tormentor, it was the collaboration between Akira Toriyama's creative mind and the publisher's harsher analyses that gave birth to the pop-culture icons that are now DRAGON BALL and Dr.SLUMP.
Kazuhiko Torishima is involved right up to the development of Toriyama's works.
For example, he was behind the choice of making Arale the main character of Dr.SLUMP. He was ruthlessly rigorous in ensuring the series' success, going so far as to reject 500 panels for Dr.SLUMP.
Later in the series, Torishima would become the inspiration for its most famous antagonist: Dr. Mashirito, who not only physically resembles the editor, but also shares the same name spelled backwards.
His decisions and directions have shaped DRAGON BALL throughout its publication. From its wuxia- and kung fu-influenced foundations, to the inclusion of Krillin or the appearance of major villains more evil than the previous ones, such as Piccolo or Cell.
Kazuhiko Torishima is a multimedia manager juggernaut. He is one of the few publishers to have a major role in anime adaptation, requesting a producer replacement during the transition from Dragon Ball to Dragon Ball Z.
Passionate about digital technology and interactive programs, he was in charge of the Weekly Shonen JUMP pages dedicated to video games, establishing an address book with the developers who would later, at Mr. Torishima's instigation, produce the first opuses of the Dragon Quest saga, with a artstyle defined by Akira Toriyama!
After launching V JUMP magazine and taking DRAGON BALL to the very top of Weekly Shonen JUMP, Kazuhiko Torishima became its editor-in-chief.
He helped establish the annual JUMP FESTA event and paved the way for the serialization of ONE PIECE, NARUTO and HUNTER × HUNTER.
He then became executive director, overseeing all Shueisha magazines, before being appointed president of Hakusensha Ltd.
He currently works as an independent manga publisher, and is also an outside director of Bushiroad Inc. and Amtasu Inc.