Keiko Takemiya

She is a Japanese mangaka and the previous president of Kyoto Seika University. She is also part of the Year 24 group. She debuted in COM magazine by winning Monthly Newcomer Award for Friendship of the Heart. In December 1970 she published a short story titled Sanroomu Nite In the Sunroom in Bessatsu Shoujo which is possibly the first shounenai manga ever published and contains the earliest known malemale kiss in shoujo manga. Her inspiration to become a mangaka had come from shounen manga particularly the works of Shotaro Ishinomori films and documentaries. Among her most noted works are the manga Toward the Terra and Kaze to Ki no Uta. In 2014 she was awarded the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan for her contributions to manga. She currently lives in Kanagawa Prefecture Japan.