Takehiko Inoue

Takehiko Inoue is a Japanese manga artist. He is best known for the basketball series Slam Dunk (1990–1996), which is one of the best-selling manga series in history, and the samurai manga Vagabond. Many of his works are about basketball, Inoue himself being a huge fan of the sport. His works sold in North America through Viz Media are Slam Dunk, Vagabond and Real, although Slam Dunk was earlier translated by Gutsoon! Entertainment. In 2012, Inoue became the first recipient of the Cultural Prize at the Asia Cosmopolitan Awards.