Toshie Kihara

Toshie Kihara (木原 敏江) is a Japanese manga artist and a member of the Year 24 Group.

She made her professional debut in 1969 with the short story Kotchi Muite Mama!

in Bessatsu Margaret.

She is best known for her manga series Mari to Shingo, serialized from 1977 to 1984 in LaLa, which follows a romance between two young men at the start of the Shōwa era.

Several of her manga series have inspired musicals performed by the all-female Takarazuka Revue, including Angélique, an adaptation of the novels by Anne Golon; Torikaebaya Ibun, an adaptation of the Heian era tale Torikaebaya Monogatari; and Ōeyama Kaden.

In 1985, Kihara won the 30th Shogakukan Manga Award in the shōjo (girls') category for Yume no Ishibumi, a multi-volume collection of short stories with shōnen-ai (male-male romance) themes.

In 2017, to commemorate Kihara's 48th anniversary as a manga artist, Kawade Shobo Shinsha published a book containing a chronological list of all of her works; a lengthy interview with Kihara about her career; a round-table discussion between Kihara and her fellow Year 24 Group members, Moto Hagio and Yasuko Aoike; and contributions from other celebrated manga artists, such as Riyoko Ikeda and Yasuko Sakata.

The same year, Kihara's first solo art exhibition was held at the Span Art Gallery in Ginza, Tokyo, Japan, from November 3 to November 14, 2017.

The exhibition was also held at the Niigata City Manga House in Niigata, Japan, from June 21 to October 9, 2018.

Another exhibition dedicated solely to Mari to Shingo was held at the Span Art Gallery in two parts: first, from April 26 to May 8, 2019, and second, from June 22 to July 9, 2019.

During its run, Kihara made several appearances at the gallery to sign autographs.