Iizuka Reiji (飯塚羚兒)

Iizuka Reiji (飯塚羚兒; March 3, 1904 - February 23, 2004) was a Japanese artist and illustrator best known for his works in children's books and magazines. Iizuka was born in Yokohama and moved with his family to Tokyo during his childhood. While there, he came under the influence of two uncles who were painters, Kishinami Ryūkei (岸浪柳渓; 1855-1935) and Kishinama Shōtō (岸浪松濤; dates unknown). He also studied under the Western-style painter Tōjō Shōtarō (東城鉦太郎). Due to destruction caused by the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923, he had to leave Tokyo, settling first in Fukushima Prefecture as a teacher and then traveling and working in Saipan and Manila. In 1926, he returned to Japan and the following year began to publish illustrations in Kodansha publications, namely the children's periodicals Shōnen Club (少年倶楽部) and Yonen Club (幼年倶楽部). In the following years, he produced cover illustrations for publications put out by Hakubunkan and other major publishers. During the 1930s, his works increasingly dealt with military topics and after Japan entered into a full-scale war in China in 1937, Iizuka worked for the Ministry of the Navy producing propaganda illustrations of ships, sometimes traveling on ships for extended periods. After the Second World War, he illustrated many science fiction works, adventure novels, and detective novels. In 1955, Iizuka nominally retired from popular illustrations to focus on oil painting though he still continued to produce occasional illustrations during the remainder of his long life.

Iizuka Reiji is also known as: 飯塚羚兒