Murakami Matsujirō (村上松次郎)

Murakami Matsujirō (村上松次郎; November 27, 1897 - April 27, 1962) was a Japanese illustrator who primarily produced works for children's books and magazines, best known for his works with naval and nautical themes. He was born in Tokyo and loved to sketch from a young age, often drawing ships while on fishing trips. After completing high school, he studied Western painting under Tsurunosuke Takeuchi (武内鶴之助; 1881 - 1948), but gradually moved into illustrations for popular publications instead. By 1924, he was in charge of illustration for the magazine Ai no Izumi (愛の泉). In the late 1920s, Murakami began to produce illustrations for Kodansha publications, especially Shōnen Club (小年俱樂部). By the mid-1930s, Murakami's reputation as an illustrator for children's books and magazines was well-established and he was involved in the production of a wide range of detective stories, science fiction works, and adventure stories. As with many other popular artists of the era, his work took on increasingly militaristic themes in the late 1930s. In 1938, Murakami was attached to the Imperial Japanese Army as a painter and contributed illustrations of the war to magazines back home. After the Pearl Harbor attack, he became a member of the Imperial Japanese Navy's press corps and even became a commissioned officer in the navy while also illustrating postcards and pamphlets for Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line). One notable work from this time is 'Sinking of U.S. Aircraft Carrier Lexington' (米航母レキシントン号撃沈), referring to the severe damage inflicted by Japanese planes on the ship, which had to be scuttled, by Japanese airplanes during the Battle of Coral Sea in 1942. After the war, Murakami continued to illustrate on nautical themes but less often for children's publications, instead contributing illustrations for promotional calendars issued by steamship companies and a magazine published by the All-Japan Seamen's Union.

Murakami Matsujirō is also known as: 村上松次郎