I say that I've never been late with a manuscript, but I don't mean to be arrogant; it's that I simply want to get it done as soon as possible so I can be set free.

I felt that working at an office from the early morning was impossible for me. Anyway, I wanted to be free from that lifestyle as soon as possible. I wanted to take it easy.

I usually live an extremely normal life, since I live in the countryside. Even when people call me 'famous' and such, I can't really fathom it, even now.

Rather than deliberately trying to draw something, use something you yourself like and want to draw, and I think the characters that come out of that will really have their own individuality.

If you're doing gags, I think it's important to have characters who are as strong-willed and impactful as possible.

I was one of the more talented ones at the design firm I joined, so I conducted my work pretty shrewdly. Except I wasn't a morning person, so I was quite frequently late for work. On top of that, it was a fairly big company, they were fussy about the dress code, and I got chewed out quite often.

Since I liked to draw, I entered a design-oriented high school.

In spite of being so absorbed in comics when I was in primary school, for whatever reason, I stopped reading them that much once I started junior high. I think it's probably because I got caught up in movies and TV.

Back before I entered primary school, I liked to draw, even though I was a brat. I especially liked animals and vehicles, and I drew that sort of thing constantly.

If you make friends with dogs, they can be really cute!

The setting of 'Dragon Ball' has a sort of Chinese feel to it, but it's not necessarily limited to China. For the time period as well, exactly when it takes place is indeterminate.

It's a secret, but when I decided to apply to 'Shonen Magazine,' it was already past the deadline, so I had no choice but to go with 'Shonen Jump.' My motivation for becoming a cartoonist was... to put it bluntly, the ¥100,000 prize money.

Back when I watched 'Future Boy Conan,' I thought I might like to try my hand at animation, but now, not at all.

I'm flying by the seat of my pants, never creating with a thought to what's up ahead!

I wanted to change up the tempo and setting of my comics in the sense of giving them some variety, for one thing. So where, for 'Slump,' the art was very America-esque, in the case of 'Dragon Ball,' I made it as Chinese as could be.

I've been really frugal with money since way back, so I can't buy something if it's too expensive. I'm not that brave.

There have been times when I didn't quite make my deadline.

I'm not the kind of person who enjoys big crowds very much.

I have memories of reading comics when I was in primary school, but that's about it.

The nice thing about gag manga is how it has this aspect where, at the very least, you're permitted to come out with anything. In my case, anything can talk. Like the mountains.

I liked how 'Star Wars' felt both old and new. I even built a model of R2-D2, taking about two months mixing two kits to make one that looked just like the real thing. I'm the kind of person who gets really into it when I do something like that.

At one point, I had close to 100 birds.

I love girls, whether they wear glasses or not!

I'm an economic human without any likes or dislikes!