Gosho Aoyama

• Born — 21 June 1963 • Birthplace — Hokuei, Tottori, Japan • Birth Name — Yoshimasa Aoyama • Area — Manga artist, author • Alias — Striving Star of Shonen Sunday • Notable Works — * Case Closed/Detective Conan • Yaiba • Magic Kaito • Awards — Shogakukan Manga Award (1993, 2001) • Manga — yes

Yoshimasa Aoyama was born in Tottori Prefecture in 1963, to parents Hiromichi and Michiko. He has an older brother who is a scientist and helps him out with the "gimmicks" in Case Closed. He has another brother who is a doctor. Aoyama recalled being fascinated by the Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Dancing Men" in elementary school. He was talented in drawing from an early age, and eventually quit his school's kendo club to join the art club. Aoyama graduated from Yuraikuei High School, before going on to study at Nihon University College of Art in Tokyo. In winter of 1986, Aoyama won a comic contest for freshmen students. When he was an art student, Aoyama had a part-time job working at Tokyo Disneyland, where he painted backgrounds for Pirates of the Caribbean.

Aoyama made his professional debut as a manga artist at the age of 23, with Chotto Mattete, which was published in the magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 1987. Shortly after that, he began Magic Kaito in the same magazine. Between 1988 and 1993, Aoyama created the series Yaiba, which ran for 24 volumes. Later, he would release other manga series in single volumes, such as Yoban Sādo and Aoyama Gōshō Tanpenshū. Aoyama also designed the characters for the "Twilight of Edo Japan" chapter in the 1994 video game Live A Live. Aoyama began serializing Case Closed in Weekly Shōnen Sunday in January 1994.

On May 5, 2005, Aoyama married Minami Takayama, the singer of Two-Mix and voice actress for Conan in the anime adaptation of Case Closed. On December 10, 2007, the two divorced. In March 2015, Aoyama was hospitalized for an unspecified surgery, resulting in Case Closed going on its first lengthy hiatus in 21 years.

• Chotto Mattete (1987) • The story of a boy genius named Yutaka Takai, whose time machine jetpack sends his love interest through time for two years. • Magic Kaito (1987–present) • A five-volume manga series that tells the adventures of Kaito Kid, a mysterious gentleman thief who uses his skills as illusionist and master of disguise to commit robberies; his secret identity is that of high school student Kaito Kuroba. The first two volumes of the manga series were released in 1988, the third in 1994, the fourth in 2007, and the fifth in 2017; three more chapters were published in 2024. Although the series is currently on hiatus, Kaito Kid still appears regularly in Case Closed. • Yaiba (1988–1993) • A 24-volume manga series about the adventures of a young samurai named Yaiba Kurogane. It was adapted into a 52-episode anime series which aired between 1993 and 1994. • Yoban Sādo (1991–1993) • A one-volume manga that tells the story of a boy named Shigeo Nagashima, a mediocre baseball player on his high school team. One day, he buys a magical bat from a sporting goods store that allows him to hit every pitch. However, he has to pay the mysterious store for each pitch he hits. • 'Gosho Aoyama's Collection of Short Stories' • Various short works written over the years: • Play It Again • Excalibur • 'Santa Claus in the Summer' • 'Detective George's Little Little & Great Operations' • Chotto Mattete • 'Shōnen Sunday 19 (Talk) Show "The Wandering Red Butterfly"' • Case Closed/Detective Conan (1994–present) • Ongoing series that tells the story of genius high school detective Shinichi Kudo, who one day is turned into a child by mysterious men and assumes the alias of Conan Edogawa. While trying to track down these men, he often encounters complicated mysteries, most of which only he can solve. This series is Aoyama's most well-known creation, and has been collected in 108 volumes as of April 8, 2026. • ~Watashi ni Uso o Tsuite~ (2007) • A one-shot about a girl named Terumi Arai, who can read people's minds when she looks them in the eyes.