Kirin
- Name
- Kirin
- Creator
- Shohei Harumoto
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Kirin. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q4185782
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Kirin • Ja Romaji — キリン
Key facts
Key facts
• Type — manga • Author — Shohei Harumoto • Publisher — Shōnen Gahosha • Magazine — Shōnen King (1987–1988) Young King (1989–2010) • First — 1987 • Last — 2010 • Volumes — 39
Key facts
Key facts
• Type — live film • Director — Gitan Ōtsuru • Released — 2012 03 03 Kirin (キリン) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Shohei Harumoto. Its title character is an office worker who leads a second life as a street-racing motorcyclist. It was adapted into a live action film in 2012. The series began in 1987 in Mr. Bike BG, a monthly motorcycle magazine published by Motor Magazine. Later chapters ran in Shōnen Gahōsha's Young King until the story concluded in 2010. Shōnen Gahōsha released the final, 39th volume in September 2010. A continuation, Kirin: The Happy Ridder Speedway, ran in Young King from 2010 to 2016. In Japan the manga acquired a reputation as "the motorcycle-riding bible". A live-action film adaptation directed by Gitan Ōtsuru opened in Japanese theaters in March 2012.
Publication
Publication
Harumoto launched Kirin in Mr. Bike BG in 1987. The serialization later moved to Shōnen Gahōsha's seinen magazine Young King, where it continued until 2010. The 39th and final collected volume was published on September 13, 2010. Kirin: The Happy Ridder Speedway, a continuation serialized in the same magazine, was collected in eleven volumes between 2010 and 2016. In 2010, NTT Solmare distributed the original series in English on Nokia's Ovi store for mobile phones; the release is no longer available. A French edition of Kirin: The Happy Ridder Speedway has been published by Kasaï Éditions since November 2023. Harumoto died on July 27, 2025. Young King announced his death the following month.
Cast
Cast
• Claude Maki - Kirin
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- Japan
Live-action film
Kirin: Point of No-Return! (キリン POINT OF NO-RETURN！), a live-action adaptation of the manga's first story arc, was released in Japan on March 3, 2012, by Interfilm. Actor Gitan Ōtsuru, himself a well-known motorcyclist, directed the film, with Claude Maki starring as Kirin, a middle-aged rider of a Suzuki Katana who takes on a Porsche 911 in an illegal race on public roads. Ayano co-stars as Tomomi, a young woman Kirin meets in a bar.
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Comics and comic art
9,920 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- KintokiSeries
- Kipper WilliamsArtist
- KiraraSeries
- Kirarin RevolutionSeries
- Kirio Fan ClubSeries
- Kiruru Kill MeSeries
- Kisei Jūi SuzuneSeries
- Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest GirlSeries
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a copy of Kirin?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.