Hideaki Sorachi

is the pen name of a Japanese manga artist, most well known for his manga Gintama, which began serialization in 2003 and ended in 2019. He has also written numerous one-shots, including Dandelion, for which he won the Tenkaichi Honourable Mention Manga Award in 2002. Sorachi's distinctive sense of humour and writing style has been the subject of academic research papers. As of February 2018, the Gintama manga has sold 55 million units in Japan. Personal life Hideaki Sorachi was born on May 25, 1979, in Takikawa of Hokkaido, Japan. Sorachi has stated that his pen name is derived from the Sorachi prefecture in Hokkaido, but Hideaki is a part of his real name. He has an older sister, and occasionally shares stories about her in the end notes of manga volumes. Sorachi has commented that he prefers using analog writing implements as opposed to creating digital art; his most used writing utensil being the calligraphy brush pen. He also uses felt-tip and permanent markers, and a round-nib and G-pen.