Manga artist Shin'ichi Abe was born in Tagawa, a mining town in southern Japan. He learned oil painting during his early school years, and he drew for his high school newspaper. From age 20, he was one of the main authors of the literary manga anthology Garo, in which he published his experimental and autobiographical manga.
His best known work is 'The Miyoko Asagaya Feeling', a collection of openhearted autobiographical stories about his life with his model girlfriend Miyoko. A film adaptation called 'Miyoko asagaya kibun' was released in 2009.
In the late 1970s he joined a religious congregation, which led to his departure from the manga scene. Although attempting several projects in the following years, it isn't until the 2000s that he returned with new manga stories in Garo and especially AX.
