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56-Year-Old JoJo Creator Araki Wins Best Dresser Award

The Men's Fashion Unity association held the 45th Best Dresser Awards in Tokyo on November 30. The JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga's fashionable creator Hirohiko Araki received the Best Dresser Award for the academic and cultural category at the event. Entertainment news website MAiDiGiTV began streaming videos from Araki's appearance at the event on Wednesday.

After Araki receives his award in the video, the event host asks him a few questions. When the host inquires about how the manga creator maintains his youthful appearance, he said that he washes his face with Tokyo tap water every morning. The host also notes that many people have the view that manga creators sometimes live an unhealthy or less than fashionable lifestyle. Araki replies that the image of manga writers having stubble and messy hair while eating instant ramen is correct, and his appearance at the awards ceremony was an exception. The 56-year-old creator also confirmed that he starts work at 10:00 a.m. every day and only works Monday to Thursday. Araki said that is a tradition carried over from his sempai at Shonen Jump magazine, including Kochikame creator Osamu Akimoto.

Araki said he draws JoJo's characteristic (and sometimes dangerous) poses in a way that normal people are unable to do them, and he wants to create impressive images more than gestures for normal people. He said he was surprised when he learned fans were attempting the peculiar poses.

In a video taken after receiving the award, Araki reiterates that people's stereotypical images of manga creators are correct and his appearance at the awards ceremony was special. He claimed that he normally does not look very stylish and often has ink from his work smudged on his clothes. Both the event host and later interviewers asked about Araki's dotted pants, and he replied that he bought them at the Isetan department store. Araki commented on his creation of the JoJo characters striking, original fashion and reaffirmed that Tokyo tap water every morning is the secret to his own appearance. Araki also hopes the first live-action JoJo's Bizarre Adventure film will live up to everyone's expectations when it opens in summer 2017.

Actor Masaki Suda (live-action Assassination Classroom, Princess Jellyfish) and actress and singer Nao Matsushita (The Piano Forest theme song) received the Best Dresser Award in the entertainment category. Actor and radio presenter Tetsuya Bessho (You Are Umasou, Art of Fighting) received the award in the international category, and freestyle wrestler Kaori Icho won the sports category. Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike received the award in the politics category, and the kids fashion brand Familia's company president Haruhiko Okazaki won the business category.

Although Araki claims to have no real secrets to his youthful appearance, he may have picked up some techniques during virtual reality experiments made to emulate his manga's "Stand" superpowers in 2013. The dapper American actor and director Clint Eastwood could have also given Araki some tips when the pair met for the manga's 25th anniversary in 2012.