USAGI YOJIMBO
Stan's Other Self
by Lynn Johnston

Lynn Johnston is the creator of the For Better or For Worse comic strip.

If you met Stan Sakai before seeing his work, you would never guess that this soft-spoken, congenial man lived a good part of his life in the world of the samurai. I've met Stan a number of times at different functions over the years and always enjoyed his and his wife Sharon's company. I knew he was a cartoonist, of course – but I'd never really looked into his work, until now. Wow.

Always in a hurry, I often pick up a book of illustrations, leaf through it and put it down, thinking that I'll come back to it for a more thorough look when I have time. When at long last I opened up a book by Stan Sakai, I made time on the spot and read it from cover to cover. Thanks to his generosity, I have since read more!

Not only are his stories engaging, action-paced and well-crafted, but his drawing is so superb that it is something most of us can only aspire to. If I had to "describe" his style of drawing, I'd say it was somewhere between Bill Watterson and Will Eisner – which is a pretty fine place to be! Still, Stan's work is uniquely his own, which tells me that his skill for life drawing and draftsmanship come from somewhere within.

Usagi Yojimbo, the wandering samurai, is Stan's other self. The characters Usagi encounters on his travels are also alive and complete. In a cartoonist's mind, people, places and situations exist in a sort of dreamlike reality into which we are easily pulled whenever we wish to go their. We can hear their voices, see through their eyes and go with them – guided partly by them and partly by our own forces through situations and storylines that almost write themselves.

Because the colorful life of Usagi, the rabbit samurai, is so much a part of Stan Sakai's life, it was a surprise for me to learn that Stan's knowledge of Japan and its history was through family and private research only. It was my great fortune to be invited with Stan and Sharon to visit Tokyo on a cultural exchange and to experience with them for the first time the beautiful and powerful culture that is Japan.

Buildings and passageways and hillsides and temples that Stan had drawn from photographs and from the magic of his imagination were there for us to see and to touch. I was impressed by his knowledge of the language and by Stan and Sharon's very deep spiritual connection to everything around us.

It was a privilege to hear them talk about their families, their foods and traditions. We were there with them in the land of Usagi Yojimbo – and I wondered how this adventure would influence Stan's future storylines!

Since then, I've seen his work a little differently, too. I've looked at the buildings and the scenery and the costumes he draws with even more respect – knowing the research that has gone into them. I know that his stories would be considered some of the best of Japanese manga and that he would be one of the most recognizable creative talents in Japan, had he begun his career there.

Stan Sakai is a genuinely modest man. He writes and draws for the love of his craft, and it shows. It has been my great pleasure to write this foreword because it has given me the opportunity to say congratulations, Stan. I admire you. I enjoy your work. Most of all, I have learned from it, and that, I think, is the best compliment one cartoonist can give to another.

Sincerely,
Lynn Johnston, 1998

Fan Art by Lynn Johnston

“Usagi Yojimbo” and "Space Usagi", including all prominent characters featured in the stories and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Stan Sakai and Usagi Studios. Usagi Yojimbo is a registered trademark of Stan Sakai.  Names, characters, places, and incidents featured in this publication either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events, institutions, or locales, without satiric content, is coincidental.