Ask John: Are Rumiko Takahashi and Kazuki Takahashi Married?

Question:
I heard an off-hand comment recently that Rumiko Takahashi was married to Yu-Gi-Oh! creator Kazuki Takahashi. I found this to be highly dubious; however, while I couldn’t find anything to back it up, I couldn’t find anything to outright dismiss the possibility either. Do you know anything about this? And in the unlikely case that they are actually married, exactly who took whose name?

Answer:
To the best of my knowledge, the 46 year old Rumiko Takahashi has never been married. The results of an internet search turn up at least one Yu-Gi-Oh fan site which claims 42 year old Yu-Gi-Oh creator Kazuki Takahashi is married to Rumiko Takahashi, but the accuracy of such a statement on a fan site ought to be questioned when no other reliable source anywhere reports that Rumiko Takahashi is or ever has been married. Again, to the best of my knowledge, the similarity in family names between Kazuki and Rumiko Takahashi is only coincidental. The family name “Takahashi” is very common in Japan. It’s the figurative equivalent of American surnames including “Jones” and “Smith.” In fact, SPT Layzner, Armored Trooper Votoms and Gasaraki creator Ryosuke Takahashi also shares this common family name. (And he’s not related to either Rumiko or Kazuki Takahashi.)

You may be interested to know that there are a few anime industry celebrity couples, though. In all of these examples, everyone involved kept their recognized family and given names.

Yu Yu Hakusho & Hunter x Hunter creator Yoshihiro Togashi is married to Sailormoon creator Naoko Takeuchi.

The world famous adult manga artists Hiroyuki Utatane and Ryo Ramiya are married. They produce hentai doujinshi (fan comics) together as part of the artist circle called “Uroboros.”

Narumi Kakinouchi, the creator of Vampire Miyu and Codename Charmer, is married to Toshihiro Hirano, the creator of Iczer-One and director of anime including Dangaioh, Vampire Miyu, Devilman Lady and Rayearth.

On April 27, 2002, Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno married Moyoco Anno, the creator of the Flowers and Bees & Happy Mania manga series. Kodansha hosts rare photos and even video clips of the happy marriage.

*Thanks to “kamykami” for pointing out the Anno couple.