ZIPPO Shigeru Mizuki “Be Lazy” 80209

✔ Authentic Zippo®
✔ Official Japanese Distribution Product
✔ Tracked & Secure Shipping

Free shipping

This ZIPPO lighter features one of the well-known quotes selected from several handwritten calligraphy boards created by Shigeru Mizuki.

The design places his warm, humanistic words and signature onto the metal surface of the ZIPPO lighter, envisioned as if it were a traditional Japanese shikishi art board. It was created with the hope that this piece will continue to live on together with fans for many years.

The phrase is said to mean:
“Work hard when you are young, so that you can live a relaxed life in your later years.”

The lighter itself is decorated with high-purity 99% pure silver plating.
It features detailed etching for a three-dimensional texture, combined with vivid graphic printing for a refined finish.

Case Type: Regular Case
Finish / Processing: Silver Plating | Antique Oxidized Finish | Clear Coating | Etching | Printed Design
Copyright: © Mizuki Productions

About Shigeru Mizuki

Shigeru Mizuki (March 8, 1922 – November 30, 2015) was one of Japan’s most influential manga artists and a renowned researcher of yōkai (traditional Japanese folklore creatures). Born in Osaka and raised in Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, Mizuki developed an early fascination with the supernatural after listening to mysterious folktales told by a woman known as “NonNonbā” during his childhood.

During World War II, he was drafted and sent to the fierce battlefields of New Britain (Rabaul). He lost his left arm in an air raid, an experience that profoundly shaped both his life and creative work. After returning to Japan, he began his career as a kamishibai (paper theater) storyteller before making his debut as a rental manga artist in 1958. In 1965, he won the Kodansha Children’s Manga Award for Television-kun, which led to his breakthrough into major publications.

His most famous works include GeGeGe no Kitaro (originally titled Hakaba Kitaro), Akuma-kun, Kappa no Sanpei, and the war memoir Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths. Mizuki portrayed yōkai not merely as frightening spirits, but as charming, deeply human characters—helping to firmly establish yōkai culture within modern Japanese popular imagination.

He received numerous honors throughout his life, including the Medal with Purple Ribbon (1991), the Order of the Rising Sun (2003), and recognition as a Person of Cultural Merit (2010). He passed away at the age of 93.

The pen name “Shigeru Mizuki” is said to have been inspired by “Mizuki-so,” an apartment building he once managed in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture.