Risa Itō (Japanese: 伊藤 理佐, Hepburn: Itō Risa, born 6 September 1969), also romanized as Risa Itou, is a Japanese manga artist. She was born in 1969 in Hara Town, Suwa District in Nagano Prefecture, the eldest of three sisters. She graduated from Suwa Futaba High School and studied Formative Fine Arts at Joshibi University of Art and Design Junior College. She won the 2005 Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo for Oi Pītan!! and the 2006 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Short Story Award for One Woman, Two Cats, Oi Piitan!!, and Onna no Mado. Her manga Oruchuban Ebichu ("Ebichu Minds the House") was adapted by Gainax into an anime television series. Her latest work, Higepiyo (ヒゲぴよ), serialized in Chorus magazine, was also adapted into an anime. Source: Wikipedia (en)